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!
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Maria giving her speech. Jillian loving being front and center and the choir getting ready to sing!
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Emily and Matthew selling our new cookbooks, "Soup and What Else" written by Maria Garvey!
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Jillian, Thomas and Pam enjoying the wonderful evening!
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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!
