Cáisc shona dhuit!

In Irish, "Cáisc shona dhuit" means Happy Easter!  Jesus has defeated death and has risen from the grave!    He has broken the chains of sin and set us free!  He is alive!  Alleluia!

Despite some feelings of homesickness, I have had a great Easter celebration here in Dublin.  I think being away from home during Easter was harder for me than being away during Christmas.  I think it was mostly because of the amazing Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil) masses that I left behind in Ann Arbor.  I've really grown to love this time of the year because my church back home, Christ the King, has some really exceptional Triduum masses.  Honestly, they blow my mind.  Plus there's the fact that my dad sings in the choir there, and I just love hearing them sing...and seeing my dad smile at me.  :)

My host brother Paul rows for Trinity College in Dublin, so we went to his Trinity Regatta on Holy Saturday to watch him row.  He's the 3rd guy from the left, under the "TA" in REGATTA.  :)

That's me, Alessa, and Ellen.
Alessa is a German student staying with my host family for two weeks.

It was fun to watch the races.  Trinity ended up winning two and losing two.  Not bad!

The weather was nice, too.  We brought a big blanket and a picnic lunch, so we all ate outside and enjoyed the sun between Paul's races.

 I went to an Easter Vigil mass in town ("downtown Dublin") that evening with a woman named Carole from Spirit Radio.  We went to a church on Clarendon Street called St. Teresa's and the church was gorgeous!  There was an EXCEPTIONAL choir...they sounded amazing!  They sang some really beautiful songs during mass, and afterwards they sang the Hallelujah Chorus!  The Vigil mass itself was alright...they only did 3 out of the 7 readings, but besides that it was good.  Here's a picture of the church that I found online.

  It was even more beautiful inside the church!  After mass when we stepped outside, I overheard someone say "So, you're from California, and you're from Michigan?"  and my ears perked up at the sound of "Michigan."  I interrupted and said "Wait, who's from Michigan?"  This girl looked at me and said, "I am", and I told her I was as well.  I introduced myself to her and we got talking about, well, American things...like how we thought it was strange that no one does Easter baskets and jelly beans for Easter morning.  You know...important stuff.  :)  It turns out that she's an Au pair in Dublin and she's from the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan.  I was telling her about my GAP program, and it turns out that both she and the Irish guy she was with know a couple of the families in the Community of Nazareth.  It's a small world!  Anyway, this girl Maria and I exchanged names and information, and we're most likely going to meet up sometime.  :)  I was so excited to make a friend!

I came home from town that evening at around 11pm, slept for about 2 hours, and then got up and watched my home church's Easter Vigil mass online. They streamed it on the internet for the first time, and despite the big time difference, I wanted to stay up all night to watch it.  I got to see my dad sing in the choir, and I saw my mom walk by during Communion.  It kind of felt like I was there and it kind of soothed my homesick heart.  :)  The mass started at 1:30am Irish time and didn't finish until about 5:30am, and then at about 6:15am, I went down to the beach with a bunch of people from Community to watch the sunrise.  It's apparently a little tradition they have...to watch the sunrise on Easter morning.  So even though I had been up all night, I went to watch the sunrise.  :)  I'm glad I did...I got some great pictures!

Some sweet silhouettes :)

Gorgeous sunrise!!

 Most of the younger kids (and a few older ones) got in the water too!  I couldn't believe it---it was pretty cold out!  There was hot chocolate for them afterwards...maybe that was their incentive?  Or maybe they're just crazy Irish people.  Yeah...we'll go with that.  :)

Some of my host family plus our German students

Me with Peter :)

That's all the kids in my host family, plus Marc & Alessa, our German students

When we came home we went back to bed for a couple of hours until around 10ish, and then we went to mass together at 11.  After mass we all helped prepare a big Easter lunch.  Yum!

When we finished our lunch, a bunch of us went for a walk up Killiney Hill.  We had a lot of fun and got some good pictures.  And we met a group of people from North Carolina!  Ahh...fellow Americans.  :)

As you can see, there are some really gorgeous views from Killiney Hill!  I love all the yellow flowers this time of year.  Just beautiful.  Oh and the mountains aren't too bad either.  ;)

Me, Ellen, Alessa, and Leanne

Me with Leanne and Ellen, my two host sisters

My super goofy host family...

Me with my little buddy, Leanne.

Being silly with the Germans :)

My host parents, Peter & Ciara, being cute.  :)

hahaha this picture cracks me up.  I couldn't get in that tree!

Alessa and me :)

On Easter Monday I colored Easter eggs with Leanne and Ciara, and then we all had a big lunch together.  Eggs, sausages, bacon, toast...the works.  It was scrumptious!  :)  

I am very thankful for a good host family and a great Easter weekend.  I thank the Lord every day for sending me here to Dublin to love and be loved by all these wonderful Irish people.  

Spring has sprung? Maybe not...

The weather today was freezing!  When I say freezing, I mean literally freezing!  It was in the 30s (Fahrenheit) today, complete with rain, sleet, and hailstones...after almost an entire week of sunshine, cloudless skies, and 60-65 degree (Fahrenheit) weather.  Although we needed the rain, this was quite a shock for us Dubliners.  Needless to say, I pulled out my warmest cardigan and my winter boots today.  Darn...so much for "Spring has sprung".  I'm still hopeful for some warmer weather!

So in my last post I promised I'd talk about the youth group day away, the adorable baby I've been babysitting recently, and what God has been teaching me lately.

First things first, the youth group day away.  :)  As you may know, I've been working with the "Senior Group" in the youth programme here in the Community of Nazareth.  The Senior Group is made up of 22 kids ages 13-15.  For the past two months we've been doing Life in the Spirit Seminars with them.  The Life in the Spirit Seminars are a set of 7 talks about having a relationship with Christ and living more by the power of the Holy Spirit.  I got to give the first talk and the sixth talk.  The first talk was about God's perfect plan for our lives and how sin pulls us away from that perfect plan.  The only way to stay on track with the plan that God has for our lives is to have a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ.  The next few talks went into more detail about the Holy Spirit and His gifts that are offered to us.  The fifth talk was where we prayed over the kids to receive baptism in the Holy Spirit.  For this we took them away for the day to a house near Wexford.  The house is owned by an older couple in community, and they let a lot of community people/families use it occasionally.  We left in the morning and spent the afternoon there with the kids.  There was time for them to hang out with one another, and we even took a walk down to the beach because the weather was exceptionally nice.  We also had a good time of praise and prayer for more of the Holy Spirit, and I think that went really well.  Here are some pictures from the day in Wexford.  Don't be fooled by the beach pictures---it really wasn't that warm out!  It doesn't take much to get an Irish person into the Sea.  :)  

The beautiful beach :)

Some of the girls at the beach

The hill we came down to get to the beach

Crazy kids getting in to the cold Irish Sea!

Daniel and Tiarnan

Kevin 

I painted rocks for everyone in the Senior Group :)

So after the day away we finished out the Life in the Spirit Seminars with talks 6 and 7, and like I said I got to give the sixth talk.  I talked about how to stay connected to Christ by having a relationship with Him.  I shared tips from some things I've done and learned in the past, and I was overall pleased by the response from the group.

About the adorable baby I've been babysitting lately...there's a family in community that needs extra help lately due to a medical situation, so Chrissy and I have been taking turns watching their baby for a couple hours in the afternoons.  He's around 4 months old (I think), and he's got such chubby cheeks and a gorgeous toothless smile.  I really love babies, so I have been greatly enjoying spending time with him.  Plus I know it's a great help to the family.  Win-win!  :)  

If you love babies as much as I do, or if you're just plain curious, here's a picture of the beautiful baby! I just love it when he smiles.  :)

This past weekend I went away with Chrissy and her Young Adult group (just the girls) to the same house that we took the Senior Group to.  Instead of doing just a day away though, we did an overnight with the YA girls.  I was a bit nervous coming up to the weekend because I don't usually spend much time with this group of girls, so I don't know many of them too well.  The time I spent with them went very well though, I thought.  I got to play a little bit of music for a short prayer time before my talk, and then I talked to the girls briefly about the subject of edification (supporting one another as sisters in Christ; building each other up).  I think this is a really important topic for girls this age (16-17).  Actually, it's important at every age for women.  We always need reminders to be loving toward one another...in our thoughts, words, and actions.  It can be difficult when pride and jealousy get in the way, but when we really love one another it creates great friendships and a good support system.  That's what I was talking to the girls about, and then we did a little activity where I had them draw a name of one of the girls in the room and they had to edify that particular girl.  I passed out colored paper and Sharpies and the girls spent about 10-15 minutes writing nice things about their sister in Christ.  When they finished and gave their finished products to their sisters, it was great to hear all the "Awwww"s.  :)  The rest of the overnight went really well.  We had a generous amount of time to just relax and enjoy one another's company, and of course some of the girls dipped into the Irish Sea, despite the very cold and windy weather.  Only in Ireland...

This is how Irish people dress at the beach...

Me and Chrissy, my fellow GAPper.  Don't make fun of my hood...I was warm!

The Sea was a gorgeous shade of blue!

Some adorable lambs we saw on the way back from the beach :)

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God has been showing me lately that if I don't make Him the #1 priority in my life...the #1 priority in EACH DAY, that day will just not go very well.  Simple as that.  The time that I spend talking with Jesus and reading His word is always so great and uplifting...I feel joyful and peaceful and satisfied with life.  But if I let a day go by without more than a "Hey Jesus" or a "Thanks for what You did today", I often feel empty and disappointed with life and with myself.  I need to spend a good amount of time just being in His presence...having a conversation with Him...studying His word and identifying how it applies to my life.  What I have a hard time understanding is this:  if the time I spend with God is so wonderful, why do I crave other earthly things so much?  Why don't I hunger and thirst for more time with God?  That's so frustrating to me.  Maybe I'll understand it more if I grow deeper in my relationship with Him?  I don't know.

My parents are arriving in just 9 days, and I can hardly wait to see them!  They'll be staying in a house nearly opposite mine, so we'll be neighbors for a little while.  :)  We'll be spending a weekend in Dublin, and then traveling to the West of Ireland for some sightseeing there.  After that they'll come back and spend one more weekend in Dublin before heading back home.  Expect to see quite a few photos from their visit!

I hope you all are enjoying April so far and that you have a blessed Holy Week and a wonderful Easter!  Thanks for reading such a long blog post!!

Shamrocks and Leprechauns and Children, Oh My!

Hello all, sorry it's been a while since I've updated!  I'll have a proper update soon, but here's a picture update from my St. Patrick's Day celebrations for those of you who aren't on Facebook.  :)  Enjoy!

The statue behind me is of Molly Malone, who is the 'star' of the song "Molly Malone" (a.k.a. "Cockles and Mussels").  It's a popular song set in Dublin and, according to the incredibly trustworthy source that is  Wikipedia, it has become the unofficial 'anthem' of Dublin City.

Bekki and Krista, two of the three girls I went to the parade with

Dublin was quite green for the parade!

Two random leprechauns that weren't part of the parade. 

This is a picture of my favorite part of the parade.  The rest of it was really quite strange.  

The theme for the parade was science, but the costumes and floats and everything were just really dark and kind of gothic or something.  It wasn't very Irish or "St. Patrick's Day-ish".  I did enjoy seeing the big crowd of people wearing green though.  Before leaving town I went into McDonald's to get a shamrock shake.  Mmm!  It was craaaaazy in McDonald's though!  I had to shout over a crowd to order, and then pass my money over a few people's heads to get it to the cashier.  I guess everyone wanted a shamrock shake on Paddy's Day.  :)

The Sunday after the parade we had a Community St. Patrick's Day party, and I had organized a big activity for the kids.  I had a great team of helpers and we took all the kids outside for a game with 5 different stations that they had to complete.  It was a lot of fun and the weather was gorgeous!  Here are some pictures of the kids:

This is (quite obviously) the human pyramid station.  The one on the bottom with his hands in the air is my host brother, Paul.  The boy in the middle section on the right with the green top is another one of my host brothers, Stephen.

The girl second from the left is my host sister, Ellen.  She helped lead the skit station. 

This is the trivia station, led by Jessie.  My younger host sister, Leanne, is sitting to the right of the girl raising her hand.  :)

In this station, everyone on the team had to make it from one side to the other only using the chairs and without touching the ground.

I took the picture after the pyramid had collapsed, but I still love the photo.  :) 

Love this one!  I had my back turned, and they were all shouting "Rachel Rachel Rachel!!"  They wanted me to snap a picture before they all fell.  :)  I'm glad I captured the moment!  (The boy in the green top and the nice big smile on the bottom of the pyramid is my host brother Joe) 

So there you have it...a mostly-photo update from my Paddy's Day celebrations.  Sorry it's a bit late!  You can expect more of an update soon about the youth group day away, the adorable baby I've been babysitting for the last week or so, and what God has been teaching me lately.  :)  I love and miss you all so much!

Love from Dublin!

Rachel

Up to the Cross

Hello and happy Tuesday!  I've had an excellent past week...here's my attempt to sum it all up!

On Thursday last week I spent the late afternoon and evening with the Fletcher family.  The Fletchers are part of the Community of Nazareth and they invited me to come have dinner at their house and then go see their son Kevin's school play, "Sive."  So on Thursday after I finished my work at Spirit Radio, I hopped on a bus into town.  After some confusion with finding the correct bus stop, I eventually made it to The Yellow House (a restaurant/pub) in Rathfarnham where Els was picking me up.  It was such a nice day that day, so Els decided to drive me up into the Dublin Mountains to show me the bog.  I didn't know what to expect, really, but Els explained that the bog was really dark, moist soil that's very acidic...so there are no trees growing in it.  She drove up and up and up into the mountains to show me the bog.  The first stop was a beautiful lookout point.  The sky wasn't all that clear, but we still got a pretty good view.

Els kept driving and eventually we got to a point where we were on just a narrow road curving through the mountains...and on both sides was the bog.  Just lots and lots of brown land...and not a single tree in sight.  

I hadn't seen anything like it...

Apparently the turf (moist soil) used to be used to heat homes before there was central heating.  You could cut a piece of the turf, lay it out to dry in the sun, and then burn it to heat your home.  The dried bricks would burn for about 20 minutes.  Interesting.  Thanks again for the history lesson, Els!  :)

I had a wonderful dinner with the Fletchers and then went to see "Sive".  It was a rather depressing play, but it was great to see Kevin in it.  It was also fun to try and catch all the Irish humour and sayings.  I probably understood half of what they were saying.  :)  Oh well.

The next day, Friday, was a gorgeous day.  It was about 56 degrees Fahrenheit, which is about as warm as it gets in Ireland.  I looked outside and the sun was shining...quite a rare occasion!  I decided I'd better get out and enjoy the day because it might be a while before we get another one.  I was feeling quite adventurous, so I set out to take the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transport) to Bray and climb up Bray Head.  I had gone to Bray with Chrissy once a few months back, but we only got halfway before it started getting dark and we had to turn around and head home.  This time I wanted to make it all the way to the top.  I got off the DART and started walking in the direction of the cliff walk, and as I looked up at Bray Head I saw a person standing at the top next to a big cross.  He was standing up with both fists in the air like "YEAH!"...and I thought, "I wanna be that guy."  So that was my goal.  To make it to the cross.

If you look really closely in this picture, at the hump on the left, you can see the cross!



So up I went towards the cross.  It was a gorgeous day to climb...there was a nice cool breeze, and the sun was warm on my back.  I walked for a while, and then I turned around at one point and was stunned by the beauty around me.  The blue-green sea, the beautiful greens and browns of the hills behind and in front of me...it was all so much to take in.  I took out my camera to snap a picture and was devastated to see my camera displaying a notification that said "Change the battery".  I couldn't believe it!  I have a spare battery for cases like this but I had left it charging back at home.  I was angry at first, and then I just laughed about it.  The Lord has quite the sense of humour sometimes.  I said out loud, "Okay Lord.  I trust You.  I'll just keep going and take in all this beauty with my eyes.  I'd really love to take some pictures, but I trust that You know best."  I continued climbing and kept turning around to "snap" pictures with my eyes.  I got to a steep part of the climb and almost gave up.  I'm in pretty bad shape...so I was huffing and puffing and my legs were beginning to get sore.  I took a quick break and drank some water, and then pushed myself to keep going.  I knew the view at the top would be worth it.

I reached the top of the mountain and stood in front of the cross for a second.  It was just me up there...just me with the cross before me and God's beauty all around me.  As I looked around and admired the views from the top of Bray Head, I thought, "Wow.  God is quite the artist."  I could see the Wicklow Mountains in the distance, the city of Bray down below, Greystones behind me, and the beautiful, vast blueish-green sea to my right.  It was a masterpiece!  I suddenly had this nagging feeling to check my camera once more.  I knew the battery was dead, but I went with the nagging feeling anyway.  I took my camera out of its case and removed the battery.  I blew on it, shook it a bit, and then put it back in my camera.  When I pressed the power button I couldn't believe my eyes.  The display screen showed FULL battery.  Not just one or two bars....but ALL THREE.  Completely full.  I laughed out loud and smiled, just thinking of this little miracle I'd experienced.  I thanked the Lord for this little lesson of trust that He had just taught me.  And then...I took pictures.  At the top, and all the way down.  :)  Enjoy!

This is the first picture I took at the top of Bray Head.  The strip of sand down there 

is about where I got off the DART and started walking.

I made it to the cross!

That mountain there with the tall peak is called the Sugarloaf.  

I've climbed that as well (see link above for that blog post)!

I'm so thankful that God restored the battery life on my camera so I could take pictures at the top of Bray Head.  What a blessing!  Here are some pictures from the way down.  I found a cool nature trail just on the other side of the cross.  Much more fun than going back the way I came!

Gorgeous!

Some pretty crazy tree roots!

Satisfied after the climb.  :)

Alright so I know this post has been reallllly long, but I have one more day to tell you about.  This past Sunday I went to my friend David's church, South City Church.  David used to work with me at Spirit Radio, but he left a few months ago.  We've been keeping in touch since he left, and this was the second time I've visited his church.  I met his wife and kids last time I came, and they are really nice and  welcoming.  When I walked in they all said hi and gave me great big smiles.  :)  I met some other really nice people at church yesterday as well and I was just really struck by how everyone really made me feel welcome and part of their church family.  Protestants are so good at that!  They just really have such big hearts and they make sure not to let any new people in without a warm welcome.  I re-met a girl named Krista that I had met last time at South City Church, and it was really great to chat with her again.  She even asked if I was doing anything for St. Patrick's Day and told me she'd let me know if she was getting together with friends so I could join them.  :)  Aside from all the wonderful people at South City Church, I was really struck by the great worship time we had before the talk.  I felt the Lord's presence so strongly while we were singing and praying, and at one point I was so filled with joy I just couldn't wipe the silly grin off my face!  I love moments like that.  To Him be the glory!

More next time.  Have a great week everyone!

Spring has Sprung!

Happy March!  :)
Aside from some awful allergy symptoms a week or so ago, I'm enjoying Spring time here in Dublin and I want to share some pictures I've taken (for you non-Facebook users).  Enjoy!

I love this flower!  Isn't it gorgeous?

And Daffodils remind me of the sun!  :)

This is a beautiful park I discovered in Blackrock on the bus route home!

Just look at that luscious green grass!

Beautiful Dublin Bay!

This is the house I stayed in in Northern Ireland for a college group overnight!

The views near the house we stayed in were just gorgeous!

What a wonderful God we have...