Finally...The Ireland Story (or most of it)

Ok so this is way past overdue.

So about 3 weeks ago I was fortunate enough to travel with a missions team of students and staff from here at CCU to the town of Dundrum in North Ireland. Our main focus was to build relationships and work with the youth in the city of Downpatrick.

It was kind of surreal for a while that i was actually about to embark on a journey across the pond. I wasn't really sure what to expect, except that it was going to be an awesome experience that I would never forget. The flight from Cincinnati to Chicago was a breeze, even though we suffered a delayed layover in O'Hare. The flight from Chicago to Dublin was a whopping 7 hours, which was ok because it worked out to where it was an overnight flight and didn't really throw my internal clock off too much. The flight over however was probably one of the most uncomfortable experiences of my entire life. I am pretty sure I got about 2-3 hours of sleep here and there total.

Arriving in Dublin was awesome. The thought that I had just left my entire life, all my problems, all my worries, left almost 3,600 miles away was so gratifying. It was time to let loose and have the most fun I have probably ever experienced in my entire life. Customs was kind of lame to get through because there were only 3 lanes open with a lobby full of about 100+ people coming from America for St. Patty's day. After a little 30 minute stint we were in the country and were on our way to our new home for the next 2 weeks.

We had to drive probably about 2 hours to Dundrum from Dublin stopping at an old cemetery, (I'm not exactly sure where) that held some of the oldest remaining Celtic Crosses in existence. Afterwards we finished our drive to Dundrum and Murlough House where we were staying.

It's an old 1800's manor and was smack dab in the middle of a nature preserve, which was home to some beautiful scenery such as the Mourne Mountains, Irish Coast .

God really has it for these people when it comes to the scenery there. Some of the sights I was introduced to in the first 30 minutes of being in Dundrum are out of this world. There is also a castle right in the town of Dundrum which we went to the first day we were there. Normally it rains all the time in Ireland and somehow we were fortunate enough to be blessed with sunshine for almost the full two weeks. It still averaged around 40 degrees everyday but, wow we were blessed.

The first full day we attended the Downpatrick Presbyterian church in downtown Downpatrick. It's not much different that churches here in America and was very enjoyable. People there were excited to meet us and had loads of questions for us. Later on that evening we were fortunate enough to work with the youth from the Presbyterian church. Some of our best connections we made with people there came from a few of these kids.

Ok real quick this picture to the left is me standing in the middle of Dundrum Bay. Now how you may ask? The tide will come all the way into shore at one point, and an hour later it would be a half mile out to sea. it's so strange I have never seen anything like it before. The whole bay empties out. unreal.

Our basic day was to wake up to breakfast, have some time for a lesson from John Moxen, who is the founder of Murlough and is probably one of the most humble people I have met. I sometimes felt like he could be a little over the top but he is a great speaker none the less. After lessons there would be lunch and then we set off to our different areas that we worked in. There were two teams, one at a place called Knocknashina Park, and the other where I was at which was a soccer field in a development called Model Farm. First understand this, the kids at Knocknashina were a little bit more well mannered than our kids (so you can imagine). It's really different being outside of America. It took about the first 5 minutes working with these kids to see that there is a serious lack of family structure, manners and personal care. I was cussed out by a 2 year old. Yes. 2 year old. They were extremely curious to know who we were and why we were here, and tried to break us by getting us to swear or do bad things, and we simply told them that's not something we believe in.

Over the 2 weeks we were able to make some good progress by getting asked to tell bible stories, which blew some of us away. These kids knew why we were here, and they wanted us to do our jobs it seemed like which was awesome. However, due to reasons beyond my control the local Catholics didn't like our presence at Knocknashina and asked us to leave, which we did the second to last full day, after the work had already been done. Some of the parents were outraged and met up with members of Murlough and Rick to sign a petition for us to come back, and even offered to raise money to bring us back!! I can't begin to explain how that support made us feel as a group. We were loved by people that didn't even know us and wanted us to have another opportunity to do what we came to do.

We had some good stories. Good laughs. I joined in on the cow tag (there are big cows on the preservation that we play tag with) and I was able to tag 2, one in the first and only cow tag drive-by in history. I was proud of myself, however I am still behind Rick (it's his game) and I got busted eventually after a brief fall which tore me up a bit, that ruined cow tag for good I think. Sorry Rick for ruining your dreams.

We were fortunate enough to be in Ireland for St. Patrick's Day which was INCREDIBLE. The parade was fantastic, we attended a prayer-walk from the Saul Church ( below which is the site of the first Christian Church founded by St. Patrick in Ireland) to Downpatrick Cathedral (right). Two miles with 3 stops for prayer over the community. What a spectacular event. Not to mention Downpatrick Cathedral is beautiful.

The sights were incredible during our time. We got to travel to the north coast on our last full day and hit up spots such as Belfast, Giants Causeway and Dunluce Castle (picture is the third one down from the top), Belfast Cathedral, and of course who could forget the BEST fish and chips ever at The Galley.

Have I mentioned God makes awesome scenery?

To the right is the capital building in Belfast, below is Giants Causeway and  below that is Dunluce Castle.

I could go on and on with stories and pictures but I guess this is the point where I sum up my experience. Before our trip I had really felt like I was struggling with the things God wanted to show me. I was angry about things back home and confused and I wanted God to reveal himself to me and to open my eyes to a world outside our perfect "bubble" that we call America. God showed me a culture who is in desperate need of hope, peace and love. Through our work at the prayer room we created in Downpatrick for St. Patrick's day, or the time we spent with the kids at model farm, God showed me he is good, he is genuine and he has a plan for me to help others in this world other than myself. It has given me compassion and motivation to stop living in a selfish state of mind all of the time and to start reaching out to others and telling them about the recent joys I have discovered during my time in Ireland.

One last story. I have never felt more emotion than I did with this. As I sit here at 1:50 AM finishing this my eyes begin to tear. One of our girls from the Presbyterian church had become one of my favorites because we shared some common interest in music. Me being the funny sarcastic American I try to be teased her about not talking too much to us because she "hated us". It was a huge joke. Later on that night, my friend Rachel had said she was talking to her about it and she said she felt bad because she didn't talk much. It was because she didn't want to become attached because we were leaving.

I think that is the memory that has stuck with me the most. I can honestly sit here and tell you that I have never been in a position where we (and I) have brought so much excitement and joy and have this feeling that you have made such an impact in someones life like that. I am praying that God has more in store for me in a returning trip next year. To follow up on what we established and hopefully keep making an impact on the lives of the people in Northern Ireland.

If you'd like to see more pics please click the following links and if you have questions and want to hear more (which I have toms more [ going into the schools, prayer room, etc.] please comment and let me know).

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019269&id=196902202&l=6a9748d7c4 (Album 1)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019272&id=196902202&l=0c1fcba036  (Album 2)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019273&id=196902202&l=8a2989df81  (Album 3)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019281&id=196902202&l=9f035be695  (Album 4)

Go mbeannaí Dia duit(May God bless you)

~ B

A little update Pt. 1

 Yeah so I haven't written here in a while so but I am dead tired so I'll make it short. I had the recent opportunity to head with CCU on a missions trip to Northern Ireland and wow, I mean just...wow. God makes some pretty awesome scenery and some pretty awesome people. I'll try to make a more detailed outline about our trip in another post here soon.

I'll be honest, i really didn't know what to expect form this trip. I had been having a rough patch just before we left, and I was begging God to show me...something. As soon as I was on that plane all of my worries went out the window. Talk about a just plain relaxing time that we had.
Ireland is an awesome country. The difference of culture didn't really start sinking in until about the 3rd day or so. Once we started establishing why we were there you could tell there was almost this tension or something. You knew we were going against the masses in another country. The kids we worked with were out of this world. I think there has only been one day since we have been back that i haven't talked to at least one of them.

It's cool knowing you have friends from across the other side of the planet. It's almost like a distant relative you always enjoy seeing and can't wait to go back to again. Hopefully opportunity will arise to head back next year so we can follow up on our work. Plus I know I am just as excited to see our kids as they are to see us.

It's weird. One girl told one of our team members that they were afraid to get attached because we were just leaving. I guess that's something that really hit me in the gut, feeling like me being around someone is so enjoyable for them. Like you make a difference or something. God has been working at my heart through this experience. I guess sometimes I have felt out of touch with God and was hoping this experience would draw me back. I can't say I haven't settled back in a bit, but God has already opened the door.

I guess you can say I found a little bit of myself during our stay in the green isle. I hope that these feelings of hope and joy will continue till the next time we return.

This is a picture of our group with some of the kids we met from Downpatrick Presbyterian Church. They are some of the coolest people I will probably ever meet in my lifetime. I pray for them every night, that God will work in their lives, the way he has worked in mine.

Let us continually worship you God, even with our unclean hands..To you we give our praise.

~B

Two

The other day I had the opportunity to be the best man at my brothers wedding. I can't explain how excited and proud I am of him, waiting all that time for his perfect girl.

What passion

What determination

I don't really think that anyone was really nervous about things other than Heather (my brothers wife) but I knew I had one thing on my task list for the day that gave me some butterflies.

My speech.

Now I have to admit I'm not really too shy of a person when it comes to being in front of an audience. I tried all day to build my courage up so I could give the most memorable speech in the history of wedding speeches.

The time came.

I was nervous.

I had written everything out and decided to not read word for word. I guess it turned out ok (or so they all say) and I was happy that I just got through it. As much fear and uncertainty as there was floating around all day from everyone, we trusted that things would go smoothly.

Marriage can be a scary thing. You and your significant other begin on a journey

A marriage takes trust and sacrifice from both sides of the party to help guide each other in their daily decisions and to sacrifice yourself for the other person.

Love takes sacrifice.

Sacrifice takes trust.

Love without trust is futile.

In the book of Genesis there's a story about a guy named Abraham and his son Isaac. Now we read in the earlier chapters of Genesis that Abraham was married to a woman named Sarah and she was without child her entire life.

She was pushing 90 years of age.

That is a long, long time.

In Genesis 17  God speaks to Abraham and tells him that his wife Sarah will be with child.

Abraham laughs.

Sarah laughs as well.

You remember that she is 90 right?

I want to skip forward a few chapters to Genesis 22, after the birth of Isaac. God comes to Abraham and says "Abraham!" to which Abraham makes the famous reply "Here I Am". God then commands him to take Isaac to the mountains in region of Moriah and offer him as a burnt sacrifice.

Now STOP.

BURNT SACRIFICE?

HIS SON, WHO HE LOVES?

GOD ARE YOU CRAZY?

I imagine that these were a few of the first thoughts that popped into Abraham's head. I mean sacrificing his son, the one which God miraculously provided through his ninety year old wife?

No. No, no, no, no, no.

This is outrageous. But we see that Abraham makes no objections and the next day takes Isaac with him into the mountains. I can only imagine that trip. The thoughts about what was to come. Isaac had no idea what was about to happen. But Abraham is willing to sacrifice what he holds most dear, because it is what God asks of him.

Abraham is willing to sacrifice for his love.

As the story continues Abraham leads Isaac up into the mountains and on their way up Isaac asks him "Where is the lamb for the offering?"

Abraham replies "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering."

I can only imagine Abrahams emotions as he knew what was really going on. He prepares the alter and binds Isaac (which I am sure was not an easy thing to accomplish, I'd be fighting back). Abraham reaches and takes out the knife to slay Isaac when suddenly the Lord shouts:

"ABRAHAM!"

"Here I am" he replies (notice how Abrahams language points that he knows God is always near by?)

The Lord says, "Do not lay a hand on the boy. Now I know that you fear God because you have not withheld your son."

I tell you what I would be relieved but upset at the same time.

You tested me with my son's life on the line?

Sometimes we think we have it so bad. That we have to sacrifice the pitiful things in our lives for love, when people like Abraham were called to sacrifice their children. How selfish are we as humans?

Abraham had trust in God and his love for God was so pure. It is the the kind of love and trust that we should exert in our own spiritual lives as well as in our daily lives with the people we interact with and with the situations we are put in.

Be faithful. Sacrifice. Trust.

Love.

There's a really great song called Wake Dead Man, Wake by the band As Cities Burn and the end lyrics of this song are the most perfect calling of our trust to God.

Love.
What is love without trust?
At my word would you bring your Isaac?

We must trust and love God with all of us. We must sacrifice.

One

I want to try something new.

You with me so far?

Recently I have felt really angry with God. There have been some things that have just been bugging me to the "enth" degree. The "enth" degree...pretty serious huh? I was to a point where I was just questioning God like "What is your deal God"? "Why are you letting this happen to me, why do you allow this?" I felt like God was punishing me or something.

Do you ever feel like that? Do you ever just get so bent up about the way your life is and the things that happen that you sometimes miss out on the big picture?

You know in the Bible there's this guy whose name is Job. Job is a devout follower of God, he is described as being "blameless and upright". Now this doesn't mean that Job was sinless but it showed that he was faithful in the eyes of the Lord. Job is told as being blessed by the hands of God so that his flocks may spread throughout the land.

Job was blessed.

Job was favored in the eyes of God.

But as we read in Job we see that Jobs faithfulness would be tested. We see one day that his oxen and donkeys were taken, his sheep were killed, his camels were taken, and his sons and daughters were killed as well as his servants keeping eye over the flocks.

Did I mention that this was all in ONE DAY?

Job lost EVERYTHING.

I mean come on. That's not fair is it? Hasn't Job been faithful? What did Job do to deserve this. His entire family killed. His livestock stolen.

But Job was faithful and praised God.

Another day Job is afflicted with painful sores from head to toe. The Bible says that Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it to ease his discomfort. Now I don't know about you but I cringe just thinking about that. Scraping flesh with a sharp object. Ick. I mean at this point I would be in a fit of rage. GOD WHAT DID I DO TO YOU!? Why are you making my life miserable? I mean I've already lost everything why don't you just let me be?

Job 2:9 says that Jobs wife questions him and asks "Are you still holding onto your integrity? Curse God and die!" Sounds like a great Idea huh? Just say forget you God. I am done!

Job could give in.

But Job is faithful.

Now I doubt that many of us have had painful sores from head to toe, or have had our livestock stolen, or had our entire families wiped out but we all have suffering, we all have bad things happen in our lives and our pain can be real sometimes can't it?

Lately I've been reading this book by Rob Bell called "Velvet Elvis", and in this book there is something that caught my attention probably more than anything else in the book. He makes this point where he states that God thrives on our suffering.

Wait. God? The creator God? The loving compassionate God thriving on our being miserable? What nerve!

But the more and more I read into it, I found myself agreeing.

Now I want you to hear me out before we jump to arguments. If we think about suffering we see that the worst events in our life somehow bring us closer to God. He loves it when we are at the lowest points in our lives because that's when we see the big picture.

We can't heal alone.

We need God to heal.

We have nowhere else to turn but to cry out to a loving and merciful God. To place our broken hearts and lives in the hands of the one who can put the pieces back together.

WE need to be faithful. Even in the midst of our pain.

I was having one of those nights the other night you know where you are just upset, I mean your so frustrated by events and stress in your life. It just so happened that a buddy of mine was online and messaged me and we got to talking about how the night was going. I explained my situation and frustration and we talked about things and he gave me this challenge: "When you wake up tomorrow morning, just say to yourself I have a God who loves me." Quite a challenge huh? I mean to say those words in light of the stuff I was going through. I wondered if i would feel any different by saying it.

Funny thing...I did.

I woke up that next morning and the first words out of my mouth were "I have a God who loves me." It wasn't easy but as the day progressed I began to feel a change on my heart. I told myself that for this one day I would be faithful no matter what. Things seemed easier.

I think it's funny how we always see the negative things in our lives and overlook all of the things that God has blessed us with. Overcoming our selfishness is the first step in our recovery. We have to realize the blessings that God has provided and stop concentrating on the negative things that happen in our lives.

Now believe me it takes time, it's not like it happens right away. I have had to be patient and be faithful that God would help me and he continues to do so every day.

So here is my challenge to you.

Be faithful to God and trust that he loves you and that he will take care of you. No matter what.

Take that anger, regret, those feelings of pain and rejection..and let the scars heal. Let God work in your life and let him give you a new outlook on your life.

Be faithful.

Trust me it's worth it.

"But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you." - 1 Samuel 12:24

Quick Update!

As I sit here procrastinating more and more on my Old Testament History project I decided to give a little update.
There are 3 weeks of school left (hallelujah!) and I am more stressed out then I have been all semester. I guess this is what I get for coming back to school but it'll be worth it.
Some more Ireland money came in today! 100 bucks, that is a blessing! I forgot to put the due date on my letters though so that's probably why I haven't gotten very many back. That is the highlight of my stress right now though is getting the funds for that. I am so excited to go though.
Ok well other than that just pray that these next few weeks go by as stress free as they can.
Later.

Overdue

OK so i have sucked at doing this. I'm just really not as into it i guess. Not like anyone reads this anyways so that makes it worse. It's thanksgiving break now and I am so happy! I love this place severely but I need a few away from everyone to gain back my sanity. I have been going through this phase, I don't like it either where I have been in the dumps. It sucks it's just people an life issues, and stress that is just piling up.

However I am excited to say that today I was notified that I was accepted for the missions team to Northern Ireland in the spring!

Here is my issue though. I have faith that my funds will be provided for but I am worried still. 1720 is a lot of money. I dunno this is probably the most stressful thing right now. If I could just get it paid for entirely the amount of weight lifted of of my shoulders would be monumental! Pray for this opportunity and for my direction in life that God gets me back on track.

Other than that yeah the only thing that gets to me anymore is people. I love this college but people are driving me up a wall. I just wish that people would make up their minds, be humble and stop holding things in I guess. I don't know why it bothers me but it just does and it's starting to get to me.

I have been praying that God points me in a direction in life and helps me to understand that the most important thing in life is something that is not of this earth. I have been blessed in more ways than I know but yet I complain about how things aren't fair. I think I have felt like God was testing me or letting things happen because of how my heart was and I have come to the realization that it's not his doing.

I began asking God to intervene in my life. I know that it can't be perfect but I asked that my heart be set on his course instead of my own. I think it's funny how selfish we as human beings can be. We ignore that there is a creator working in our daily lives and instead of turning to him for help we complain about how miserable we are and try to do things on our own to no prevail.

There is still a part of me that searches every single day, and some days I feel as if there is nothing else for me to do.

Matthew 21:21-22 says "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. ²²If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

I leave you with this quote....

"I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go." - Abraham Lincoln

Fall Break!

Wow this semester has been flying by. Hocking didn't seem to go this fast. Maybe that's because I am actually enjoying myself here. Hmm. So I am excited for a recent opportunity to go on a missions trip to Northern Ireland for 2 weeks in March. I am still praying on it but I know that I will do it given it's such an amazing opportunity. I have never even been out of the country before so I am super excited, plus to go to such a beautiful country!

Anyways. I am managing pretty well with classes and whatnot. I think BBD (Basic Bible Doctrines) may be the toughest class I have so far. It's making me think outside the box and really look at the reality of God and how he works. It's fascinating. I am pulling some pretty good grades too which makes me feel so smart even though I know I'm not.

Living on campus is sweet too. I am making some awesome connections that make me feel blessed every single day. I really think that there is no experience like living on campus.

I just finished up fall break and well so far my computer has broken, I got a Mac which is sweet, but now I am in debt and wonder about how I am going to pay all my debt off plus if this Ireland trip is gonna happen. Other than that it has been ok.
I am still praying that Dad finds work too or we're gonna be hurting soon. Please continue to pray for us.
~B