Last Adventures in Ireland

I cannot believe that today is my last day in Ireland. It has been an amazing Journey and I am so blessed to have lived here fore 3 months. The Lord has stretched me and grown me even more through this time and I am thankful for all He has done for me this semester.

Last week in Ireland

My last week was pretty stressful, but in the end I finished all 23 credits! I never thought I would finish, but I did. So thankful! Wednesday night we had our Calvary School of Ministry graduation. All of our host families and friends were there to celebrate the semester and Tara, who graduated with her Calvary certificate. WE had an amazing time and I will miss all of the people here in Waterford. 

The nest day, Raul(One of the men in the church) took Hannah, Riannon, Kylie and I on an adventure. He took us to New Ross where we saw one of the boat that would take Irish people across the ocean to America. Then we went to the JFK Arboretum which was beautiful, but we got caught in the rain. Then we went back out to the coast to the Hook Head lighthouse and then took a ferry back over to Waterford and went to a beach. It was a full day, but amazing! Later that day Kylie and I went over to Elbert and Elizabeth's house(another family in the church) and we had a feast(They are amazing cooks) and others from the church came over and we had a Bible study. We came home that night and Katriona(Our wonderful Irish Mom) came over and we had tea. We had a great time talking and laughing and enjoying our last time all together. Such a blessed day.

The next day, John and Carrie(Director and his wife) picked up Hannah, Kylie and I and we headed to Dublin. We spent the day exploring Dublin and seeing all the sites. John knows somebody, who is very good friends with a man who works at Trinity College. He brought us into see the Book of Kells and a special tour all over campus. It was awesome! We then went to the Hotel and spent our last night with Kylie. We took her to the airport the next day, said our goodbye and headed back to Waterford. 

Blessed by Calvary Waterford

Yesterday was our last day at church here in Waterford. I could not be thankful enough for the amazing hospitality and love we received from this church body all semester. I am very sad to leave these friends that I have made, but I hope to see them again someday! I will continue to pray for the church and school! Thank you Calvary Waterford! You all have a place to stay when you come visit Washington State! :)

Be Home Soon! :)

Tomorrow! I cannot believe I leave tomorrow! Hannah and I are flying out tomorrow at 9:30am and I will arrive in Seattle at 8:30pm! Thanks to JohnnyGo who is driving us to the airport at 5am. Please pray that everything goes smoothly and that we have a safe and relaxing trip home. I will miss Waterford and the people here! It is definitely a bitter sweet feeling! Thank you all for your love, support, and prayer over these last few months. See you all soon!

Last 2 Weeks in Waterford

So, we are in the home stretch. This week is our last week of classes and next week we will have our finals and our graduation ceremony. I am feeling anxious for a couple reasons. One because I cannot wait to be home and two because I have so much school work to do. Please pray for diligence and that I can focus on all my work, so that I can complete all of my classes. I have more credits than I should and the semester here is 3 weeks shorter. I know, I am crazy, but I know that there is still so much to learn in these last days of school. Please pray with me as I finish up my time here in Waterford and that not only to I finish, but that I finish strong. Thank you for all your love and support! :)

Spring Break!

I had the amazing privilege of travel to England and all around Ireland on my spring break. The first 4 days, Kylie and I, flew to London and stayed with her friends(who were amazing hosts). We spent time in and out of the city. We got to see everything in London, and we were even there for the London Marathon (kinda crazy). I also got too see where my great- grandma and great-grandpa Vincent met and that was really Awesome! We had a wonderful time and I am so thankful we had this opportunity. When we arrived back in Ireland, Hannah, Kylie, Tara and I traveled for 4 days all around the country. We stayed in Doolin and saw the Cliffs of Moher, then onto Galway where we experienced fun Irish culture, then to Belfast where we spend the day exploring the city, and then back to Waterford. It was a true blessing to see the country and God's creation. 

The Big Move!

It has been a CRAZY week! So basically, about three weeks ago we found out that the flats that we are living in were looked at and are not to code and have structural damage. We were told that we would need to move out and our director got the owner to extended it to our last week of school. Unfortunately the communication with the city and the owner was not clear enough. The fire department showed up last week expecting to have all the tenants moved out and that was not the case. The owner was told that next time they came, they would come with the guarda(police) if all tenants were not gone. So with that, we instantly became homeless. Our  director(John) and the pastor(Clay) started looking right away. With much prayer, within a couple days they found an amazing place for us to move into. The Lord provided an amazing home for us to, for our last month here. That is a big summary of what happened, but you get it. The last two days we spent all our time packing and moving. It was A LOT of work, but thanks to a few people in the church, we are all moved in and have had almost a full day at our new home.

All semester the verse that keeps coming up in all of our studies and classes is Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." After this event, we understand why the Lord has brought this piece of scripture over and over into our studies. We are all here to serve Him, to grow closer with Him, and to walk humble in His purpose for our lives. The Lord had a plan and all along we knew that He would provide for our needs. We ended our move with a great meal cooked by Dee and Rachel(staff at the church) and in great fellowship! What a blessing!

Please continue to pray for us as we settle in and get use to a further walk to our school(about 15 minutes...not bad), and as we adjust to all living in one house. We also are without running water at the moment so pray that that gets all figured out. Tomorrow is the start of our spring break, so please pray for safe travels and a great time to explore Ireland! Miss you all so much! 

Relying on God - Graduation

So as most of you may know, I am technically in my fourth semester at Calvary Chapel Bible College. My third semester I stayed home to work and take class from Calvary's distance learning program. Unfortunately the communication was not always the clearest or best in the distance learning program, and as I left for Ireland I found out that I was short 5 credits because I did not have chapel credits from my third semester. The director(John) here said we would look at things when I got here and he was sure we could work it out. Well, we tried! :( Even though I have completed every class i need to, they still want 80 credits. Because I already have 23 credits here in Ireland, I decided to not add more credits onto my semester. At first when I heard the news about the possibility of not being able to graduate this May, I freaked out, but once I hung up the phone with the Murrieta campus and talked with John, I felt complete peace about it. I know that God has a plan and even though I thought I would be done with school this May, God has His plan and I needed to let my plan go and trust Him. Once I did that I knew that it was all going to be just fine. All that to say, I will be finishing my last 5 credits this coming fall. God is good and I am following Him, each baby step at a time.

Festival in Kilkenny

This last weekend, Saturday through Monday, I had the opportunity to go with Clay(Pastor at Calvary Waterford) and Danny(works at the church, and is an awesome guy, he reminds me so much of my brother Josh) to serve Coffee at a festival in Kilkenny. All three mornings we would meet at Portico(churches coffee shop) and then travel northeast about 40 minutes to Kilkenny. When we first got there, we ran into a few obstacles;  we weren't sure where to set up and could get a hold of the person in charge, we were missing some essentials and we(Clay) rewiring a plug so that it would fit the right outlet. God got us through that and provided what we needed. Our coffee stand was to the right of the gorgeous Kilkenny castle. Our first day there was so beautiful. The sun was out and we were able to explore around the castle a little bit before we go things started. After we got things set up and ready to go, it took a while for things to pick up. Saturday and Sunday were a little slower than we were hoping, but Monday being St. Patrick's Day, we were crazy busy. We went nonstop for a long time, but it was good because it made up for the other two days. It was really neat to serve the people and show them the love of Jesus while doing it. People loved the coffee and they were all very polite. I loved every second of it, even when I was freezing cold. On Saturday Kylie, Ericka and a few people from church took the train to come see us and spend the day in Kilkenny. And then on Monday Hannah and Riannon and Clay's wife and two beautiful little girls came out to watch the parade and explore. St. Patrick's day was crazy fun and busy. Lots of green and lots of people. The Parade in Kilkenny was right in front of our coffee stand, so we could see it. There was carousel and some rides and these people that had a massive drum that people could play on. It went ALL DAY..For all three days. I felt like I was hearing it in my sleep...Haha! But all in all it was an amazing experience. I am so thankful that Clay asked me to come join them. What a blessing this was!

First weeks in Waterford, Ireland

I cannot believe I have been in Ireland now for 3 weeks. I am so thankful for the time I have had already and all that the Lord is teaching me. What a blessing it is to have the opportunity to go to school and serve the Lord here at the same time. Since it has been a few weeks, let me tell you a little bit about my life here in Waterford, Ireland.

It is such a beautiful city and so much to explore. The weather is very similar to home, rain, misty, but when the sun is out it is beautiful. I am here with 4 others students, 3 from the states(Kylie, Hannah, and Riannon) and 1 from Germany(Tara). We also have a lovely dorm mom(Ericka) and a roommate from Ireland(Cat). It has been such a blast getting to know these girls and all the other people that come to classes and are involved with the church, Calvary Waterford.

Living life day by day

So basically, everything we need, places we have to be, housing, school, and church, are all within walking distance. We walk seriously everywhere. This can be,sometimes, not the most pleasant thing, mostly because it is wet and cold, but otherwise it is not bad. The flats we live in are about a block or two away from where the school and church office are, and then the church is about another two blocks down the road. Our flats are, to say the least, a place to live. Haha...It is not the best, but trust me, I have seen and lived in worse. We get by with the room we have, and we are learning to love each other and know each other very well. We cook, clean, eat, sleep, study...everything in our flats. It has been a fun stretching experience.

School Life: 

My classes are super great. I have a Women's Bible study class, Nehemiah, Luke, Psalms, Hebrews and Theology. All the teachers are great and the classes are very personable. Because they are small classes, we get to discuss more and ask more questions. I have learned so much already and it has only been 3 weeks of classes. It has been a blessing to learn under these teachings here in Waterford. 

We only have WiFi at the school, so this has been somewhat of a challenge. But we have figured out our ways to finish homework, turn it in, and also communicate with all our friends and family at home. Kylie and I spend a lot of time in a cafe next to our flat while enjoying a great cup of coffee...plus they have WiFi :)

Continue to pray for me as I work through my classes. I only have eight weeks left of class and I hope to get everything out of them that the Lord wants to teach me.

Church, Calvary Waterford.

We attend Calvary Waterford and have the chance to also serve the church. We work in the children's church and on the opposite week we do hospitality, which is serving coffee, tea, and biscuits and greeting those who come and go. I have absolutely loved this so far! It is so neat to see a group of people, across the world, loving and serving God together. Everyone is so nice and has an interest in who you are. We have started to build relationship with a number of people, and I am excited for them to build even more.

We each have a family who has adopted us while we are here in at school. They are praying for us and checking up on us here and there. My family is a lovely newly married couple(Melanie and Dimitir), who have been so sweet to me, giving me gifts and even invites over for dinner. Last night all of us girls and Mick(the churches admin and our very awesome friend) went to Melanie and Dimitir's house for dinner. It was a blast and such amazing food!

Another neat thing that we are involved in is the churches coffee shop. It is called Portico and it is located in the center of town. It has built into a very neat ministry that reaches the community and I love being a part of it. I work there once a week and it has fulfilled my withdrawals from making coffee at Starbucks. :) It is such a fun environment and an amazing way to show Christ to the city of Waterford.

Missing Home

Even though it has been a great time so far, I MISS HOME!! I have been able to talk with a few people on skype and it has been awesome! :) But the time difference makes things really hard. I am s thankful for my parents and all they are doing for me back home. I have talked with them a few times and it brightens my day! Josh and I are doing great! We talk about every other day. It has been a big adjustment, but it is making my love for him grow even more. I am so blessed! 

I miss you all and I pray that you are all doing well. Thank you for all your prayer and support.

Listening and Striving