Santa Claus Is Coming 2 Town!!

Christmas Cheer!!

362 days till Christmas

Another Christmas has come and gone. The hype building up to it seems crazy when you think that the main event happens in one day. Maybe we should make Christmas a 3 day event. But seriously there is a lot of hype leading up to the event...shopping trips, wrapping, finding sales, baking cookies, baking pies, inviting guests, planning out the day, keeping secrets, visits to Santa (if you're 4 or 24), hiding presents, cleaning house, decorating, writing cards and the list goes on. There is a lot of prep and a lot of "cheer" passed around. Okay some of the "cheer" is fake because we feel the need to be polite towards others...good will towards men. And in the midst of all this shuffle lies the real reason many celebrate Christmas. The birth of Christ. Hope came into the world. A hope that transcends all with a love so deep that it had to come into this world so innocent--as a baby. I guess with all the prep for the holiday season, it's easy to miss the true meaning of Christmas. And with only 362 days until the next time we celebrate this festive season, we shouldn't be so quick to forget the birth of Christ. Hope had come into the world and that was just the beginning.

All In The Family

This is my gingerbread family!

(Top Row L-R): Mark--He has a heart for people and a towel for whipping them with. Brenda--She is wearing her green apron and has a croqueting yarn in her left hand. Jon--He is our little drummer boy. Jolene--I am sporting Christmas clothes and have a Guinness in one hand. (Bottom Row L-R): Fra--He is adorning a cup of tea in one hand and guitar in the other. Matthew--He is wearing lovely red trousers and loves the simplicity of life. Jeremy--He is rocking out to a tune on the guitar. Erika--Her squiggle is free outside the red box.



My gingerbread neighbor. Martin--He thinks he is Jesus so I made him and the Christmas Angel--The one who appeared to the shepherds who were watching their flocks by night.

wellie warmers and warm welcomes....sounds cheesy but its true!!

So last night may have absolutely been my favorite evening here yet. Okay all around there have been outstanding memories but let me tell you about last night. Martin, our friend down the road kicked off this great memory by surprising the household with Christmas gifts. He was very intuitive and got everyone something that he or she would enjoy. And for me, he gave me a pair of Wellie Warmers!!! (For those of you who don't know what Wellies are, they are Wellington boots that are rubber and come up to you knees. You wear there them to work outside in the garden, yard or to play in the woods or bog. They protect you from water and mud.) Anyways, I love Wellies and love wearing them. So this was perfect. You take the Wellie Warmers and heat them up in the microwave or oven then place them into your boots before wearing them out. They also work in regular shoes. Well as a gift to Martin from Mark & Brenda, they gave him a Zippo Lighter. Martin was ecstatic. So we decided to test our new gifts. We grabbed some tea, heated my Wellies up with the Warmers then went outside to have some fags (cigarettes) using his new Zippo. Great craic there! Later Mark, Brenda, Matthew & I went down to Tim and Anne's to bring them Christmas treats. Well, another neighbor Joe ended up joining us and we sat there in the living room around the fire laughing, talking and having some serious craic. We went down around 9:30 and left after midnight. Last night really reminded me of how much I love Ireland and the people in it. The art of conversation is great here and the Irish really know how to enjoy one another's company. From Wellie Warmers, to being known by someone up the road, to having others try to set you up with an Irish farmer.....priceless. Last night... I don't think I will ever forget. Cheers!

have you ever..

Have you ever had an urgent need to tell someone something? Or have wanted to run an idea by a person? Or have you ever just needed to know that someone was around? I have. There are 7 people in our house and always someone nearby if you just need to talk. This is great for me as I am very much a people person. I get re-energized by being around others. The beauty of this community is the grace that comes alongside it. Even if I completely make an idiot of myself or act like a dork, I am still loved and accepted as is. My close community here will be ending soon as I get ready to head back to the US in 3 weeks. A new community will be created with the friends and family I left behind. But creating a community of friends and people you can trust doesn’t come easily. It requires everyone being honest, respectful and even vulnerable. I am not even sure I am any of those things. However, I am convinced that this is how we were created. We were meant to “do life” with one another. The early church modeled close friendships and community. They ate together, worshipped together, asked questions and doubted God with one another. They were open, real and authentic. I am reading a book about having an environment where people can be real and open about life. They can ask questions, explore faith, learn about life and be themselves with no worries about what others will think about them or how they will be perceived. Have you ever wanted to just be loved for who you are, not who you used to be or could be? Have you desired to kick and scream and just be allowed to do that? Have you ever wished someone was near enough to share a really dry joke with and then laugh at it? I wish the church was this. I wish the Body of Christ was known for this everywhere. Not just in some towns or some countries but all over the world. Have you ever wished things were different? Have you ever had to desire to change it? Have you ever taken the initiative to do so?

Parker, Jeremy: Intern 4.3

Oh Jeremy! Where do I begin? LOL You have made life here in Ireland so much more enjoyable. I am going to miss you and your slags, your random movie quoting, the crazy rap songs you create out of your arse, being burned with a tea spoon, stories of my swiffer children, how this singer is related to that actor and which music video he was in, making Shepard's pie or chips and sausages together but mainly your heart. You have a nothing but love and grace for people and it's cool and respectable. Ireland and this house will never be the same. :) So now that you are stateside, have fun slagging the Hoosiers, burning your mom with a tea spoon and chillin' with friends from the snowy, cold Midwest.

the tangled web we weave

How do you write about love and judgment when all you want to do is do just that, love and judge? We were asked to write about what we have learned from the book Repenting of Religion by Gregory Boyd. We were to also include what has challenged me or has been sand paper on skin as Mark put it. I guess the thing that I learned or that stuck out to me is how easy it is to get caught up in the game of judging others. In general, I am not a very judgmental person. However, the judgment game shifts when certain things become personal. The sand paper on the skin is recognizing where I am weak and then working to not become the very thing I hate. Nobody likes to admit that they are not faultless or that they are capable of hurting others including those who may have already done harm to you or the people you love.
I find the intertwining of love and judgment so tangled in the church and in my life. I don’t want to be a part of the realm of judging others based upon what I see and what I personally believe to be good or evil. I have seen and experienced the negative effects personally. It is so easy to jump into the game of judging the “religious” or “Pharisees” but then I become just like them judging them against my own standards. I would rather love them unconditionally and celebrate in the triune fellowship with them. What I want to do is love but the more I desire this, the more I find I am not sure I know how to love. Paul got it right when he said that he wants to do right but then he does what he doesn’t want to do. I want to love like Jesus but due to my fallen nature I am a tangled web of love and judgment which are constantly fighting.
Trying to root out the judgments in my life is a learning process. I may never get it completely right but by His grace I know I am forgiven. I know I am in need of His unconditional love. I know His heart is for me to love Him and then to reflect His love unconditionally to the world. But how do you do that when your very nature screams to love and to condemn?
They say that you learn from experience. Based upon my experiences, I know how it feels to be on the receiving end of judgment. And I know how it is to be on the receiving end of grace, mercy and love. When thinking about my life and knowing that love, grace and mercy have helped to mend my wounds and have allowed me to grow as a person, my desire to reflect God’s love, grace and mercy to others trumps the very desire to judge even the most accusing judgers.

Christmas Decorating- Trees & Cookies

Germany Memories

Our first taste of German sausages! (L-R): Jon, Matthew, Erika, Paschal

View of Munich, Germany

Christkindle Market by night

Hofbrauhaus (L-R) Mark, Jon, Jeremy, Matthew

Live Barvarian Music at the Hofbrauhaus

Deutchland Craic

What do you get when you combine 6 Americans, 3 Irish and a love for craic and mulled wine? You get 4 eventful days in Germany! :) We just got back a few days ago from a Christmas trip to Germany. It was amazing! We had loads of fun and I really enjoyed spending time with everyone. This rowdy group consisted of: The fabulous Mark & Brenda Ray, the sweet squiggle Erika, the comedian Jeremy, cheeky Martin, cool Jon, fun-loving Matthew, awesome Paschal and laughing Jolene! We traveled to Munich & Nuremberg visiting the Christmas Markets, drinking mulled wine out of boot mugs, shoveling loads of German sausages into our mouths, ooohhing and aaahhing over the intricate Christmas decorations, visiting beer halls, exploring churches and concentration camps, laughing and wishing it would snow! Yes the craic was mighty and the amount of meat and carbs was incredible! Traveling with people you love really allows you to appreciate others and the love for your friends and family grows. Prior to the trip, Jon and I were talking about the trip and we were both excited about taking a family trip. I haven't been on a family vacation in ages and we both never went to Europe with the family. It was an experience that I am very grateful for, traveling with people that have become in every sense of the word, family. Words can't really capture my thoughts and feelings. You guys rock and God willing, we will do it again sometime!

Highlights to remember:

*Jon getting lost for a good bit

*High School Musical in German and English

*Brenda & Erika getting their left ear pierced

*Martin & me laughing hard at a flamboyant man then realizing we got captured on camera

*Sitting in a beer hall where Adolf Hitler once sat with friends discussing ideas on fascism
*Shopping with guys---way different than with girls

*Gingerbread and Starbucks

*The Santa accordion player & his Santa dog