Nollaig Shona

As the Christmas season approaches I find myself getting anxious because I know I won't be able to see the most important people in my life this year. I am excited to experience the Irish traditions and to continue to build relationships here, but it is certainly tinged with sadness for the absence of the comforting familiarity of my loved ones back home.  I remember all the Christmas traditions and how they have evolved through the years to accommodate different phases of life.

This year will just be a new stage of the evolution into new traditions. Earlier in the month I attended a Christmas themed cookery demonstration, I attended the Spirit Radio Christmas dinner and today I got to watch two of the Mahony kids perform in their school Christmas plays. They attend an Irish school, which means they only speak Irish at school. The plays were performed in Irish and were very well done..as far as I could tell. ;)

Last week I recorded my first ad for the Radio station. I was on the air! It was really fun and a bit strange to hear myself.  Hopefully I will get the chance to do more recording for the station in the future.  Otherwise, my time has been filled with lots of administrative work for the Kairos weekend (coming up in February). I am looking forward to having a bit of time off for Christmas and New Year's. I hope you all have a blessed Christmas and know that I am missing you all back home.

Nollaig Shona!

(photo: Rachel and myself going to the Spirit Christmas dinner)

Taking chances...

Something I'm learning consistently throughout my GAP year is: you have to take chances! I mean, people tell you that all the time. The way to grow and get the most out of life is to take chances..do something that's a little bit scary. I suppose I started taking chances the minute I got on the plane to come to Ireland, but I am just now  beginning to understand what it really means. Sometimes, the signs aren't there and you have to take a leap of faith and trust that no matter what happens it will be alright in the end. It's not always easy to see the optimistic angle and that makes the chances you take all the more courageous.

Someone once told me that life is like an adventure book. You turn to a page and it gives you a choice

"if you think you should go through the door go to page 73; 

if you think you should turn back go to page 45"

but the great thing about it is, no matter which way you choose, you always get to the end of the book. It really put things in perspective for me. I am very indecisive, but this made the little choices much less frightening for me. When I don't have control over a situation it's easier now for me to say "I am taking a chance on this course of action, and whatever happens, I will still end up at the end of the adventure book."

One of the great difficulties and opportunities of a GAP year is how to make friends. You come to a new country and you know no one. It's terrifying. What if you start to share things about yourself and everyone rejects you? Fear of rejection can paralyse people for years, but I don't want to be stuck in the same place for a whole year, I don't want to be lonely and I don't want to miss out on the opportunity to learn from other people! I find it helpful to remember that almost everyone feels that same fear of rejection and if I am not the one to break through it, who will?

Needless to say, I have been forcing myself to take more chances, lately. The result has been more rewarding than I ever thought possible. I learn new skills daily. Yesterday, I discovered I can cut my own hair (that's going to help my budget hugely in the future). I've learned so much about the culture and the individuals in the community here just by spending time with people. I learned that it's okay to let go of situations I can't control. I'm about to venture out to the city centre on my own and I can guarantee I will learn something valuable today!

I still get scared when the pivotal moment approaches, but I have the expereince now to say: when I took that chance it turned out alright. So it becomes easier to make that decision the next time.

Thanks for taking the time to read a bit about me and my growing process!! There will be another update soon. Cheers!

Where the Streets have no name...literally

They say you never really get to know your way around a place until you've gotten lost and had to find your way back on your own. Well, hopefully I can say I know Dublin now! Today, by far one of the busiest days I've had here, was made even busier by a last minute assignment to go around the city centre and put up posters at all the colleges. There is only one problem, or maybe a few...Dublin doesn't have street signs and if it does they are very stealthily concealed from anyone with less than super 20/20 vision.

So, Rachel and I went on our merry way into the City Centre, and walked around...and around...and around looking for the above mentioned colleges...We were supposed to be able to get to four different colleges within the span of an hour...but hey! I feel like one is pretty good for a couple of American girls with nothing but a google map that mysteriously eliminated Grafton street from existence.

It was a rollercoaster of emotions; this adventure through the streets of Dublin.  Funny at first, exciting, then hungry, then tired (and grumpy), then cold, then even more hungry. We walked up and down Grafton Street (once we'd found our way there) putting up posters in shop windows and at Trinity College (which we may or may not have been allowed to do) until we couldn't feel our feet for being so hungry. I came home to a lovely meal, which I ate in less than 5 minutes! And I was off again to another meeting.

I definitely have a new appreciation for the U2 song Where the Streets have no name and I think I am slightly more aware of my surroundings now, though I can't say I'd want to relive the experience anytime soon. :)
Here are a few snapshots of my day, enjoy!

 Grafton Street

In November

5..4..3..2..1..

And we're back, ladies and gentleman. I've been back in Ireland for about 2 weeks and last week was spent in Belfast, Northern Ireland where I helped with the Future Youth conference and the 20th Anniversary for Youth Initiatives! It was a great celebration of the amazing work God has done in the youth in Northern Ireland over the past couple of decades.

It was truly incredible to be able sit among the past and present workers of YI and hear the speeches of tremendous people like Jamie Treadwell and Doug Smith, to hear the history of the program, and to see the crosslinks performance of the current youth. Knowing that 20 years ago this organisation was just an idea and now is a full fledged charity doing so much good for the country is so encouraging.

It was especially cool for me to be there because some of my siblings have gone to work with YI in the past. My brother, John was the first and then my sister Anna. They both played a part (and made an impression, apparently) in the growth of Youth Initiatives. And here I am, so blessed to be at the 20th Anniversary of such a great program.

It was amazing to me how many of the staff I met in Belfast recognized me because I look like my siblings! I think a huge reason that YI has worked so well and made such a difference is the commitment of the people who work there. Their steadfast dedication to serving the youth of Northern Ireland throughout the years is astounding! The fact that these people remembered my family from many many years ago says so much about their personal characters and their unity as a group to forge ahead through all sorts of ups and downs all for the sake of giving hope to youth for the future. It is truly inspsiring to encounter.

So a special thank you to all the staff at Youth Initiatives for showing me how to put others first, what it really means to commit to something and what it looks like to answer the call. I am so blessed for having witnessed such great love and devotion.

Don't mind me: I'm just feeling a bit nostalgic, right now.

My family is rather large, with many members and many different personalities..the noise level reaches the stratosphere when everyone gets together..we are all crazy in alot of (different) ways, we grate on each others nerves and we get into heated debates. But at the end of the day we love each other. The loud noise is just enjoyment of each others' company. The crazy is just part of life..a life we share together. We grate on each others nerves but it increases our patience. And we engage in heated debates to call each other on to better understanding and behavior.

Yes we get angry with one another, but without anger there is no cause to forgive. I think it's important to practice forgiveness within your family so that when you are faced with an affront out in the world forgiveness is already second nature.

Family is there to teach us about life. We interact and we react.  When everything seems bleak, we have a good cry together. Then, we'll find something funny and laugh till it hurts. Together.



We are far from perfect and I don't always understand everyone but I love them. And they teach me something new every single day. I have a new appreciation for my family this week, being home for a few days for a wedding, I get to see all the different personalities  in a fresh light. You know what they say: "you can choose your friends but you can't choose your family." That may be true. I did choose all my friends and among them are my family members. I think that says alot about the caliber of people they are.

I am definitely enjoying my GAP year and I know it's where I'm supposed to be, but I sure will miss my family when I go back to Dublin! Thanks for reading and my apologies for the sap. :)

Learning curve..

This week is the pledge drive at Spirit Radio and today, a woman called in and wanted to donate some money but needed someone to come and pick up the donation from a house off of Baggot Street. Rachel and I, being GAPpers, were delegated the task of finding the house and retrieving the donation. I know what your thinking: "come and pick up the donation from a house off of Baggot street"? sounds pretty sketch. I thought so too, which is why we went together. But getting a chance to wander up and down Baggot Street in the middle of the work day (in my mind) is an adventure!

So, off we went. I learned some fascinating things on this adventure! After all, what are adventures for, if not for learning new and fascinating things?

Here's what I learned:
1) Jay walking is okay and even acceptable and is widely practiced
2) Look right first then left when crossing the street!
3) If you ring the bell upstairs someone will open a hidden door downstairs and give you money
4) The back gate will stay open if you don't make sure it is shut all the way
5) Just because it is sunny does not mean it is warm
6) Avoid the lift (elevator) to the left..it sounds like it is about to break
7) Adventures don't have to be long in order for you to get alot out of them
and Finally, (from the adventure home)
8) Wait the extra three minutes for the 45. People will be so inconsiderate as to smoke and drink beer on the 7.

For those of you who don't know, the 45 and the 7 are different bus routes, both of which we can take from Spirit to get home. Today, the 7 showed up first and it was freezing outside so we hopped on.  As mentioned above there was a "gentleman" in the back of the bus smoking cigarettes and apparently drinking beer and leaving the empty bottles on the floor to roll around whenever the bus turned. To say the least, it was not the most pleasant ride home, but boy was it ever an adventure!

In other news: I found a copy of one of my favorite books, which is no longer in print, at a second hand bookshop in Dun Laoghaire! Some of you proabably know it. It's called The Robe. If you've never read it, you should. It's definitely worth it.
Thanks for reading. I hope you visit again soon and God Bless!

When it's not always raining..

Now that you've had an intro into why and how I came to be in Ireland I can give you an overview of what I actually do here on a weekly basis. For the first half of the week I generally work on administrative tasks for the Community of Nazareth as well as preparation for Youth Group events, which happen on Friday evenings.  On Wednesdays and Thursdays Rachel (my roommate and fellow GAPper) and I work at the local Christian radio station, called Spirit Radio.  Public transportation is really big in Ireland so we take the bus or train most places we go (It takes about an hour to get to the radio station by bus.)

Spirit's catch phrase is "Ireland's new Positive Sound" so as you can guess they really focus on having a positive, uplifting sound.  My job is to research positive news stories and rewrite them in script form to be read on the air.  I also put together events guides and update the website's calander.  I love working there because it truly is a positive sound, whenever I listen to Spirit radio I can't help but feel happy and encouraged. And by finding positive news and events I feel that I am actually contributing to this Positive sound.

                                                         Working at Spirit Radio.

Last week we had the opportunity to visit a school for three days and help put on a retreat for the first and third year girls (ages 13-15). It was really amazing to see the Lord work at these retreats and I know there will be many more like it to come!

On Saturdays, Rachel and I try to get out and see a bit of the area. The weather has been unusually nice since I got here and so far we have been able to go to Howth, climb the Sugarloaf Mountain and wander around the city centre.

                   This is Rachel and me at Powerscourt with the Sugarloaf mountain behind us.

                                       At Howth, it was such a beautiful day! Sunny and warm.

From left to right: Three of the Mahony's (my host family) Peter, Leanne, Paul, Rachel and me at the top of the Sugarloaf Mountain.

There will be more detail to come, but this is an overview of what I have been doing since I arrived about 5 weeks ago.  Thanks for reading and God Bless.

A Beginner Blogging

Welcome! Throughout the year I intend to post recent events, experiences and developments that take place on my GAP year in order that anyone who is interested can keep up with me while I'm away.

To begin, I should probably give a preview of what a GAP year is and how I came to be on one. I am a member of an international Christian Community of Communities called the Sword of the Spirit (SOS). There are communities all around the world that are affiliated with the SOS and I am from the Word of Life in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

A GAP year is an opportunity for young Christians (ages 18-25) to travel to a different community and offer a year of service to them and to God. It is up to the GAPper (me) to raise my own money in order to live and serve for a year in this community without any income.

The fact that I am in Dublin still amazes me! I had to send out fundraising letters to other members of my community, family and friends. I would not be here but for the amazing support of these wonderful people in my life.

I have been here for one month exactly and I never even expected to get on the plane. I applied to do this GAP year extremely late in the game and didn't expect to get a response from anyone. But the Lord had His hand in it and the Community of Nazareth in Dublin had room for me and invited me to come and serve despite the fact that I applied so late and had not raised nearly enough money to get through the year. So here I am, in Dublin!!

Anyone who knows me could tell you that I have a natural tendency to worry about things and the fact that I have not raised enough money yet for the year is a source of anxiety for me. But I also sense the Lord calling me on to place my worries on Him and to just "Ride the waves"--> This is a whole new concept for me because I really like to be in control..it's going to be wild ride! *yikes*

Dublin is a fantastic city. I live with a family here and one other GAPper (who is also from Michigan) and it feels like home already. They are so welcoming and genuine. I am sure they will play major roles in the future of this exciting story about the year to come.

I hope you will find this enjoyable and informative. I have never written a blog before and am a little bit intimidated, so bear with me and I will do my best :) Thanks for stopping in!

I would greatly appreciate any prayers you could send my way! God Bless.