Learning.

This is my final blog post from my journey to Northern Ireland. I’ve just cleared US Immigration on the Irish side of the Atlantic. I caught a lift to the airport with a great friend and enjoyed the two hours to chat along the way. It is rewarding to have developed so many friendships over here. When I suggested I would take a bus to Dublin, the response was, “I wouldn’t hear of it…”

How can I process what I’ve experienced over the last two weeks or so? I came into it knowing a bit about my gifting and strengths but was assured by a couple of godly friends I was coming here to learn. So what did I learn? And what am I learning?

I was allowed to live into my gifting here. A gifting which is varied and diverse. I’d describe it as “good at many things, great at none of them.” Teaching, helping people who teach, caring and pastoring, leading worship, worshiping, cleaning dishes, vacuuming floors, making my bed daily. But gifting is one thing. Calling is another.

I also felt I lived into my calling, which is to encourage people in ministry through conversation, prayer, paying attention to what God is doing in our lives, talking about what God might be doing next, and more prayer. As I lived into this gifting, I believe some people received new, encouraging direction from God. Others seemed more closed off, but I am confident God spoke some things to them nonetheless. And if God spoke, it will continue to resonate. I’m thankful the pressure is not on me to make things happen. Just to facilitate the process of paying attention to what God is doing. It’s all about Him.

Still I skirt the issue of what I’ve learned. Perhaps I’ll get around to it. Perhaps I don’t know yet. I learned, deeper than ever before, that Northern Ireland is a place filled with human beings doing everyday life in a place which, while foreign to me, is less and less mystical, more and more normal. I learned sometimes God takes us around the world to connect with someone we might not have at home. Even though they’re from a place not far from my home. Sometimes even from my hometown. I learned not everyone believes the same way. I knew this already. But it was supplemented by the fact the Bible isn’t interpreted in the same ways. And the way we interpret it comes out in what we do, how we speak, how we express or withhold love. I learned controlling tendencies are a cancer. I learned anew that God gives favor and, without it, we cannot bear abundant fruit.

Those are just a few things. Most of you who are reading this will be people who get to be in on the overflow of processing these things in the coming weeks. And for that I’m thankful. Thank you for your love and prayers. May the Lord bless you all.

New friends and old friends.

It's been a great week, easily sorted into time with new friends and old friends. Not elderly friends, necessarily, but sometimes they are! There is a wide spectrum of ages - young, new in ministry and senior adults, mature saints. I love the seniors and their passion for the work in this town, their investment of time in prayer for the young people - both the ones engaged in ministry and those who don't yet know Jesus.

It's been an interesting experience being here for the eighth time (if I'm counting correctly)... Each time I visit here, or receive a visit back home from friends hailing from Norn Iron, the sense of friendship and belonging grows. I feel at home with these people, whichev

er side of the Atlantic I happen to be located at the moment. I took a prayer walk yesterday to redeem some down time and, as I returned, there was an old friend ambling up the other side of the street. A hug and a hello turned into an hour or so of catching up at their beautiful back garden over a cup of coffee. Unplanned meeting. Welcomed time of worship through conversation.

So, it's less an exotic location these days, Northern Ireland. It's more a community of believers who have embraced a partnership and friendship that spans an ocean. God is doing some really cool things in the church and among the leaders. He seems to be focusing on deepening discipleship all over the place. He has even connected me with a couple from America who have been living here for a few years and just started dabbling in the discipleship material we've been investing in for the past two to three years at Southland. It's been fun to see how that connection is blossoming, spending considerable amounts of time talking about the simplicity of the tools and the intentionality of following Jesus while making disciple-makers.

I've missed my girls a bunch, but God has given us grace for these few weeks. Technology is such a blessing. WhatsApp texting and Skype have kept us in touch regularly. I'm so thankful for this provision from God that's helped us through the days. Sara is juggling air conditioning repair, taking care of the girls, High School Ministry, and mowing the lawn. I'm so thankful for friends who are contributing to each of these efforts! Thank you for your continued prayers and for your friendship everyone!