A Simple Sparkle

I didn't plan to have bad connections and mismatched schedules that kept me from talking to my parents for my first three weeks abroad. I didn't plan on missing the train for church this morning. I didn't plan on losing my temper yesterday afternoon, or last night, or this morning. I didn't plan on spending my afternoon alone and I definitely didn't plan on having any sort of revelation about my character.  This morning I woke up with the intention of having a vastly better day than I did yesterday, but life pays no mind to our intentions. Life hands you whatever it has, scraping the bottom of the bag for the leftovers of someone else's good day. After missing the train this morning I walked back alone with self pity in my breath and mild anger in my footsteps. It's an odd feeling when you realize that no one's going to come looking for you, that you really are accountable for yourself. I feel like a freshman all over again. Missing home, missing my m...

Ok, not my best photo, but it is from an iPhone.  This week we have been studying the history of Ireland in it's entirety. This is no easy task as Ireland is tied to England, France, the US, and a few other countries histories. So besides figuring out the complexities of the Irish political scene we are also struggling to recall little details of high school world history classes. There's been a hectic silence around our little complex as everyone scrambles to read our "textbook" which is really just the most complicated novel I've ever read. The general consensus is the girls hate it, the boys like it. There are a few exceptions, but some people are struggling. One thing I have taken from forcing myself through this complicated history is that the richness of the Irish history has shaped them as a people and has created a deep-rooted sense of self and identity. As Americans we may not understand how wholly one’s history can affect one’s future. Our “young” h...

Today we heard a minister from the Presbyterian church talk about Judas. He had some very interesting thoughts regarding the severity with which we view this disciple. He pointed out that the word  paradounai ( παραδοῦναι)  in Luke used as "betray" is used hundreds of time in the New Testament, but it is only translated as "betrayal" when referring to Judas. Every other time it mean "to hand down" like tradition, or "to hand over" as God hands us over to Jesus. The question was raised, Should we be trusting this traditional English translation, does this imply that when God hands us over to Jesus that it is a bad thing? Certainly not. Perhaps we have been looking at this scripture in the wrong way. Then we look at Luke 22:3 in a new light. 3  Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve.  4  So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them. Perhap...

Yesterday was stressful. Like "everything in life is coming to a head and even the little things are going wrong" stressful. I wanted to give up on a lot of things, but I just went to bed and prayed for some touch of beauty or positivity. This morning Arianne and I went to do our homework at a coffee shop, but no homework was accomplished. I had a magnificent soy latte and we just talked it out. Life, school, love, everything. And while nothing was resolved, I just felt better. God knows how to take care of us and even when that overwhelming sense of insanity starts to cover all life's joy, he can just pick you up and set you down in a place where none of that matters. I know all the stress is still there, but I also know that God's got it under control. I can stop freaking out.  A Minor Bird I have wished a bird would fly away, And not sing by my house all day; Have clapped my hands at him from the door When it seemed as if I could bear no more. The fault mus...

T his weekend we took a trip to Blarney Castle and the Dingle peninsula. While the trip itself was long and a little stressful the sights we got to see were so glorious and vibrant that everything seemed more than worth it.  On Valentine's Day we were at Blarney Castle and I got to kiss the Blarney Stone. Legend says that if you kiss it you will be blessed with eloquence. We'll see. While we were standing at the top of the castle we saw the clearest rainbow I've ever seen. I could just feel God smiling at our silliness as we just soaked in his creation that surrounded us. We explored the castle grounds and it felt like we were in a fairy tale with all the moss and lush greens all around. I half expected a nymph or a unicorn to come bursting through the trees with the sun. On our last day we drove around the Peninsula stopping occasionally to look at different cliffs and hills. We drove through some land that seemed like it was just unused land, b...

For my Irish Studies program I'm required to study the differences between a Catholic Mass and a service at the Church of Ireland, so this morning I tromped though the rain to the Holy Rosary Church to experience my very first Catholic Mass. The service was very eye opening as I come from a long line of practicing Southern Baptists who are completely opposed to any sort of religious practice that is not blatantly Protestant. The service began as one would expect, a few short songs sung by a small chorus of older ladies and a man with a guitar. Then there was a reading of scripture, more singing, prayer, and the priest said a few words about the approaching anniversary of several deaths. After more scripture was read, the priest talked for a few minutes about the scripture and how it ought to be applied in our lives. The priest had a low, soothing voice with   a rather muted Irish accent. His words had authority and even though it was not what I was used to the message still h...

Well I'm finally in Ireland! We got here yesterday morning, but I was so horribly jet-lagged that there was no blogging to be done. There are thirty other people on this trip with us and I could name half of them I think. This is a picture from a hike we took today. We hiked from Bray to Greystones and apart from being unexpectedly difficult on the way up, it was positively beautiful. I'm meeting loads of lovely people, both Irish and American, and I can't understand how I'm ever possibly going to leave at the end of the semester. We visited a Presbyterian church this morning and it was very cute. Everyone had tea together afterward and every person I met was fascinating and incredibly friendly. I'm trying to get out of my shell this semester and so far it's going pretty well. Usually I'm fairly shy in new groups of people, but I've managed to have a conversation or two with pretty much everyone on the trip. That's big for me. A year ago, I woul...