Living between two countries and cultures has its advantages. Of course, it also has its disadvantages, too. Americans telling us we’ve started picking up an Irish accent is an advantage. Nothing makes you instantly popular as quickly as an Irish accent in America. But saying things like “Sorry, are ye in the queue?” instead of “Excuse me, are y’all in the line?” is a disadvantage. We’ve gotten used to the blank looks that tell us we’ve just used the wrong country’s vocabulary. It’s an advantage to get to experience the different food, scenery and richness of different places, an advantage to be able to meet old friends after getting off airplanes and trains in quite a few cities, and a disadvantage to have to say goodbye to people we love so very often. It’s an advantage to gain new perspective on many of our cultural assumptions about the way things should be, but a disadvantage to be constantly wondering if we handled every situation appropriately for the context. It’s an advantage to be welcomed in different worlds, but a disadvantage to feel like we never completely fit in any of them. It makes us think, it stretches us, it forces us out of so many comfortable habits, it humbles us, sometimes humiliates us, and makes us laugh at ourselves as it teaches us that this world really is not our home. We are thankful for the privilege of living between worlds.
Category: travel (Page 2 of 14)
After a week at our lovely cabin in the Georgia woods, being so encouraged by so many wonderful people, we’re now staying in Seth’s parent’s log home in Alabama. So far we can truly say that our time in America has been an incredible blessing, and we’ve got more great people to see, great churches to visit with, and great food to eat ahead of us before we head back to Ireland.
We travelled on Thursday night from Virginia to Georgia by train, which was fun, even if it didn’t make for the best sleep. So far we’ve discovered that Virginia wasn’t really hot – not compared to Georgia! But we have a beautiful cabin in the woods to stay in, thanks to a family at the church we’re going to this morning. We are blessed!
This week the children stayed with Jessica’s parents while Seth and Jessica went on a tour around Virginia to visit old friends and supporters. We spent a lot of time in the car driving 900 miles in four days, but it was worth it to spend time with people we love! Along the way we also got to have 57c stacks of pancakes at IHOP, we discovered a beautiful walking trail through a swamp, and we got to have some of the most amazing doughnuts in the world, from a tiny little bakery that would be easy to overlook. It was a good trip!
Yesterday we had an appointment at the US Embassy in Dublin to renew David’s passport. Since Dublin is far away, our family tradition is that we try to make these trips more interesting by staying one night there and doing something fun. This time we went to the Dublin Zoo, which is very nice, and also to the natural history museum (in other words, animals: dead and alive).
There was one stop we didn’t plan for, though… just before bed, David slipped in the hotel bathroom and cut the outside of his ear badly enough that Seth had to take him to the ER (actually, it was called the ED) for paper stitches. The job itself was over quite quickly. It was getting in to a doctor that took about 5 hours. Still, Seth was happy enough to wait. The ones who went straight in were worse off. We’re thankful for healthy kids!
As part of the Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland, our church is partnered with churches all over the island. The churches work together to support missionaries, provide Bible training, and much more. Each year there is a conference where the churches get to hear a report about what is happening in the Association and around the world through its missions efforts, but usually we do not personally attend because it is held in Northern Ireland (where the majority of the Baptist churches are) and that’s a long trip for us. This year, however, part of the report was about our teammate, Mervyn, taking on the position of Director of Baptist Missions, and also about how Paul and Kate McFarland are coming to be our new teammates in Youghal starting this September. So Seth went up with another man from church, driving more than 8 hours to attend a meeting of about 3 hours. It was worth it. It was so encouraging to see how churches all over the island are supporting one another and working together to bring the good news of God’s salvation to people all over the world. It was also great just to hear a big group of people singing together to the Lord, and talk afterwards over a cup of tea with people we rarely see.
The day after Easter, we left for London to stay in a friend’s house for a week while they were away. This is the first time we’ve had a vacation here that is more than a couple of days, and it was wonderful! Besides the red double-decker bus, Big Ben and the changing of the guard, we really enjoyed Legoland, a pirate ship, and an aquarium. The trip was full of great surprises, too – like the time we just happened to come to the Tower Bridge right when a tallship was coming through:
We’re so thankful to the Lord for this opportunity and for a wonderful time together as a family! You can see more pictures from the trip in the Gallery.
Schools in Ireland don’t have “Spring break”, they have “Easter holidays”, which start by going home early today. The two weeks of time off from school is a perfect opportunity to run youth camps, which we are usually involved in, but this year we have other plans. The week after Easter we are driving to London as a family (there’s a ferry). We’ll stay in the home of friends who will be away on their own holiday, visit Legoland, fulfil David’s dream of being on a red double-decker bus, and show Daniel Big Ben. The excitement level is building even faster than the legos around here…
This summer two young adult guys from our church went to Hungary to help out with an English camp run by the brother of one of our co-workers. They got on very well, and now that the school year is started, the folks in Hungary asked if one or both of them could come back for the next three months and help with kids, youth, and college English & Bible clubs. One of them couldn’t because of work commitments, but one of our guys will be leaving in about a week to spend the next three months working in Hungary. He is very excited, and although we’ll miss him, we are excited as well about what he will learn and be able to do in Hungary!
