Random thoughts spurred on by Galway…

During the trip I suddenly had some thoughts. I couldn’t find any paper around me so I ended up writing some of these thoughts on the back of my old receipts.

This my sound selfish at first, but please bear with me.

The more places I get to go and the more things I get to see the more my heart yearns to see more, to experience more, and to take in more beauty.

This universe is God’s canvas and I want to admire His art, I want to be intrigued by His creation in a deeper way.

I’ve never known much about art, I do however know what it feels like to experience something that tightens your chest and makes you feel like you can’t take in another breath. I love the sight of beauty and the feeling of being fascinated by something to the point where it takes your breath away.

These moments, for me, have been found in only three types of circumstances; with family, true friends, and in nature. —Precious moments—Holy moments— Moments that don’t compare with anything else in the world. It is during those moments where you wish you could freeze time, it is in those pictures that you can’t seem to capture the splendor fully, and it is while you are trying to write your feelings with words you cannot express. I have this feeling now, and I want to never let it go.

But these three circumstances in and of themselves are not that meaningful on their own. The only way to truly appreciate one is having the previous appreciation of the other two. I’m sorry if this is confusing you. My thoughts are fully structured on this, but I’ve just been thinking a lot about what really matters in life. And I think God reveals Himself most through relationships and in nature.

I don’t think I’ve ever appreciated God’s nature so much—nor have I ever felt so small. But admits the massive hills, unending ocean, and vast greenery of this land I am humbled and in awe because I matter, and I too am His work of art. The creator of the universe cares about me. Wow.

And as great as this beauty is I can’t help but feel a little bit sad. Not at what I am looking at, but that everything that I am getting to see can’t be experienced by you at home. Something inside of me began to ache. – I missed my true back friends and I longed to see my family.

I believe God has designed nature, relationships, and people to glorify and experience Him in a deeper way. So after seeing so many beautiful things this past weekend in Galway and the Aran Islands I’ve come to a few conclusions:
Stop and look… really look at what you are seeing.
Embrace the moments, and don’t rush them.
Stop worrying about time.
Recognize the beauty in the small things, and appreciate it even more in the big.
Appreciate where you are, but acknowledge where you have been- so you know how you got there.
Seek to feel small instead of constantly striving to make it big.
Recognize that moments with family and friends are blessings that God gives us and that they are irreplaceable.

Know that we are all designed for a different purpose, a different reason, and with unique skills. We all have different stories and different life experiences that we bring into relationships. And while I would long for each of us to get to experience the same things, that would make for a pretty boring life. It is when we can come together after the end of long absences from one another that we can listen, grow, and learn. I can’t wait to hear about life back at home and what’s been going on while I’ve been gone.

Beyond a shadow of a doubt...

Whew it has been a busy couple of weeks! The pictures above are of Valentines Day. We went on a group date-- due to the lack of guys on this trip it was 4 girls to each guy-- We had a great dinner and then went to the Nation Concert Hall of Dublin. It was an incredible night. We really had so much fun.
We have had one of our Taylor professors here for the past week teaching Celtic Christianity. We have been in the classroom a lot, and we have really been learning so many good things though.
This past week we took a trip to Kelkenny, Ireland. We got to see some great Monasteries, Abbeys, and best of all Castles!!!
The business is sometimes overwhelming, but I know that it will slow down soon.
I have really enjoyed getting to know people better on a daily basis. There are so many different people that bring so much to the group as a whole. It has been so cool to see how God has uniquely chosen each of us to play a key role in this experience.
This has also helped with being a bit homesick. There are many times when I want to pick up the phone, or see someone's face from back home, and I can't. I know that this is good for me. I need to learn how to love my family and friends more, but depend on them less. Which for me is a bit difficult because there are just so many great people to miss.
God has been teaching me to trust in Him more, and fear this world less. I have gotten so caught up in my own plans that I haven't taken the time to give those to God and ask if that is even what He planned for me. For now I don't know what that will look like as it plays out in my life. I have always been a bit of a worrier, and I think that this idea of trust is going to be an ongoing battle in my life. This doesn't mean that I can choose to embrace it and become complacent. If anything it means that I need to strive harder to combat it even more. I have so many questions about my future, and fears as to how that will look. I think for now though I need to just embrace the moments. And let me just say that there are so many fantastic moments in this place! I never want to take them for granted.
As for now I know that beyond a shadow of a doubt I am in the right place at the right time.
And I'm feeling blessed :)

The Start to my Beautiful Adventure!

I've been in Ireland for over a week, and the time has gone by so fast. Traveling didn't necessarily go as planned, but it ended up working out better than I expected. Surprisingly I remained strong and held off tears for my goodbyes. It was hard to say bye to Mom and Dad, but I wasn't totally convinced that I was really going away for so long.
So after waiting for over 6 hours in at Indy for our plane to arrive from a storm in Charlot, we had missed our flight from Philly to Dublin. We ended up taking the flight that night to Philly and then we stayed there and left for Dublin late Saturday night. The good news from all of this is that I got to see Rachel while I was in town. It had been over a year since I had last seen her, so it was really great to get a chance to spend time with her-- even if it was for only a short while-- It was good!
So if any on you were wondering what it might be like to sleep on a plane, it's nearly impossible. After a night of hardly any sleep we arrived in Dublin on Sunday.
This country is breathtaking. I was captivated the moment we landed. I am loving it so much! The are so many things to see and explore, I can hardly take it all in. Sometimes I think that three months may not be enough (Don't worry Mom and Dad, I will be more than ready to see you by then!)
I am living in a little town forty minutes outside of Dublin called Greystones. It is so great. Outside my bedroom window, that is the size of a shoebox, I get to see the hills and the ocean.
There are a lot of cute shops in walking distance, and we can take the train, aka the Dart, to so many other connecting towns. Everything is quaint and close here. It is going to be hard to go back to Upland.
My team is great, and I cannot wait to see the ways that we grow throughout the next couple of months. It is going to be neat to see how much our community grows throughout this time.
Late night talks, long hikes, walks along the shore, and coffee treks to new places consume my days.--it's pretty rough!
So you are probably thinking what about school? Well we have had a few classes, but the have been nice. It has been a bit difficult fighting jet-lag and getting use to the time change. In addition to that they have been gracious enough to let us explore and get use to the area.
We went to Glendalough on Saturday it is a monastic village from the 6th century. I climbed over 600 steps to the top of these crazy hills and then down and around a beautiful lake. God's creation is constantly taking my breath away here. We visited Newgrange, which is a stone age passage tomb that is older than the pyramids! It was really neat! The next couple of weeks may be a little more tough academically, so I will have to buckle down and get to work.--I guess that is what I am here for after all...
I am truly blessed to be here, and I never want to take this place for granted. I hope that you all are doing well :)

Leaving Comfort

My whole life I have been comfortable. I have had the most amazing parents anyone could wish for. I have an incredible family. I know that people say this a lot, but obviously I am bias. I mean I know we have our flaws, but who doesn’t? I am coming to find more and more each day that there are so many things to learn from in having imperfections. Thanks family, you have taught me so much and mean more to me than you will ever know.

I have also lived in the same house my entire life. A home that I knew was safe and where the doors were always open. A special place that I will forever know as home and hold dearly in my heart. And a place that I will always leave with a full stomach and a happy heart ;)

I’ve grown up in, for the most part, a safe town. I’ve attended a church that is filled with some really great people. The kind of people that are always there for advice, and that you can always count on to have a good time. WCBC is filled with some of the most Godly people I have ever met. Thank you.

Friends... Wow am I blessed! I have friends like Rachel Lundgren who have remained close even after she moved in the 8th grade. I’ve been friends with Emily Leismer since the first grade in Miss Jones’ class. Then there is Sarah McBride, my partner in crime. All of these girls are stuck with me for life. But there so many many more people from youth group, high school, and college that have played an irreplaceable role in shaping me. Thanks.

A couple weeks ago I had this overwhelming feeling of knowing that I was in the right place at the right time. Taylor University is the college that God called me two years ago, and still today I am convinced that it’s perfect for me. And so many things didn’t add up for me to go there (especially the finances). But after a lot of prayer and so much convincing everything ended up falling right into place.

I live on the 3rd floor, on the South end of English hall. And man did God once again wrap his arms around me and provide me with great people. The girls on my wing have helped me in ways I don’t even know yet. Their love for the Lord is amazing, and we really just have so much fun together. They’re just great!

As most of you know, college life has been somewhat crazy for me. I have decided to graduate in three years which makes for a busy experience. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything!

So you are probably wondering why I am rambling on and on about things that most of you already know. Well all of this is just to say that my whole life I have been surrounded by more love and comfort than I could ever deserve. I have an awesome family, great friends, and a God that is constantly faithful.

And today, while these people are still very much a part of my life and always will be, I will leave them. I will leave a country that I love. A country that has freedom and those who willing fight for my safety.... things that I far too often take for granted.

I’ve come to the conclusion that goodbyes wouldn’t hurt so badly if I wasn’t so blessed. So I guess I’ll take the rough goodbyes over losing any of the amazing people I have in my life.


So today I am going to embark on a journey that will be nothing like everything else that I have known. A new chapter starts today and this chapter will be filled with a lot of adventure, and so much growth.

At 6:05p.m. I will start my trip to Dublin, Ireland.

Wait. Yeah, that's right...

IRELAND!!!

I really can’t believe it. I have never been overseas and really only been out of the U.S. once...but if you ask me a quick lunch in Canada in the 6th grade hardly counts...

The background of the cover of my journal is of old maps and there is a verse on the front that reads Joshua 1:9 “For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

So although I am saying goodbye to so many things, I can take with me one familiar thing, the Holy Spirit. Praise God that no matter where we are, and who we are with (or not for that matter) He is always there, never leaving or forsaking us.

Wow, I am sorry that this post is so long, hopefully most won’t take you so long to read.

My bags are finally packed, but I still am not fully comprehending all that I am getting ready to do.

I am a little nervous, but for the most part extremely excited!

There will be so many great things to see on this trip and I hope that this blog gives you a glimpse of that. In addition, there will be so much that I will learn and I hope this gives me an opportunity to share some of it with you. I will also have a little more time, and less credit hours, so that is my motivation for keeping this updated!

I am sorry if it is boring, if the grammar isn’t always perfect, or if it doesn’t always make sense, but I think it will be a good way to debrief.

I hope it helps us keep in touch!

Peace and Grace,

Julie