honeymoon's over

i've hit the point...the truth profs & cross-cultural workers have told me about, "there will come a time when all the fun little things start to annoy you! when things aren't so great, happy, & cool anymore." simple things like the rain, riding the bus, grocery shopping, flushing my toilet (you have to jiggle it about 5 times before it will flush), have become mundane, easy, & at times, frustrating. 

i've hit the stage where the reality of my 2 YEAR stay here is becoming more & more visible to me. when i arrived, i was joyful, excited, full of wonder, & ready for all the unknowns. now those thrilling unknowns (&there are still a lot) are becoming stale. they are becoming frustrations instead of wonders to be discovered. 

but as i step into this new phase, i remember the last month with great joy & fondness. i look back on the 4 weeks with a smile. a new place to call home, new people to meet & get to know, & new adventures. i remember how incredibly faithful the Lord has been. how He has provided for me & others. how gracious & merciful He has been as i stumbled. i also remember He is in the mundane. He's in the daily routine of our lives, that's where He meets us. He meets us at those simple things like a sliver of sunshine through a tree branch, a child's laugh, the kindness of a stranger, a good conversation with a friend, a hug from a family member, reading a good book, getting into a warm bed, drinking, eating; in all that we do, God is there. He's right there! 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." in all that we do, we can & should give glory to the God. listen to this song by Gungor about God being right here with us.

in moving out of the honeymoon stage, i long for it to continue, i reach out to hold on to it as a lifeline. in a sense it will linger as i continue to learn about the place in which i dwell. i will continue to say the wrong word or completely misunderstand someone. i will still have trouble understanding 2 dubs (dubliners) when they speak to one another & i will still find joys in the new little things (hopefully). wanting to cling to this great stage reminds me of the time Jesus spoke of entering the Kingdom as a little child in Matthew 18. He says, "I tell you the truth, unless you change & become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." clare, my housemate, thinks i'm kinda weird for my love & interest in children. i guess i find them interesting because of their curiosity, their truthfulness, & their genuine wonder. they want to discover, to know, to learn. that's the way i was when i arrived (& hope to continue to be). i wanted to know everything, discover new places, meet new people, ask them questions, etc. i am a child in this place, in this culture. how beautiful this picture is of us as children of God in His kingdom. how humbled we are & how curious we should be about His kingdom, His people, & His heart! 

the YMCA where i volunteer

alley near the YMCA

first house dinner & pumpkin carving with my housemates

James Joyce Centre

St. Patrick's Cathedral (beautiful even when it's raining)

cuLturE

culture...
what is it? where does it come from? what/who defines it? how can it change & who gets to change it? what is it not? does it look the same to all who are "in" it? is it/can it be good/bad or right/wrong? can you truly be "in" or "out" of a culture? is it possible to be a part of only one culture? if you could take a snapshot of your culture what would it look like?
i tell people i'm from the States & then they ask which state & i say, Indiana (most have no idea where it is). but what does that really mean? what does that say about who i am? how does being from the US & the Indiana culture affect who i am, the way i act, how i think, what i believe to be true, & how i see the world around me?

one of the parts of culture that has had an impact on me recently is assumption. the things the people "in" the culture take for granted, the norms, etc. the things a "native" to the culture probably doesn't think about. maybe it's just culture in general that has hit me hard because if culture is all the history, customs, symbols, language, beliefs, ways of living, food, etc. that make up a society then maybe it's the idea of culture that has been on my mind. the confusion of it, the intertwined-ness of it, the variations of it, etc. 

think of your culture. whatever/wherever it is. may it's the US, maybe it's your school or your work, maybe it's your home or your church. now think of things that a complete stranger wouldn't know if they walked in the door or hit the airport floor in an American terminal. think of things you take for granted that you know how to do. maybe it's turning on the stove, maybe it's knowing who to ask for help, maybe it's knowing when you're being cheated by a street merchant, maybe it's whether or not you should take off your shoes, maybe it's knowing every song on the radio, maybe it's understanding your accent or language. these are things that strangers to your culture would not necessarily know. 


ymca: this week was about the same as last week at the Y. it's been really good to get to know the staff & hear about what goes on at the Y. it's been fun to laugh & joke around with them. i've been thinking more about the history of the Y here & around the world, it's pretty interesting! click here for history of the Y.

innovista: we had our weekly team meeting, our weekly prayer meeting, brainstormed about Rise (program for the youth), & i attended my first Rise session. it was great to see the program at work & to see the students learning! i'm excited to see the program at work each week & see how the students progress as they learn about leadership & how they can help change their community!

brainstorming for Rise

last weekend, my housemate, grace, & i walked to a farmers' market which was so great! it was very sunny & warm (rare here) so it was a perfect day to be outside. simply beautiful!

fridays tend to be my "touristy" days as i usually walk around the city & discover new places. this helps me understand the city more & allows me to get a better grasp on where things are. last friday i went to the National Museum of Ireland which was awesome! so much old stuff!!! i absolutely loved it! things from like 1500 BC, you know, no biggie! yesterday, i ended up at a REALLY old church this time. and when i say old, i mean super old! it was established in 1190! it's called st. audeon's church, check out it's wikipedia page here.

cross at the national museum

remains of the Portlester chapel at st. audoen's church

st. anne's chapel within st. audoen's church

His provision

it's been amazing to witness the Lord's provision & the fact that He has gone before me. i've simply sat & watched His handiwork play out this last week. i have heard, felt, & seen things the Lord had tucked away in the deepest places of my heart & is now revealing. it's a beautiful thing to be where He wants you! it's a wonderful thing to follow His lead (not knowing what's ahead) only to laugh at how perfect it is. it truly is beyond my dreams, it's more than i could have ever intentionally planned.

ymca: this week i sat in the entry way at the Y to meet people & observe what goes on there. it was great to chat with staff over tea & smile at all the little kids coming in & out (may have seemed like a creeper!). there is a lot of activity there with the gym, fitness classes, & the creche (kind of like preschool/daycare). it's been great to get to know people! check out the Y's website here.

there's a great coffee shop near the Y that i like to go to.
stephen (my new barista friend) makes awesome designs!

innovista: had out first true team meeting yesterday which was good. i am very excited to be a part of innovista & all it stands for & feels called to do! it's great to see the passion for youth, young adults, & leadership in my co-workers! we chatted about what leadership actually is & how we define it. as i was listening to a recorded talk (homework for my Tempo training) by innovista's founder, jason, i just laughed because much of what i was hearing him say & a lot of what we had talked about leadership, i had written in my final ministry paper senior year at Hope College! it was so great to thank the Lord for people sharing a vision & passion for something! so great how the Lord works! check out innovista international's website here. check out innovista ireland's website here.

the innovista office

i still (& probably always will) love walking around & discovering new places. yesterday i literally just jumped on a bus, i think it was the 83... i was going to meet someone & knew i needed to go north so i jump hoped on the first bus that came up to the stop. haha, i then just saw where it went & got off when i knew where i was. i almost laughed out loud at myself on the bus but then thought that would be weird.

sunset from my street. i was walking to the park...which i do a lot!

all 4 of my housemates have now moved in so it's becoming more active & lively at the big yellow house! also it has a lot more stuff in it, useful things like sharp knives (i had been eating my cucumber without cutting it up, just taking bites out of it every so often), pots, loads of mugs, & so much more! we played dutch blitz (takes my back to cluster days in dykstra freshman year at Hope!), watch the IT Crowd (i think it's a british show...), & chat about our days. it's such a blessing to have people to chat with about how things are going & laugh & joke around! praise the Lord for clare, grace, emma & amy! :)

my housemate, clare, & i grocery shopping! 

we made our first fire in our fireplace (it's pretty chilly here!)
and i ate my first irish chocolate which was delicious!

pray requests:

• patience, patience, patience with learning things & getting to know the ropes
• discernment as i meet people to speak and/or listen as the Lord guides
• confidence in the areas the Lord has gifted me
• reminder to slow down & take time with people, with eating, with prayer, with everything as life can become hectic & out of control as i get settled
• continual awareness of the Lord's provision & how He is at work