Photos from top left: Painting one of the youth rooms, Belfast Castle, St. Patricks Cathedral, Trinity Bible College, the view from the bus ride to Dublin, Temple Bar area, Cave Hill. The past couple weeks have gone by in a flash. I'm definitely adjusting well to the culture and climate, just haven't spent much time on the internet. Freshers have arrived to Belfast in droves as school is about to start next week. In the meantime before most of our programs begin we've been making preparations for the term; painting, planning, and doing various events with international students that have just moved to Belfast. Two Sundays ago I was able to do the Scripture reading in the morning service and speak with the youth about prayer at "Late Breakfast." The last couple weeks have been full of learning. Besides reading huge chunks of the Bible and having more introspective conversations, my friends have been kind enough to teach me some guitar, table tennis, pool, and I even had some Lazer Tag practice with folk from Youth Club. I already tell it's going to be a fun year! My couple weeks ago friends from the States came to visit for a few days. We hiked around Cave Hill and Belfast Castle, went to St. George's Market, and Ulster Museum in Belfast. Another day we went down to the Republic and enjoyed the grounds of Trinity College and live music in Temple Bar. Great craic, so it was. This last weekend my friend Alex was kind enough to invite me down to a food festival in city centre. In addition to the tastes morsels, I enjoyed her company and was glad to spend her birthday with her. Apart from all the truly wonderful parts of being here, it's also been a struggle to adapt to a different culture and make friends. Please pray for continued confidence to strike up conversation with strangers! Thankfulness // New friendships and deep conversations in unexpected places. Meeting my host family. Music. Verdant landscapes. Being accepted for being my goofy self. Golden nuggets // You can learn a lot from people you disagree with. Relationship is what life is all about. It's fruit not fruits of the Spirit; you don't get to choose which ones you want but evidence of them should always be increasing in the life of the Christian.
