Behold Our Crazy

There is one day of the week that is like working in an air traffic control tower: Thursday. I look on the table and surveyed the day ahead of me...lunch in the car, steriliser for bottles, snack for Eden, water. It's like we're camping every Thursday. 

Here is what happens every Thursday: at 9:45...

• Katy, Blake, and Rachel arrive in Bray to help set up a mum and tot group that Katy and her friend, Aileen, run weekly.
• At 12, after clean up, everyone rolls out. Blake and I drop Eden and Rachel off at our house, and the two of us drive like mad to the city centre so I can finish up my two remaining modules for SALT.
• As soon as class ends at 2:50, I run downstairs where Blake the car and Eli ready so I can immediately drive to Carlow. I order pizza on the way, arriving just in time to pick it up and drop it off to the student Alpha group on campus, along with drinks, plates, etc.
• Since having Eli in the group would stifle conversation, I then head home arriving around 6:30 so I can relieve Rachel and start bedtime procedures.

Sometimes we in ministry are tempted to hide our crazy, or give the appearance that we can cope with the pressure with no stress. But, spoiler alert, we are regular people who occasionally wipe boogers off our kid's face with our bare hands because we forgot the wipes...again. 

We need Jesus to remind us to be kind to ourselves and remember constantly why we do what we do. We also need to accept help with both hands and be thankful for the many people around us who help us in so many ways. 

God on Tap

For the past 3-4 years we've held an event on campus at Trinity College working with the Methodist Chaplain, our friend, Jools Hamilton. God on Tap (GoT) is an event built on conversation with the sole goal of building relationships with students on campus from any background imaginable. We centre these conversations on hot topics of the day, focusing on mostly on life, faith, and how the two intertwine. It's always great time connecting with students from around Ireland and beyond.

This past week we had our first GoT of the semester. It was small but foundational for how we proceed. We will be having 5 more GoT's this term, and six scheduled for the Spring semester. The most we've ever had!

Please keep this event and these students in your prayers. These conversations are hugely important...not because answers are given, but because relationships are built. God moves through relationships and human interaction. We believe that God is moving, and we are all better for having spent time together.

Thank you for all your prayers and support. Together we are playing a part of what God is doing in Ireland.

Better Together

As many of you know, we work with Students For Christ Europe and try to network with our colleagues across the continent from time to time. This time, some of them came over to us. Blair and Dina Bonan have done university ministry in Belgium for many years and are now heading up SFC Europe. They do a lot of traveling to various groups, where they see what's going on there and give loads of encouragement, advice, and prayer. They spent a few days with us in Dublin and traveled down to Limerick to visit the SFC group there. 

We had so much fun laughing and talking with them. We even got to share my (Katy's) favorite Louisiana food...jambalaya! We packed a bunch of meetings in with other pastors and leaders in the area. It was a time of refreshment and encouragement. We value their wisdom with student ministry as well as family life and we are honored to call them our friends. 

Our SFC Europe community has been such a great support to us since we arrived here in Ireland. God, in His wisdom, brings us together to work in community. We are not meant to be alone in our personal walks with Him or in our work as believers. We are better together.