Christmas Video

Hello dear family and friends!

Here is a sneak peek into our Christmas celebrations. We will write more soon!

First Pot of Soup!

Sunday the 5^th December began with church. It was a really relaxing afternoon of Christmas movies and playing games.

Monday began with prayer and a team meeting. The weather was a bit yucky, but Lucy ventured out for a chiropractor appointment in Bangor. It was decided that Lucy could start decreasing the amount of times she had to go to appointments, because her neck is in line and will hopefully stay that way!! Micah did a few errands and then stopped by Bobby and Joy’s house to drop off some leftovers. We ended up staying for dinner and watching one of Bobby’s favourite shows, River Cottage.

Tuesday was decoration day at the Ember. The morning was spent organizing decorations, buying a tree and untangling lights. The rest of the decorating happened in the afternoon when the core members were back, but we did not help because Lois and Wayne arrived. Lois and Wayne attend Lucy’s home congregation and Lois was Lucy’s mentor through high school. They are currently living in London volunteering as care workers for MMN volunteers. There is a MMN couple that recently moved to Belfast so they were able to combine visiting them with visiting us. They arrived about dinner time so Peter and Jenna (the MMN couple), Wayne and Lois, Frans and Julia (our new housemates) and Thomas joined us for dinner. It was a good evening of catching up and playing the Mennonite game!

Wednesday was another Root Soup day. Micah and Bryson (a trainee) went shopping at IKEA for additional kitchen supplies before returning to the office. Lucy worked in the office all day. She met with Frans and Julia to make sure they were settling in and to give them a chance to talk through some of the new ways of life that L’Arche provides. After work, we headed to the Ember for dinner and then Wayne and Lois returned from a day out (they stayed in our guest room) so we enjoyed chatting with them.

Thursday we went on a walk along the river with Wayne and Lois before heading to Protection of Vulnerable Adults training. The evening was pretty low-key.

Friday was a garden day for Micah. They worked a lot of transplanting and weeding. Lucy had the morning off so she took the chance to do some reading and cleaning. The afternoon for Lucy was spent in the Ember. Lucy helped Thomas get KK gifts and Lucy got her first present from her KK!! It was a great present of clementines and assorted nuts! Friday night we headed to city centre to meet up with Peter, Jenna, Wayne and Lois to listen to some traditional Irish music. The music was suppose to start at about 9, but the upstairs (where the music was) didn’t open till 9:30 and the musicians didn’t start playing till after 10. Then they only played 2 songs before heading out for a smoke break! Bummer! We only heard a total of 4 songs before heading back home, but it was really good music!

Saturday was an Ember day. Micah headed to Common Grounds with Thomas to volunteer. Lucy helped Jillian up and around before heading out with her to get some fruit and veg from the green grocer and buy some toiletries. Then afternoon was spent up at Forestside doing Christmas shopping or lounging around the beautiful Christmasy living room! In the evening we all headed down to the Ark for ‘Larry’s Pub Night’. Larry loves the pub but is often too lazy/overwhelmed by the number of people there to actually want to go to the pub, so we brought the pub to Larry. It was a great night of charades, singing, dancing (mainly by Jillian) and chatting.

Sunday we headed to church with Wayne, Lois, Peter and Jenna. After church we all went to a nearby sandwich shop before parting ways for a few hours. The afternoon for us was spent relaxing and napping! For dinner we headed over to Peter and Jenna’s house for jacket potatoes made by Lois and Wayne.

Monday started as usual with prayer and a team meeting. After lunch, we headed to the train station because Lucy had a chiropractor appointment. Lois, Wayne, Peter and Jenna had all headed to Bangor earlier in the day and we met up with them after the appointment for a cuppa tea. After getting back to Belfast, we headed to the Christmas market and then out to dinner at a great eclectic place called ‘Made in Belfast’. It had lots of character and really nice food.

Lois and Wayne headed to the airport on Tuesday morning. We decided to head to Ian’s bakery for breakfast since it had been a few weeks since we had gone. It was as good as ever. Afterwards we headed to buy some toiletries at Forrestside. Christmas shopping is making every shopping centre crazy busy!! We will avoid them if possible till after Christmas! We worked in the afternoon in the office then headed to the Loom, a new prayer space for the community. We had dinner and decorated the space. After the gathering, the live-in volunteers had Volunteer Night Out at a pub with Irish music. It was good craic!

Wednesday was an exciting day for Root Soup. Micah and Bryson made the first pot of soup for Root Soup! Lucy went to women’s group in the morning only to find out she should check our cell phone more often because it was cancelled. So after a cuppa tea, it was back to work in the office. Once the soup was made, 11 people enjoyed a bowl and some yummy wheaten bread. It was a big step to actually make a pot of soup! After work and dinner, we went to cell group where we enjoyed festive food and good company.

Thursday was a rest day (finally!). We used the morning to go grocery shopping and clean up around the house a bit. Then we took some time to relax before heading to Common Grounds for dinner and ‘Carols in the Cafe’ put on by our church here.

Friday was a different sort of day. It snowed quite a bit during Thursday night, so Jillian and Thomas weren’t able to go to the day centre. Jillian spent the day baking with Julia; Thomas spent the day with the two of us cleaning out his room. Thomas got rid of a LOT of stuff and his room is now dust free J. After work we learned a new game called 66.

Saturday we were back in the Ember. Lucy and Jillian headed to the green grocer and out to coffee. Micah went to Common Grounds with Thomas to volunteer. The afternoon was spent Christmas shopping, hanging about and going to IKEA. After we were at IKEA (looking for a new wardrobe for Thomas), we had a wee snowball fight. Thomas, Jillian and Larry were not impressed. Jillian kept yelling ‘cut it out’!

Today we went to church and then have spent the afternoon playing games and enjoying warm tea!

The past bit we have enjoyed Christmas’ arrival, from the Carols in the Cafe, to the snow, to the Christmas cards from Church of the Brethren members. We are looking forward to celebrating Christ’s birth next weekend. We will try to post pictures in the next few days, but for now we will leave you with warm holiday wishes!

Thanksgiving and the beginning of holiday season!

Tuesday the 16^th of December we began with a community conversation. During the community conversation we talked a lot about how we viewed ourselves in the community and things that were easy and hard for us in community. It was a great time of vulnerability within the community. After the community conversation, we were both wiped out so Maria suggested we take the afternoon off and go for lunch and a walk. It was really renewing to spend some time together. After the afternoon out we did a couple hours of work. In the evening, Thomas came over for dinner and we went to the chippie (fish and chips aka French fries). The rest of the evening was really low key!!

On Wednesday morning, Micah headed to the Root Soup kitchen and he and Bryson worked on continuing to clean the kitchen. Lucy went to women’s cell in the morning. They both were back in the office in the afternoon. The weather was NASTY in the evening so we stayed in from our cell group and watched a movie!

Thursday was a rest day. We went to the chiropractor in Bangor (Lucy had an appointment and Micah tagged along). After the appointment we went to a coffee shop before heading back. By the time we walked 30 min, took the train for 35 min, spent a couple hours in Bangor and returned by the train and walking....that was pretty much our day!

Friday was a dirty day :) Micah and Scott spent the morning hauling soil through the house. A delivery of soil came in the morning, but the truck could not fit down the back alley so they dropped 2 tons of soil in the front of our house and the majority needed to be in the back...bad news for the carpet! Lucy watched all the dirt being brought through while working in the office. In the afternoon Micah went to the allotment and Lucy went to the Ember. Micah and company spent the afternoon working on their new allotment plot, cut back fruit bushes and weeded. Lucy spent the afternoon with Jillian and Thomas. Thomas went to get a haircut and Jillian went to visit her favourite green grocer Michel. Then it was time to cook dinner! Larry headed out to a fancy dinner with Maria. He even wore a bow tie!

Saturday, we were back to the Ember. Micah headed out in the morning with Thomas to volunteer at Common Ground Cafe. Thomas helped to serve people, while Micah did a lot of dishes. Lucy, Julia, Jillian and Maria went to an art exhibition in the morning before Lucy and Jillian went to get Jillian’s hair cut. Jillian LOVES the hairdressers, because she gets coffee and pampered. The women there LOVE her! Afterwards it was back to the Ember for lunch. In the afternoon the boys (Micah, Larry, Neil and Frans) headed out to the Belfast Beer Fest. It had tons of local brews. Jillian, Lucy and Thomas went to the opticians because Thomas needed new glasses. Jillian whistled when Thomas found the right pair! By the evening we were all pretty tired so it was a low key night!

On Sunday we headed to church. After church, Joy and Bobby invited us over to lunch to meet Joy’s parents who were in from the states. It was a really nice afternoon of takeout and chatting.

Monday began with prayer and a team meeting as usual. In the afternoon Lucy headed to Bangor on the train for a chiropractic appointment. Micah took the chance to relax a bit on our rest day.

Tuesday the whole day was spent in First Aid training. We learned everything from CPR to treating burns to how to help if someone is choking. It was a full day! Afterward we were out of it so we decided to cancel on having Thomas down for dinner like we usually do on Tuesdays. We ended up eating dinner with Frans and Julia which was a nice chance to get to know them better.

On Wednesday, Lucy headed to a women’s cell group in the morning and Micah headed to the Root Soup kitchen to keep cleaning and buy a fridge. He had a lot of fun picking out the fridge with one of the men, who is taking part in the training in the kitchen, from the Open Door Housing Association. The afternoon was back to the office for both of us. In the evening we went to cell group before calling it a night.

Thursday was a rest day (kind of since it was Thanksgiving). Lucy headed out earlyish in the morning to go to Bangor for a chiropractic appointment and Micah and Larry went out to breakfast at Ian’s Bakery. After getting back from breakfast, Micah started cooking. Lucy joined in when she returned. The rest of the afternoon was spent cooking Thai sweet potato soup, baking pies and rolls and making gravy. Micah then ran out to pick up our turkey (we had it pre-cooked by the local butcher since our oven is quite small!!). While Micah got the turkey, Lucy, Makiko and Julia worked on setting tables and decorating. Then it was time for all 22 of us to have some yummy dinner! Although Thanksgiving isn’t a holiday here, we made a proper dinner with a lot of help from the community!

Our beautiful bird!

The desserts and punch.

Good times!

Friday was an allotment day for Micah. It was a big day at the allotment. New people, Paul and David, came up for the first time for the training that is starting at the allotment (part of Root Soup). Frans and Micah got manure for the Ark and then went back for more for the allotment. The afternoon was spent “conquering the new world and expanding L’Arche’s empire” aka taking over a new allotment that will have about 12 raised beds and lots of fruit bushes. Lucy spent the morning cleaning the house after the Thanksgiving feast and then headed to the Ember in the afternoon. After work, we had Thanksgiving #2. (Our first experience of 2 Thanksgivings!) We were invited by other Americans at church to a Thanksgiving celebration with a number of other couples/families. It was a really nice way to get to know some more people from church (and eat a lot more good food).

Cooking apples over the fire after our aluminum foil lunch was ruined.

Matthew weeding through the snow storm.

This is what makes cold, snowy days at the allotment worth it.

The snow falling over the Strangford Lough.

Matthew after he broke the knob of our water spicket.

Saturday we were back in the Ember. Micah and Larry dropped Neil and Thomas off at Common Grounds and then headed back to clean out Rosie (the community van, who was very dirty from hauling all the manure). Lucy headed out on the slippery foot paths to get Jillian’s eye brows waxed. Afterwards it was time to head up to the shopping centre for a lot of shopping and to pick up Thomas’ new glasses. He looks quite sharp with his new specs. Larry purchased some Christmas movies while we were shopping so the afternoon/evening was spent getting into the holiday spirit via films.

Sunday, we headed to church in the morning. Then we set out on a mission to find advent candles, which was much harder than expected. They either were smelly, expensive or the wrong colours, but we finally succeeded (in the 5^th store!!). The afternoon was spent at a community gathering to kick off KK (Kris Kindle). It is a L’Arche Belfast tradition, very much like Secret Santa. In the evening, we watched a movie. We do not recommend the “Nightmare before Christmas”!!

Monday began with prayer and a team meeting. Then we both headed to Bangor to go to a chiropractic appointment, do some shopping and go on a date! It was a beautiful, cool, crisp day!

Tuesday we headed in the morning to Holywood with the rest of the assistants for a walk and a cuppa tea/coffee. Rather than training we just enjoyed some time together! The afternoon was spent in the office. After work, we went to Joy and Bobby’s to babysit for their two kids, Padraig (2 years old) and Porter (6 months). Micah and Padraig ran laps around the house and read lots of books and Lucy and Porter spent a lot of time bouncing because Porter wanted his mommy! Thomas came over with us for awhile to have dinner, which Padraig really enjoyed! After Joy and Bobby were back and the boys were off to bed, we chatted for a few hours before heading home.

Wednesday, Lucy headed to women’s cell in the morning and Micah was planning to cook for the first time for Root Soup, but the two guys that were suppose to come couldn’t make it. One had a doctor’s appointment and the other had the flu. It was a bit of a bummer for Micah, but it was understandable. The afternoon was spent in the office. After work, we went grocery shopping.

On Thursday we had a rest day. Lucy headed...again...to Bangor for the chiropractor. Once back we headed up to get our Christmas tree. It is a bit like Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree, but we love it! The evening was spent drawing and crocheting...quite nice!

Our wee tree.

Friday was supposed to be an allotment day for Micah, but alas the dusting of snow/ice on the roads made it impossible to get up the last hill to the allotment. So instead, a group of us headed to an Indian buffet for lunch. Much nicer than being out in the cold anyway! Lucy spent the afternoon at the Ember, mainly chatting with Thomas. After work, Lucy scrapbooked and Micah went to whiskey night. It is a chance for guys from church to gather and hang out around a bonfire.

Today we headed to city centre to go to the Continental Christmas Market and do some Christmas shopping. The market was a cool collection of stalls from around Europe and beyond. There was lots of good food and pretty crafts! The rest of the day will be spent doing as little as possible!!

Overall life here has been filled with holiday cheer, lots of chiropractic appointments and a bit of a cold for Lucy. We are anticipating a visit from Wayne and Lois Hochstetler next week. (Lois was Lucy’s mentor from church through high school and they are currently in London with MMN.) We hope you are all able to find time to slow down and enjoy the advent season!

Whirlwind

Thursday November 4, we worked in the office all day. Nothing must have been too exciting this day, because we cannot recall a single thing we did! Yikes!

Friday, we headed off in the morning to provide a retreat for a secondary school. Larry, Thomas, Maria, and the two of us (mainly Maria) provided a morning of input. Micah and Larry talked about what makes Larry powerful even though he is a wee lad and would not hurt anybody! They talked about his laugh, sense of humour, and gentle spirit. Lucy and Thomas talked about what it means to be friends. They talked about how Thomas is patient when people misunderstand his speech, always forgives no matter what, and how they listen to each others’ problems. Maria talked about what it means to be powerful. After lunch it was back to Belfast, the guys all had to get ready for a weekend trip to Belgium. Larry, Thomas, Jillian, Scott, Maria, Aodh and Megan went to the wedding of the first house leader from Friday until Sunday. “In place” of the core members we took care of Scott and Megan’s kids, Octavia and Noah. So Friday evening Lucy hung out in the Ember with the kids. Micah headed to Homebase to buy a couple things for Frans and Julia’s room.

Saturday we were back in the Ember with the kids. They do not have a TV at their house so they were obsessed with watching television. In the afternoon they headed off to a friend’s house so we did some household tasks like take the recycling to the recycling centre and swept the paths and got food for dinner. When the kids got back, it was time for their bedtime. They spent the night at the Ark so it was going to be an early Sunday wakeup call. After the kids were away to bed, Frans, Julia, Makiko and the two of us sat around chatting over wee cups of tea.

Sunday was an early morning (mainly for Lucy, since Micah stayed in bed.) Octavia was up by 7 (sounds later than it felt!!) and was ready to play football and colour right away! She obviously wakes up quicker than we do! Around 10, Jenny and Makiko came over to take the kids for the day and we headed off to church. After church we treated ourselves to some Chinese food before relaxing in the afternoon. Lucy made pumpkin cookies while Micah sketched the chicken coop. In the evening we headed to Joy and Bobby’s house for dinner and then played spades!

Monday morning the two of us and Eimear headed to child protection training. We are still not sure when we work with adults with learning disabilities why we need child protection training, but alas we wasted a few hours learning how to report child abuse in Northern Ireland. In the afternoon, Micah had a meeting at Open Door to clarify legal issues around the use of their kitchen. In the evening we headed over to the Ember for dinner.

Tuesday started off with another training...infection control! At least this one was a lot more applicable to our work. Then it was off to work in the office. Lucy made some signs for the kitchen to show where to wash veggies vs. dishes vs. hands and where to cut meat vs. veggies. Micah had a meeting with Maria to work on an application for volunteers and another for the community leadership programme. Thomas and Maria were over at the Ark for dinner. After dinner we headed off to the Annual Yearly Progress meeting for L’Arche. It is a lot of formality about budget and vision, but also a time to meet the board of directors and obviously a time for tea and biscuits! Jillian was in quite the mood this night. Generally she does not like to go out after dinner, so in the car she was saying she was sick and wanted to go home, but as soon as we got there and she got lots of attention, she was flirting up a storm (mainly with Micah...) and laughing at what was being said. She is such a funny woman!

We are now working Wednesdays until the first of the year since the kitchen is up and running for Root Soup, but the training will not start until the new year. This means that Micah is helping to keep it going for the next couple weeks. He was over in the kitchen cleaning again on Wednesday morning and met with two of the guys from Open Door who are interested in participating in the Root Soup training. It was a lot of fun to begin to get to know their stories and see the hard work start to pay off. Then he headed to a meeting with VolunteerNow. Lucy went to a women’s cell group in the morning and then worked in the office in the afternoon, responding to lots of emails and organizing some meetings. Wednesday evening, we just chilled out!

Thursday started out with Ian’s. Lucy went out and brought it back, while Micah did a bit of work (even though it was our rest day). Then we headed to Bangor on the train. Lucy had a chiropractor appointment and Micah looked for some boots (and found some!! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Brown!!), before we headed to a cafe for some coffee and a cinnamon bun! Once back in Belfast we stayed indoors because it was super nasty outside. For dinner, we braved the storm and went down to the Ember.

Friday began early for Lucy since she was present all day in the Ember. Micah and Scott headed up to the allotment. In the late morning, Lucy dashed to the train station to catch a train again to Bangor for the first spine alignment! In the afternoon Lucy was back in the Ember. Lucy, Thomas and Jillian walked up to Forrestside to get some deodorant for Thomas and because it was a nice day out! On the way back we ran into Joy and her kids so they stopped by the Ember after their shopping. The rest of the evening was spent reading Bible stories to Thomas and watching a bit of TV.

Saturday we were both present at the Ember. Micah headed to Common Grounds in the morning with Thomas to volunteer. Lucy and Jillian tagged along for a cuppa coffee before going to Jillian’s monthly drumming group. The group sings, drums, and plays hand bells! It was a good change of pace! In the afternoon, a friend of the community, Lisa, came over to go for a walk. We all headed to Belvoir park for a lovely walk in the woods. After the walk we came back and headed to the Ark for a community craft day. Some people painted, some drew and Lucy worked more on her scrapbook!! By the time this ended it was time for dinner! After dinner, Micah, Larry, Matthew and Frans headed to the pub for a pint. The rest of the group enjoyed a bit of downtime!

Larry--not doing art, but enjoying a book on motor bikes.

Thomas and.....Thomas! O my!

Lucy scrapbooking!

Sunday began with church and then the rest of the day (pretty much) was spent skyping with friends and family. The evening was spent watching a movie and just being!

Today, we had community prayer and then a team meeting in the morning. After the team meeting, we enjoyed a leisurely lunch with Makiko and Emily before heading back to the Ark. Lucy went running then headed to Bangor (again) for her second spinal alignment. Micah meanwhile had a meeting with Valerie (their mentor) and Maria. By the time the meeting was done and Lucy was back it was time for dinner. Joy and Bobby cook dinner on Mondays so afterwards we enjoyed chatting with them and playing with their kids.

We have kept saying we hope life is going to slow down, but alas it has not and the end of the busyness is not in sight. BUT we are thankful for how Root Soup has begun, Lucy is feeling the positive effects of the chiropractor and there is fulfilment within the busyness. If you are interested in learning more about Root Soup and how you can get involved, you can email Micah and he will send you his fancy newsletter! His email is root.soup@larchebelfast.org.uk.

Where has the time gone?

Our beautiful sunflower!

Tuesday, October 12 began as usual with a meeting. We had a review for one of the other assistants, who does a great job so it was pretty easy! After the meeting we went to work in the office. Then it was time for Micah’s birthday prayer. It is a long-standing tradition in L’Arche to gather around a person’s birthday and tell them what you appreciate about them as well as what you hope for them in the next year. Micah found it slightly awkward to have so many people pointing out all his many gifts. After the prayer we had Thomas down for pasta...his favourite! In the evening we headed off to our course, Freedom in Christ, at church.

Wednesday was a rest day. We began the day with Ian’s as usual for a Wednesday. The afternoon was spent FINALLY finishing buying necessities for the Ark after the fire. It has been a long and draining process, but we are done!! Once we finished that it was back to the Ark to clean up and keep it looking nice.

Thursday was a normal day in the office. Lucy worked on planning transportation to a retreat for two of the volunteer assistants. Micah worked on grant writing, as usual! In the afternoon, Lucy felt pretty rubbish so took the afternoon off while Micah plugged away at the grant writing. In the evening Micah prepared snacks and drinks for Jillian’s Person Centred Plan meeting that was being held at the Ark.

Friday, Micah and Scott headed to the allotment. The morning was spent finishing the guttering, ripping out the front porch and cut new boards for the porch. The afternoon was spent back in the houses doing maintenance. Micah and Larry started to prepare the room for the new Swedish couple by taking doors off the built-in wardrobe to make some open shelving. Lucy spent the afternoon in the Ember. We skyped with Naomi, a previous assistant, because it was her birthday. Then Larry and Lucy made Ethiopian stew together.

Saturday we were both in the Ember. Thomas and Neil headed off in the morning to Common Grounds to volunteer. Jillian headed off to drumming with Makiko and the rest of us (Lucy, Micah, May and Larry) headed to IKEA to buy May a bed! She had been using a bed from the Ark but it was needed back for the new couple, so it was time for her to buy her own. After it did not fit into Rosie (our van) as expected, Lucy and Larry took the bus back to the Ember. After lunch, Larry, Jillian, the two of us headed up to Forestside. Larry buys a DVD every Saturday so he wanted to do that, and Jillian desired some new finger nail polish and a new colouring book. For dinner we skipped the usual fish and chips and went for pizza instead.

On Sunday we headed to church and were then invited to a couple’s house for lunch. The amount of time you stay at a person’s house here appears to be much longer than in the States. We are both used to going for lunch, chatting a bit and then heading on our way. The pattern here seems to be going for lunch, staying for dessert and at least one cuppa tea/coffee, chatting a LONG bit and then maybe thinking about heading on our way. It is amazing how much slower life is here even though it is part of the “Western” world. The evening was spent reconnecting with Micah’s parents.

Monday we had our team meeting as usual and then went shopping for food and for the room of the new assistants. In the evening a fellow BVSer, Pam, came over for dinner. It was fun to reconnect with her and share experiences from our different projects. It is amazing how far apart we feel even being in the same city! After dinner, Micah went to Larry’s Person Centred Plan meeting. He enjoyed hearing stories from Larry’s brother about Larry’s life growing up.

Tuesday we spent the morning in formation, where we look at L’Arche ethos and values. We looked at breakfast from different viewpoints (core members, assistants, guests) to see how it could feel to people. Afterwards (since it was Larry’s birthday and he chose to stay home for the day), we had him open his presents and then headed out for a lunch of burgers! Larry loved being the centre of attention and reason for celebration! Then right after that it was back to the office for a couple hours of work before heading to Freedom in Christ which started early because there was more material to go through. Whew...it was a busy day.

Larry opening his birthday present!

Larry's new camera!

Wednesday we dove into the preparation for the new assistants’ room of course this was after a trip to Ian’s Bakery. We spent the day cleaning and painting. For dinner we headed over to the Ember, to find that all the core members were out and about so it was just a few of us assistants. Micah headed to the pub in the evening with Bobby to watch the Tottenham football match.

Thursday we were back in the office for a full day. Lucy found out that one and possibly two of the volunteers are looking at leaving for different reasons. One has found an opportunity that she feels really called to and the other has never felt quite at home in the community and feels the desire to work with children. Although Lucy wants assistants to remain for their full term, it is better to have happy assistants than people feeling obliged to stay. But this opened up a bit of work before the beginning of the year for Lucy! It was a bit of a surprise. Micah plugged away at grants...then went to the Ember to help move the bed down to the Ark from May’s room. Micah, Neil and May were going to build her bed, but she didn’t show up in time so it still isn’t put together.

On Friday, Micah and Scott were back up at the allotment. They finished the porch, laying new woodchips on the paths, and in the afternoon welcomed the first official trainee for the garden as part of Root Soup! His name is Christian and what Lucy heard about him is he runs around and when asked to work says “No thank you”, but when he was planting strawberries he threw the plants in with great accuracy! Micah and Scott had a lot of fun starting to get to know him. Lucy spent the afternoon in the Ember. Jillian and Lucy cooked dinner while others were out and about. Then Micah and Lucy took Jillian to her Halloween Disco at the day centre. The great part was when Micah missed a turn, Jillian from the back seat asked quite loudly “Where you going!?” That woman knows her way around town! We then attempted to pick up Thomas and Emily from Special Olympics, but just missed them because they were pulling out of the parking lot in a taxi. Bummer!

Saturday began with Micah making pancakes! Then it was a day full of chores for the two of us. Micah swept the paths, did laundry, and cleaned. Lucy spent a chunk of the day moving the office and sleepover room to the upstairs floor since we are hopefully welcoming a new core member in the next weeks. At the end of the day we were quite tuckered from all the physical work!

On Sunday we were off to church in the morning. Then we spent the afternoon cooking and baking before another couple, Joy and Bobby, came over for dinner. We truly experienced many differences between the U.S. and Northern Ireland this day. First, sausage has no seasoning here like in the states. It is SOOOO bland. Second, here they differentiate between self-rising flour and plain flour and the States only has the self-rising so the cake was quite dense! Third, there is no such thing as Cool Whip, so we had to figure out how to whip our own (we definitely need more practice and learned after it helps to have a cold bowl). It was quite a stressful day, but alas dinner turned out pretty tasty despite the many disastrous encounters in the kitchen before. We really enjoyed the evening with Joy and Bobby and their two kids!

Monday began with a community prayer which Lucy lead, and then continued with the team meeting. Afterwards we worked on cleaning the Ark and continued preparing the room for Frans and Julia (the Swedish couple). Later on Micah went to a Funders Fair with Maria to try to get more ideas for grants. We spent the evening eating dinner in the Ember and hanging out around the table!

Tuesday we had a community conversation guided by Maria looking at where we all fit into the community and what we feel most connected to. Afterwards, we headed off to work in the office. Then Micah scurried around to get ready for Larry’s birthday prayer. He drew a bike and cut it into pieces so each person after they prayed for Larry put a piece of the car together. Larry loved his bike and the passing of the candle (a candle is passed around the circle and when you have the candle you say something you appreciate about the birthday person). After the prayer for Larry, we played a game for Octavia’s birthday and followed up with a pizza party to celebrate all the October birthdays (including Micah’s!!). Once the party was winding down, we headed off to our Freedom in Christ course at church before finally crashing into bed! Tuesdays are long days sometimes!

Wednesday began with the normal and delicious trip to Ian’s bakery. Afterwards we went grocery shopping and then prepared for another couple, Jenna and Peter (from Goshen area), who came to dinner. Peter and Jenna are here with MMN working at a peace and reconciliation centre. Luckily, dinner went a little smoother than earlier in the week. We made pizza’s and apple cobbler, both of which turned out amazing. We were actually pretty proud of our food. It was good to connect with Mennonites and play the Mennonite game. Later that night (Thursday morning) Micah decided to watch the World Series with Bobby. It was the first baseball Micah watched this season. We had good craic, but Micah did pay for it the next day.

Thursday was another day in the office. A lady came over in the morning to present a check for L’Arche so we all had some tea and buns and chatted for awhile. Then Micah had a meeting with Maria and Lucy did a phone interview for the opening in January. The evening was spent nursing another migraine...

Friday morning for Micah and Scott was spent putting the finishing touches on Frans and Julia’s room before Micah headed across town for a meeting (which didn’t happen). Then Micah and Scott headed up to the allotment in the pouring rain. It was a day when Lucy is glad not to be scheduled to go to the allotment. The guys worked on cleaning out the shed, and planted garlic. Lucy spent the afternoon in the Ember. We spent the afternoon working on Jillian’s and Larry’s Halloween costumes. Jillian was a bed of flowers and Larry was the car from the allotment (we had a garden-themed Halloween party on Sunday). Friday evening we had a flashback to Lucy’s childhood and watched the movie Hocus Pocus.

Saturday we were both present in the Ember. Micah accompanied Thomas to Common Grounds and Lucy took the morning to see a chiropractor in Bangor because they were giving free spinal screens. The chiropractor was optimistic that some work on Lucy’s neck could reduce the number of migraines she has. Woohoo! After lunch, the whole gang of us headed up to Forestside shopping centre for various errands. Jillian needed an outfit for a wedding that she is attending with others in Belgium next weekend. Thomas needed a new toothbrush and Larry HAD to go shopping for a DVD. We also had to buy all the food for the barbeque the next day! It was quite a lengthy trip that of course ended with tea and coffee in the cafe. Once we were finally back, Larry and Micah spent some time doing maintenance and cleaning up leaves. Lucy and Jillian made a pumpkin pie (there is no canned pumpkin here so it is the real deal!). In the evening we all (mainly Micah) spent a bit of time making a welcome sign for Frans and Julia. Micah is pretty proud of his sign! Lucy, then, worked on her Halloween costume for the party on Sunday. Then it was finally time for everyone to head off to bed except Micah who stayed up for the silly baseball game!

On Sunday we went to church in the morning and had a nice walk back up with Joy and Bobby. The afternoon was spent celebrating Halloween, which is a huge holiday here. We all dressed up, ate, played games, ate, ate, and ate. After all this we had a barbeque and then ate dessert (again). There was way too much good food and a lot of it got eaten!! Toward the end of the party, Frans and Julia arrived. Thomas was very excited to pick them up from the bus centre. The evening was spent chatting with them and showing them around a bit. Micah fell asleep super early just to wake up in the middle of the night to watch the baseball game. He is one crazy man!

Lucy's scary carrot costume.

Freeze dancing game.

Neils bird table costume

Larry taking a picture of himself in his fantastic car costume

Larry and Jenny, the bumblebee

Micah's spiderweb costume.

Monday began as usual with a community prayer and then we had a review for Scott, which consisted of us telling him what he is doing that is really helpful and if there is anything that would be helpful to us if he did. The afternoon was spent hanging out in the Ember and the Ark and then we went to the Ember for dinner and chatted for quite awhile. Micah AGAIN stayed up for the baseball game and luckily the Giant’s won so there is no more middle of the night baseball....says Lucy.

Tuesday started out with the team meeting. Then we were off to the office. Micah worked on the Root Soup newsletter called Tendrils. Let us know if you want a copy via email! Lucy spent time responding to soooo many emails and then reading updates on the UKBA website (all about the borders of the UK!). After work, Thomas had dinner over here with the two of us and Frans and Julia. Once dinner was done and cleared up, the two of us headed to our last Freedom in Christ class. It has been a great course and we are so glad we did it, but it will be nice not to have such busy Tuesdays!

Today, Root Soup launched! Applause, Applause!! Micah spent the morning at the kitchen meeting with Alison (the kitchen trainer) and Pauline (the manager of Open Door). Next week will be the first day people are being trained! After lunch, Micah got a phone call about the grant that Micah and Maria applied for a few months ago. Maria would have been happy with £1,000, Micah would have been happy with £3,000, but they got £6,500!! This is reason for lots of celebration! Tonight is date night. We realized that we had not been out for dinner together, just us, in over two months! Tonight that will be changed!

It has been busy and exciting times here in Belfast. Root Soup is launched! We have new housemates! Micah and Maria’s grant application was successful! We are feeling more connected to the community outside L’Arche. Life is good, but we are looking forward to slowing down in the next while and Micah still needs help deciding where we are going on holiday...Portugal or Malta?

Soup Shanty Festivities

Monday 27^th of October was a day full of travelling and meetings for both of us. We headed down to Dublin with Scott, Maria, Gosia and Sharon for a meeting on supervision provided by L’Arche Ireland. We left early Monday morning and arrived back about dinner time. The meeting talked a lot about how to build trust with people we supervise while building a friendship.

On Tuesday we started the day with our team meeting then it was off to the office. Micah was busy preparing for the Soup Shanty. He did everything from locating soup spoons to verifying when the centre would be open for our use. Lucy continued to work on supporting the current volunteers and made a questionnaire as a follow up to the meeting the day before. Tuesday evening we had a leaving party and prayer for Manuela, a one month volunteer from Austria. She really blessed the community with her ability to truly “be” in community. After the party, we headed to our Freedom in Christ course at church. We continued to look at the truths that God has told us about our life.

On Wednesday we did our weekly trip to Ian’s followed by Micah doing a bit of work for the Soup Shanty. Afterwards we went on a trip to Botanic Avenue for a haircut for Lucy and window shopping for the both of us.

Thursday we were back at work, but less office time and more Soup Shanty preparation. From about 10 till 6 we were immersed in soup...making soup, tasting soup, preparing vegetables, washing dishes for the soup and buying last minute items. It was a long day but nice to have a change of pace. (Micah made a delicious carrot and coriander soup!!).

Friday was the day we had been preparing for the last few months. Micah and Maria in particular had spent a lot of hours getting ready for this event! In the morning, Micah and Scott made their weekly trip to the allotment after buying supplies for new porch and guttering. The day continued with many preparations: cleaning the Indian Centre, cutting bread, setting tables, warming up soup, putting tray bakes on trays, and decorating. Micah, Maria, Scott and Matthew began preparing the Indian Centre at 2. Lucy and Jillian headed over to lend a hand at 4. The event finally started at 7 with delicious soups and good fellowship. It continued with a speech from Maria and entertainment from the Open Arts Choir, a choir for people with and without disabilities. We were required to be out of the Indian Centre at 10 so right after the choir was finished we offered tea, coffee and tray bakes to the guests and then whipped around to clean up. What a busy and fantastic day, although the event didn’t raise as much money as hoped for, the soup was a hit! Not a drop was left at the end of the night after selling the leftovers!

Maria giving her speech. Jillian loving being front and center and the choir getting ready to sing!

Emily and Matthew selling our new cookbooks, "Soup and What Else" written by Maria Garvey!

Jillian, Thomas and Pam enjoying the wonderful evening!

Gosia and Larry!

No rest for the weary; Saturday we were in the Ember back at work. No one had much energy on Saturday so everyone had a lie in before taking it pretty easy. Even Jillian who does not enjoy rest as much as the guys was ready for an afternoon listening to music and colouring in her room.

Sunday we were off to church in the morning. We had a pretty slow day on Sunday after a few busy days. We talked to Micah’s family and lounged about. Not much was accomplished except a good bit of rest.

Monday we had our team meeting. Afterwards we went grocery shopping and then talked to Lucy’s family before heading out to meet some potential friends in the city centre. One of Lucy’s past roommates currently is living with someone who knew this couple and it turns out Micah has met her before at MVS orientation. Also, her dad pastored in the church that Lucy’s uncle pastored in. Small world! Kelley was doing VS in Northern Ireland and met her husband who is from this area so now she is a permanent resident! We had a good time chatting with them!!

Tuesday we went on a walk by Sharon’s house. She lives in a great part of Belfast that feels so secluded from the rest of the city. Not as assessable for walking into town, but a really nice setting! In the afternoon we worked in the office. Micah priced items for the kitchen to finish it off as well as looked for possible grants. Lucy wrote a letter for Manuela so she can put her volunteer hours into her CV (kind of like a resume) as well as contacted our future housemates from Sweden about their arrival time, among a few other things. In the evening Thomas came over for dinner before we headed off to Freedom in Christ at church.

Wednesday was Micah’s birthday! He turned the big 2-5. He had his first experience with the L’Arche tradition of breakfast in bed (although he didn’t stay in bed to receive it, he was downstairs already when they brought it over). Then we went and played 2 rounds of “crazy golf” aka putt-putt. Then we tried to get Micah a new pair of jeans, but failed miserably. He hasn’t quite adopted the European style yet! Then it was about time to make a delicious dinner...steak fajitas. Micah requested it because we eat very little meat and pretty much no Mexican food! Thanks to everyone who sent cards or messages!

Thursday we took an extra day off since the previous week we had put in so many extra hours the week before. L’Arche Belfast has done an amazing job at teaching us the importance of rest! We spent the morning babysitting for Aodh, the two year old of Scott. Afterwards we spent awhile cleaning, because it had been put on the backburner to the Soup Shanty and the Ark needed a good cleaning! In the evening we went to Joy and Bobby’s house for dinner. They have recently returned from the states and were good friends of Faythe and James who recently headed to South Bend, IN for graduate school. We enjoyed their company and spending time with their two kids!

On Friday, the two of us went to Ian’s bakery for our weekly trip and then Micah and Scott headed up to the allotment in the afternoon. They were preparing for a group of adults to come and help out on Sunday. Lucy went to the Ember in the afternoon and accompanied Thomas to take a jacket to the drycleaners as well as get his hair cut.

Saturday we were back full force into the Ember. Thomas took Micah out to breakfast at Common Grounds. During their breakfast, Thomas kept talking about working at Common Grounds on Saturdays (he already works there on Wednesdays) and when they were paying, the supervisor said that he would be able to work 9 till 11! Thomas is stoked! Afterwards, Lucy and Thomas headed to do some shopping for clothes for him. That man can shop! While Thomas and Lucy were shopping for clothes, Micah whipped up some corn chowder and then Micah and Larry headed up to Forestside to look for a new DVD and boots. Poor Larry has such small feet that there were none in his size that didn’t look like little kids boots. After all these errands, we settled down for an evening of the X-factor (a lame TV show similar to the American Idol).

On Sunday, Lucy headed to church in the morning and Micah headed up to the allotment in the late morning. After church, Lucy had a pretty uninteresting day of relaxing, but Micah had a busy day leading a group of volunteers in many projects around the allotment including guttering the shed, painting the shed and weeding. They were up their until a barbeque in the evening. It was a lot of help to have them contribute so much to the projects at the allotment. Now, Scott and Micah can focus on the back garden of the Ark (like chickens!) and maintenance around the Ember.

Today, we had our team meeting in the morning and then headed to IKEA for hopefully the last bit needed to finish the Ark post-fire. Afterwards, we took some vegetables and sandwiches to Joy and Bobby. The church across the road to us donated a TON of veg and sandwiches after their harvest festival and there is no way we will ever eat it all! Then it was back to the Ember for dinner. This evening we will work through the Freedom in Christ material.

It has been a whirlwind the past few weeks and we are looking forward to slowing down into routine again as Micah continues to work on preparing for the first day of Root Soup and Lucy prepares to welcome two new volunteers. We are enjoying getting to know more people around Belfast and look forward to a potential holiday in January (to somewhere that flights are cheap and it is warm...possibly Spain?). Ideas are welcome!

Six Months and Going Strong

Thursday September 16 was another day in the office. Micah met with Alison at Open Door. He showed her around the kitchen for Root Soup since she is going to help get the soup aspect off the ground by volunteering her expertise in cooking with people with learning difficulties. Lucy met with a potential local volunteer who has recently graduated from university.

Friday, Micah headed to the allotment with Scott and Emily for the morning. They cleaned out the shed and weeded (of course). In the afternoon, Scott, Micah and Matthew built a new raised bed for the front and back of the Ark and one for the allotment. Micah also convinced Scott that we should have chickens in the back of the Ark so hopefully in the next couple months this will happen! Lucy spent the morning relaxing and the afternoon at the Ember.

Saturday, we were present in the Ember. We went out to lunch at a cafe with the whole crew. Micah and Neil were coming up with tag lines for Root Soup (both serious and completely ridiculous). In the afternoon Lucy helped Larry and Jillian clean their rooms. Micah headed up to Forestside, a shopping centre with Larry. Larry makes a weekly trip to buy a DVD on Saturdays. It was quite rainy and Micah felt like the whole town was trying to park at this store! Micah and Neil made dinner...delicious Fajitas!! Then we all watched some episodes of Father Ted, an old Irish sitcom till it was time for evening routines.

Sunday we went to church and then a “Garden Party” in the botanic gardens. We didn’t really know what to expect, but it ended up being a TON of booths with a TON of free samples. We had a delicious lunch off the samples!!

Monday we had our team meeting followed by a ton of resting.

Tuesday we were in the office after morning meetings. Lucy went to team formation and Micah had training on Social Media. He learned all about how to use Facebook and Twitter to further Root Soup. If you aren’t a fan of Root Soup on Facebook yet (and have Facebook), become a fan! Micah continued to get ready for the Soup Shanty (the kick off of Root Soup, which is October 1!!). Lucy spent the day preparing for Thomas’ Person Centred Plan (PCP) meeting and trying to get a note from Jillian’s doctor saying she needs a carer with her at aqua aerobics. The heath system here is not as user friendly as the States, but it is free! It took quite a few phone calls with no answer (during business hours) and a trip down to the office before finally getting through on the phone to the doctor who was less than helpful! Thomas came over for dinner as usual on Tuesday. He was pumped up after going to college and because a meeting was all about him later that night and because we went to the chippie for fish and chips. He was so excited. The early evening was spent at Thomas’ PCP meeting. Each of the core members has this plan about them that tells their hopes and dreams, how to keep them safe, and their routines (among many other things). The plan has to be updated each year and it was time for Thomas’ update. After the meeting, we headed to Freedom in Christ, a little late but still worthwhile.

Wednesday was a rest day. We didn’t make our weekly trip to Ian’s because it was rainy, but supplemented it was French toast. Lucy went to a meeting for Thomas at his day centre to talk about what he has been doing and what he wants to do in the future. The meeting showed that when he says he does nothing at day centre he is fibbing. He is busy there!

Thursday, it was back to work in the office for Lucy. Lucy spent the morning updating Thomas’ PCP so the hard copy is all up to date. Then, she got back to work on volunteer coordinating in the afternoon by responding to emails and scheduling meetings with potential and current volunteers. Micah spent the morning in the office and the rainy and cold afternoon at the allotment. They painted and weeded.

Friday, Micah worked in the office (since he went up to the allotment on Thursday). Maria and Micah met to continue hashing out the details of the Soup Shanty. There are a lot of pieces to get in place for this event!! Lucy went to the doctor’s office in the morning to continue pursuing an answer to the migraines and headaches. The doctor again was less than helpful and really didn’t listen to well. One needs to be forceful here to get through it seems and that is not Lucy’s way! In the afternoon Micah met with Sharon, an evaluator before a business gets a grant that Micah applied for. It was both a good and bad meeting. She was really impressed with the idea of Root Soup, but started off by saying that there were many applicants and little money for this type of business since a lot of their funding is designated for athletic events. Maria and Micah then went to Starbucks to ask for free stirrers for the Soup Shanty. They were told to come back when the manager is in, but Micah was happy because he got coffee out of the deal, even if it was from an American chain. Lucy spent the afternoon in the Ember. She went to Jill’s doctor’s office with Jill to pick up the note from the doctor, which had a few typos, hopefully it works! Then she and Jill headed up to Forestside to get ingredients for tray bakes and bread that are needed for the Soup Shanty. In the evening we went out with our cell group from church to Pizza Express. It was an evening filled with too much food, a lot of chatting and all around good craic.

On Saturday we were present in the Ember. It was an odd day because Jillian was away with a friend/past assistant so it was just the guys and May. It is amazing how much energy on Saturdays goes into keeping Jillian occupied and happy (or at least trying). It was a pretty busy day even with her absence. Micah went to a bag pack (bagging people’s groceries) with Thomas which benefited Special Olympics. Lucy spent the morning cleaning the Ember and mowing the grass. O boy it was long! Then it was time for lunch and to prepare to head up to the allotment for a wee bit of work and a barbeque. At the allotment, we dug up potatoes, planted daffodils, and hopefully decreased the amount of weeding poor Micah and Scott have to do, by putting plastic and mulch on the paths. Larry as usual did little to no work, while Thomas just wanted to get his jeans and hands dirty. Octavia even caught Larry dancing with Lucy on camera! Classic! We topped the evening off with a barbeque. The roaring fire felt great since it was a bit chilly by dinner time.

Today was a day of rest. We headed to church this morning then spent the afternoon baking and drawing (Lucy baking and Micah drawing). Before dinner we had a farewell prayer for Manuela who leaves on Tuesday after her month here. She is headed back to Austria to continue her studies at med school...only 4 more years to go!! The prayer was followed by her meal of choice...pizza and ice cream! Yummy! This evening we are finally heading out to a volunteer night out.

A brief update on what is happening in the world of Root Soup. It has been amazing to see God working in the beginnings of Root Soup. Ask and it shall be granted has been the case with these last few months for Micah. First, at a meeting, Scott was told of the industrial kitchen that Open Door Housing was looking to find use for. Then, Micah and Maria needed guidance and expertise and Valerie their mentor came and has helped them with nitty gritty of starting Root Soup. Next, placements for the garden and kitchen were made easier by contacts in the Orchardville Society. Their work is to find placements for people with learning difficulties. Then, Micah got accepted into the Social Entrepreneur Programme, which allowed Valerie to continue her mentoring and provided more training for Micah. After that, Alison contacted Maria to express interest in helping in the kitchen. She has years of experience and knowledge in working with people with learning difficulties in the kitchen. Not only is she planning to do this but also offered to buy all the ingredients for and make potato and leek soup for the Soup Shanty. She also has friend who has offered to make half the carrot and coriander soup. Another big step was Eileen coming onto the L’Arche board brining her experience from catering at Queen’s University. Finally, as we are working on PR and branding, we have been offered assistance from an advertising and marketing firm. It has been amazing to see everything unfold right in front of us and be able to see God’s hand in it all. Please pray that the Soup Shanty goes well on Friday. It is a big event for the beginning of Root Soup!

Life is getting busier in Belfast for us as we get involved in more activities both inside and outside the community. Our six month mark has come and gone and time just keeps flying by. In the past six months, Lucy has become the volunteer coordinator, Micah has set the base for Root Soup, we have travelled to Amsterdam, Berlin, Cork and around the island with the Loucks’ family, we have found a church community, lived through a house fire, had more cups of tea then in the previous 24 years, become most experienced volunteers in L’Arche therefore seeing 4 (almost 5) volunteers leave, Lucy has become Thomas’ reference person, and endless memories and stories from living in community. We are so thankful to be where we are and feel that God is working in and through us.

Thomas at allotment (check out the new picnic table that was "donated")


Larry tending the fire.

Change in Seasons

Monday, August 30 was a rest day for the two of us. We had our weekly breakfast at Ian’s bakery, which included delicious doughnuts! Then we went on a walk, went grocery shopping and relaxed around the house.

Tuesday, we had a team meeting and then were at work in the office. Lucy worked on putting together final touches for the new volunteers coming such as their welcome packs, phone cards and recruiting other team members to set up the rooms. Micah spent most of the day restoring our computer since it decided to have issues! Luckily, it is back up and working again and it motivated us to back up our pictures we have taken so far here! In the evening, we had Cami’s farewell prayer. Cami arrived a few weeks before us and returned to France to continue her studies in translation. For her prayer we had an assortment of breads, cheese and meat, all things she loves and missed while here!

Wednesday was a rest day again. We went to Common Grounds Cafe with Cami and Rachel for lunch. In the afternoon, Lucy had a doctor’s appointment because her migraines have been REAL bad lately. The doctor was a bit less than helpful, but hopefully soon they will be getting better! In the evening we went to cell group and continued to look at prayer.

Thursday, we worked in the office. We had a meeting with Scott and Maria in the morning to look at our job descriptions before they are put into our files. Then Lucy went out to lunch with Maria while Micah had a meeting with Open Door Housing Association (a collaborator in Root Soup) Then Lucy met with Cami to do her closing check-in. It is a way to make sure people feel ready to transition out of L’Arche and feel positive about their time in L’Arche. Micah had a meeting with his business mentor, Valerie. In the afternoon, a new one month volunteer arrived from Austria, Manuela. Micah went with a few from the community to the pub to celebrate Cami’s time in L’Arche. Lucy stayed home with a migraine.

On Friday, we said goodbye to Cami which was hard to do. She was a central part of the Ember life because she was so welcoming, but the other volunteers that live in the Ember will do a great job at creating the home it needs to be!! Afterwards, Micah headed to the garden to pull weeds, mowed, and picked a bit of veg. Lucy spent the morning relaxing, went for a walk and read. In the afternoon, Lucy was in the Ember.

Saturday we headed out to pick blackberries. Blackberries grow in random places here so we headed to the Annadale Embankment, which had a lot, but was quite noisy from the traffic. We were able to pick enough blackberries to make two blackberry and rhubarb (from allotment) pies! Yummy! Emily, a new 8 month volunteer from Seattle, arrived! Now all the transitions for this month are made! In the evening we went to a couple from our cell group’s house for dinner. They (or more truthfully she) made enchiladas! So nice! We do not get enough Mexican food here! It was a really nice evening since we were outside the community. We love the community, but it is nice to break outside once in awhile.

On Sunday we were in the Ember. The day was pretty low key since the new volunteers were settling in. We worked on puzzle together and had evening prayer. Other than that it was a lot of tea and chats.

On Monday we had a rest day after our team meeting. The day was pretty calm. We rested a lot and played a bit of “greedy”.

On Tuesday, we had a community life meeting in the morning. We looked at what we want to be as a community and the gifts each one of us brings. In the afternoon, Lucy had meetings with Emily and Manuela to make sure they are settled in and finish their file for employment. Micah did something, but he doesn’t remember what...After work we had a birthday prayer for Makiko. It was great to go around and say all the good things Makiko brings to the community!

On Wednesday, we made our weekly trip to Ian’s Bakery for delicious and cheap doughnuts! Then after our walk, we pulled a TON of weeds. Our back “garden” aka rock pit was full of them. This is why we are proposing getting a few chickens. Two benefits are that one we get eggs and two they do the weeding for us when we move the cage around! Sounds perfect to me! In the evening Lucy covered the Ember for Makiko so she accompanied Thomas to Common Grounds. It was great to see Thomas in his element working and serving people food and taking orders. It was really fun to see him at one of his favourite points during the week. After getting done, the two of us used some free tickets to a gig that Neil had but wasn’t using. The singer/band was called Lisse and she grew up in Illinois!! It was good fun and a nice change of pace.

On Thursday, we were back in the office. Lucy responded to LOTS of emails and then had a meeting with Maria and Emily to get the newsletter back up and running. For awhile it looked like it was going to be an additional responsibility for Lucy, but luckily Emily has a gift in writing and was keen to take it on as the editor. You can check it out on the L’Arche Belfast website! She did a great job! Micah had a meeting with Maria in the morning then started a grant application.

Friday was garden day again so Micah headed with Scott and several of the volunteers up to the allotment. They painted a new picnic table and gate, weeded and chatting. Lucy had the morning off and spent time walking, finishing pulling the weeds in the back garden and then was on the in afternoon at the Ember. She made some pizza for dinner. Larry was meant to cook alongside her, but he was quite sick with a cold, so no cooking for him!

On Saturday, we were both present at the Ember. Lucy got Thomas up early and they headed into city centre to run some errands. The two got art supplies, toothpaste and renewed Thomas’ bus pass before stopping for lunch. Micah spent the morning buying groceries and then preparing lunch. The afternoon as spent in the Ark for the first of many L’Arche art days! It was a time for the community to paint, draw, hang out and make cards for past assistants. It was great and we will hopefully be doing it monthly! We rounded out the day with a nice barbeque. A good barbeque always is a good way to end the day!

Sunday we finally attended City Church again! Between holidays and working on Sundays we had not attended since Micah’s family was here!! It was so good to be back and reconnect with the congregation again! Afterwards we went out for some Chinese food (yummy!) before a walk. Once back in the Ark, Micah painted while Lucy made some wheaten bread for the Soup Shanty that is coming up quickly. In the evening Micah went to the E.P. launch and gig for Neil’s band. Lucy stayed in because of the series of recent migraines!

Monday was a rest day for Lucy and a “rest day” for Micah. Lucy spent the morning at the team meeting, had an eye appointment (still have good vision) and went for a walk. Micah spent 8 hours in meetings. He met with Valerie, went to the team meeting, went to the Indian centre where the Soup Shanty will be held, met with Alison a potential cook for Root Soup, and gave the board of directors an update on the progress Root Soup has made over the summer holiday! He was a busy boy!

Tuesday we were back in the office after training on report writing. Lucy answered emails, typed minutes for Micah’s meetings and set up meeting with potential local volunteers. Micah made a lot of phone calls and took some time off since the day before was so hectic! In the evening we went to the Freedom in Christ course our church is offering. Session one was great and we will keep you updated as we progress through!

Today we again had breakfast at Ian’s as usual on Wednesdays. Then we went for a walk. Lucy attempted to go to a review meeting for Thomas at his day centre, but found out it was next week so came straight back home. Micah continued to work on his painting...it is so close to being done! After lunch we headed into town to try yet again to set up our new bank. We think we did it! We just need to be approved by the head office since we are not EU citizens! Then we did some window shopping while we were in city centre. When getting ready to walk back to the house, we ran into May and her friends! May practically lives in the city centre...she loves it there! Tonight we had a great dinner at the Ember with the community full of laughs about all the differences between US and British/Northern Irish English. It was great. Just a few of them for your enjoyment: the pronunciation of aluminium, garage and oregano are completely different, tarmac means driveway, pants means underwear, trousers means pants and a courgette is zucchini. These don’t even include all the slang phrases! Yikes it’s crazy here!

The weather has really changed here the last few days. We are intensely moving to autumn/winter. The wind has been blowing like mad and the temperature has dropped dramatically! It is taking some getting used to, but also makes us realize we have almost been here for 6 months, which is quite hard to believe!

One prayer request would be for Lucy’s headaches. They have been real bad over the past few months and she has a doctor’s appointment in about 1.5 weeks again to hopefully get some more help with them, but obviously God can take of it before! She won’t be mad!

We wish you all well this coming week! We think of you often despite the many miles between us!

Cami during her blindfolded cheese tasting challenge.

Rachel and Octavia

Jillian working hard on her painting! Emily (one of the new volunteers) in the background.

May and Jill painting away! Thomas and Larry didn't work on their projects nearly as long as these two dedicated spirits!