Three Prayer Requests

There are three things going on right now, about which we could really use your prayers.

• Sickness
  • We are currently all enjoying our third cold/sickness in two months. We're optimistic though that this will be the end of illness for a while. Don't worry, it's nothing serious, just very annoying. 
  • Please pray for health and rest for all three of us, especially Katy who is 20 weeks pregnant.
• Visa
  • We are currently collecting documents to send in a letter of application for our visa. Approval on this application will allow us to go officially apply in May. You could say this is our application to apply for a religious visa. These can be somewhat tricky since our approval is purely at the discretion of the person who happens to receive it. Some get turned down, even with proper documentation.
  • Please pray that we receive approval to apply for a new visa
• Ministry
  • e are at a very crucial point in our ministry here. As we begin to lay the groundwork for large upcoming projects, we will desperately need your prayers. In the next few months we will have important conversations with university faculty/chaplains, students, university ministry colleagues, etc. Favour and direction through these conversations will set our course for the next few years.
  • Please pray for wisdom, discernment, favor, direction, and courage in the conversations we will have coming up.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. Together we are working to show the love of Jesus to university students of Ireland.

By the way, here's a great pic of Katy's baby bump!

Our Leader and Friend

We wanted to take this week's post to honor a very special couple. Sean and Susan Mullarkey have been so kind to Katy and me even before we moved to Ireland. I remember our first Skype conversation with Sean and me thinking how cool his accent sounded. After nearly four years here, American accents sound weird to us, and Sean and Susan are STILL continually lifting us up and pushing us forward.

Now, it wouldn't require a special occasion to honor them as they deserve it daily. However, this was an incredible weekend as Sean was elected the National Leader of AGI. He and Susan will remain the lead pastors of St. Mark's Church. We are so excited to see where God will take AGI under Sean's leadership. It has been a dynamic movement under previous leaders, and God is now going to use the Mullarkey's to take us into this new season.

We are absolutely humbled to be working within AGI and with it's incredible churches. We are so blessed to have such a vibrant, life-giving movement that welcomes us in and launches us out. AGI is in very good hands with Sean during this next three year term. We can't wait to see what this journey holds!

Sean and Susan have been amazing pastors, constantly displaying character, integrity, and grace. They have also been close friends to myself and Katy. They have helped us avoid cultural faux pas. They have rejoiced with us in our successes. They have comforted us in our most difficult times. I can't even imagine what our first years in Ireland would have been like if it weren't for the Mullarkey family.

Congratulations and thank you Sean, Susan, John, Daniel, Rebekah, and Rachel. We love you guys.

Creative Space

I (Katy) asked Eden what the blog should be about today, and he said, “Bob the Builder.” Nailed it (pun definitely intended). That made me think of how much we love our son and his place in our lives and ministry. 

Eden has a different life than a lot of little toddlers. He definitely has the same struggles as most kids his age: he is presented with food he doesn't want to eat and gets strapped into a boring car seat a lot. 

What is unique to his life is that both of his parents spent a ton of time in meetings and in churches. We drag him to all kinds of (to him) boring places. He ends up getting lots of different babysitters and traveling a lot. He has probably spent more time in car seats and airplanes than most kids his age! He’s still little, but knows the airport routine very well. 

The tricky thing about our lives is that what we do is a 24/7 job. There is no opportunity to clock out for the day. We have to create that space ourselves. We might drive ourselves crazy with parent guilt if we let ourselves worry about each little thing. What we need to remember is that, even now, Eden has a unique purpose on this earth. Each day of his life is a new opportunity for him to learn and explore who God is. No matter what is going on, we should stop and listen to what he has to say.

I am now realizing that this blog has taken me an hour to write. I have stopped several times to read to Eden, sing Jesus Loves Me, and pretend to play the trumpet. Creating space is hard, but it is worth it.