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!
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.
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