Apologies for the randomness of the title of this blog. If you understand it, laugh, if not then someday you should as one the the Grimes sisters about a certain home video named "Shopping in the City"...
Anyways the last you heard from me was Athenry. I will attempt to summarize the past few weeks...
Since Athenry we spent time in Ballybofey, Co. Donegal during the schools Halloween break and were able to relax and prepare for coming retreats. If I had to choose a place in Ireland where I feel most at home it would be Ballybofey. I can't quite put my finger on why, because its not as if it looks anything like home, the weather is CRAP most of the time, and the majority of the people in the town are strangers to me. Maybe it's because people know what NET is there and so I'm not consistently explaining who I am and why I'm here, but I more apt to think that it's because its the first place we came to in Ireland and were immediately met with tremendous generosity and, for lack of a better expression, open arms. Now this isn't, of course, to say that we haven't been met with the same welcoming spirit everywhere we've been, but merely to point out that Ballybofey has a special place in my heart as "home" in Ireland. Plus the people there are just such good craic. (Irish slang for extremely fun)
After Ballybofey we moved to the big bad city of Dublin. Everywhere we had gone before Dublin was consistantly warning us to get ready for the city, talking about how much harder it was going to be. So I was a little nervous coming to the city after our week of relaxing, but decided to jump in with both feet. And I am so glad I did. The first couple retreats we did in Dublin were absolutely amazing. During the retreats we always have small groups, which is a time for the young people on retreat to ask questions, share their own stories, or to ask me, as a NET member, about my experiences of God. At first having small group was a little scary, but I've felt like in these past few weeks in Dublin I've really been able to be comfortable sharing my own stories with the young people and once at the end of the day when my small group was sharing our favorite part of the retreat one girl said that what she loved most was hearing our (the NET members) stories about our lives with God because they were real and she believed that they could happen to her too. And in that moment I realized the importantance of telling others about our experiences of God. It isn't so that I can get attention or so that people will think I am this great, brave, holy, or intelligent person. It is so they can see God. It is so that people can realize that God is in their everday lives, so they can know that God cares about the small seemingly insignificant details. So all that is pretty humbling, and pretty amazing to think that I have been chosen to share my stories and by doing so can bring people to God.
After Ballybofey we moved to the big bad city of Dublin. Everywhere we had gone before Dublin was consistantly warning us to get ready for the city, talking about how much harder it was going to be. So I was a little nervous coming to the city after our week of relaxing, but decided to jump in with both feet. And I am so glad I did. The first couple retreats we did in Dublin were absolutely amazing. During the retreats we always have small groups, which is a time for the young people on retreat to ask questions, share their own stories, or to ask me, as a NET member, about my experiences of God. At first having small group was a little scary, but I've felt like in these past few weeks in Dublin I've really been able to be comfortable sharing my own stories with the young people and once at the end of the day when my small group was sharing our favorite part of the retreat one girl said that what she loved most was hearing our (the NET members) stories about our lives with God because they were real and she believed that they could happen to her too. And in that moment I realized the importantance of telling others about our experiences of God. It isn't so that I can get attention or so that people will think I am this great, brave, holy, or intelligent person. It is so they can see God. It is so that people can realize that God is in their everday lives, so they can know that God cares about the small seemingly insignificant details. So all that is pretty humbling, and pretty amazing to think that I have been chosen to share my stories and by doing so can bring people to God.
So thats a little snippit from my experiences in Dublin. Not so scary afterall...
Right now the team and I are in Arklow, Co. Wicklow. Exciting things this week include the world cup deciding match between Ireland and France. On Saturday we played France as well and lost 1-0, but on Wednesday we get a chance to redeem ourselves. The way I understand it is as long as Ireland scores 1 goal in the match then we will still in the World Cup, so pray that it happens cause I love the World Cup and I love Ireland so the two together is fabulous.
This past weekend our team had a chance to experience the beautiful scenery at Glendalough, which is the site of an old monastery/cemetery and is also a nature reserve and park. It was simply breathtaking and we scored a day of great weather in the midst of many days of rain. While walking down one of the roads we came upon this huge waterfall up a hill and myself and Sara decided to run up the hill to get a closer look. Well, once a few of us were up there the rest eventually decided to follow and we ended up saying our team rosary there on the hill beside the waterfall. Some of us were sitting on the ground, some were standing, and some were perched on rock ledges. (One guess as to where I was...) It was really powerful to be praying all together with the sounds of nature in the background. It was also laughable because you could see other tourists walking along the path and staring up the hill and I wasn't quite sure if they were mezmerized by the waterfall, or puzzled as to why there were crazy people climbing about it. All in all it was a good day of hiking filled with team fun, prayer, and many many laughs. But thats our team for you, we laugh at nearly everything. Its a good thing though, God made humans the only creatures that are able to laugh so we should use the talents and gifts that God gave us to the best of our abilities. =)
On that note, I will leave you. Until next time, God bless and don't forget to laugh.