I've Learned to Dance in the Rain

Week one of my placement here at Cartsbridge Evangelical Church is complete! Seems like I just got here yesterday and after getting over an ugly cold, I now feel happy and settled here. It has rained almost every day but everyone in the church is very welcoming and there are quite a few youth too. :) My host family is so nice and it is fun to spend my down time with them.

Gordon and Lynn, and their two boys: Joshua (3 years) and Ethan (20 months)

Here are some pictures of the church:

Main entrance

sanctuary/main hall

 Here's an idea of what I did this week and what I'll be doing during my time here:
Sunday - Communion Service and All Age Service in the morning, then Evening Service and YF later on.
Monday - Stepping Stones nursery group in the afternoon and discipleship course whenever I'm home. I also went to play basketball once so far, we'll see how long I last there. :)
Tuesday - Story time at a local nursery or Tuesday Lunch Club (a senior citizen group) and in the evening, a children's choir.
Wednesday - CU at a high school, King's Club in the evening (a club for primary aged children), and church prayer meeting.
Thursday - SU at a primary school, met with my mentor, Hilary Templeton for dinner, and Freedom in Christ (a 13-week course they are doing instead of bible studies).
Friday - SU group that meets after school at a church and Youth Club at Cartsbridge. Twice while I'm here, I'll go to assemblies at a primary school.
Saturday - Day off. Last Saturday, I went to watch the church football team play (in the rain!) in the semi-finals of their league, then my host family took me to a shopping centre and we ate Auntie Anne pretzels! They invited people from the church to dinner and then I went with Lynn's sister, Jen, to a girl's house to hang out and play games. This Saturday, I went into Glasgow city centre to see my old friend Tara Nicholl. It was great to see her and catch up, it had been a while since we'd seen each other! And there was also a praise night at a church so we went along to that and met up with some people I met at bible college.
 Most of the events that I attend/help at are run by various people from the church but I go to the schools with Iain, the youth worker. They have made this such an easy transition with their friendliness and willingness to come pick me up etc.
They can still hear my American accent, a man at Boots even asked me if I was from California... so I haven't picked up the Scottish accent yet - but who knows! I have been finding myself fitting the random "wee" into conversations. :)
Thanks for all your prayers and support! I'm so blessed to have you all following my exciting journey.

Part 3 out of 4 Commences

Time flies. So fast. My week in Dublin felt even shorter than my week traveling around the North. I think it's because I was in one place and you get into a routine that makes the time go by faster, somehow! Being in the good ole Dun Laoghaire and Dublin area was so great and I was sad to leave. I loved meeting up with old friends and exploring old places - none actually that old, just foggy in my mind after years of separation. :) Despite what my mother will try and tell you, the weather here isn't too bad and it only rained once while I was here with several days being warm enough to wear a t-shirt. Here are some pictures of my fab week!

99 (ice cream) at Teddy's!

Public fitness area - made a fool of myself using some of the machines...

Pier!

Bagel from itsa... Yummy!!

Visit to old school

My favourite Starbucks :)

View of the sea from Starbucks!

Weird faces at Cabinteely Park

View from the top of the spider web!

HUGE pieces of cake with Lydia, good thing we went for a walk first!

Shankill with Rebecca!



Selfie with the girls I stayed with :)

I thought I would have lots of down time, and I did have some but it was balanced with escapades and catching up with friends.
It was nice to be able to relax in my room and think about all that has happened so far. I typed up the testimony that I gave at bible college and that was really helpful because now I have a hard copy and not just bullet points. One thing that I've really paid attention to recently is the lyrics to church songs. I usually love songs because of the tune but when I think of what the songs are saying and the meaning behind the words, I get goose bumps. They're more powerful than I was giving them credit for. One example of this is from the song "Indescribable," “you know the depth of my heart and you love me the same.” Another thing is that practically every Sunday I would go to the same church, but the past five weeks I have gone to a different church each week. It has been so great and lovely to get a view of many different churches. Starting this Sunday, though, I will be at Cartsbridge Church for the next six weeks and that will be nice to really see that church and become a part of that community.
It's been great here in Glasgow so far, just arrived this morning. My host family is so wonderful and have made me very welcome. I'm excited for this stop on my adventure.
Silly me, thinking that quiet time and prayer would be easier when I'm away from home. There will ALWAYS be distractions but I definitely need God's help to overcome them and deepen my relationship with Him. Missing everyone and hope everyone is doing well!
XO

Visiting Old Places with New Perspectives

Saying goodbye to everyone was hard but our heavy traffic trip to the airport in the lashing rain stressed us out so much that Rachel and I had our minds on making our flight, which helped calm our emotions. :) In Belfast, I stayed with the wonderful Karen Inch (who you should go to if you ever want to know anything or everything about the Titanic!) and she took Rachel and me to Newcastle and Tollymore Forest Park.

Nice to be back in Newcastle!

 

 

Lots was going on at Tollymore:

We tried to creep and see them film Dracula!

Set of 'Game of Thrones'!



Good thing there was a sign so we knew where we had to be!

From there I went to see Rachel McCullough and we took a trip up to the north coast. I saw lots of familiar sights and people. We had a blast from walking on the beach to eating ice cream to dinner at the Wine Bar!

Best tobacco onions in the world

It's been so cool to be back to both of my old churches! Nothing much has changed except maybe that they look a little smaller since I'm bigger. :)

Ballywillan Presbyterian Church

Dun Laoghaire Presbyterian Church

Parts of the concrete around the window has been crumbling!

 Sitting in "my pews":