Last week went by incredibly fast, and Chrissy and I were pretty busy working at Spirit Radio and also planning the first NYPD (Nazareth Youth Programme Dublin) meeting, which was held on Friday night. The night went very well and all the kids had a good time. We started off with a time of worship, then played some games with the kids for a while. We also welcomed the new kids with new Bibles, so that was pretty exciting. It was great to meet all the kids, even though I don't remember half of their names. I'm praying that the rest of the year will be a great success and I can't wait to take part in planning it.
Last night Chrissy and I went to dinner at a Community of Nazareth couple's house to celebrate the Lord's Day (a meal on Saturday evening celebrating the Sabbath day). We had a really delicious chicken curry for dinner and a homemade apple-blackberry crumble for dessert. Mmmm! During dinner we all went around and told everyone about ourselves. It was a nice way to get to know everyone and to keep conversation going throughout the evening. The couple that had us over was really sweet, and it was nice to get to know the other family a little bit as well.
Today was a pretty relaxed Sunday. I am coming to really appreciate Sundays here in Ireland. Back home I went to mass on Sunday mornings and then went to work almost immediately after I got home. I usually worked 1:30-8 on Sundays. So much for a "day of rest". I never had the courage to ask for a Sunday off of work because of the time-and-a-half pay. I just couldn't give that up. Here, though, I don't have to go to work after mass. I can just come home and have lunch and enjoy the rest of the day with family (well, my host family). This afternoon we had a community prayer meeting, during which I made my year-long commitment to both the community and to the GAP Programme (yeah, here "program" spelled kind of strangely...along with colour and favourite and flavour). Anyway, I'll be a part of the community for the year, which basically means I'll be one of about 200 people that are living for Christ together through community prayer meetings, small mens/womens share groups, youth groups, and other events. Committing to the GAP Programme means agreeing to the 3 pillars of the GAP year. The first pillar is God...to know Him and deepen my relationship with Him this year through prayer and studying His word. The second pillar is Community...to be deeply involved in the community where I live (The Community of Nazareth), and to grow in my faith alongside my brothers and sisters in Christ. The third pillar is Service...to serve wherever I am needed, to contribute towards the financial needs of the GAP programme, and to set apart any involvement in a romantic relationship during the course of the year, so that I may be totally focused on service. I made this commitment today during the community prayer meeting, so now I am officially a part of the community and I am officially a GAPper. :) It's about time!
My host parents left town for the evening to celebrate their 19th wedding anniversary, so Chrissy and I were alone in the house for a few hours. The kids had gone to their grandparents' house for the afternoon, so we joked about having a huge party there. Of course we didn't. We did walk down to the Chinese place and get take out though. :) Then we just vegged for the remainder of the evening. The kids came home at around 6:00ish and we all watched tv together for a couple of hours. I love chill evenings like that.
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