Community Night Away

Tuesday 17 May began for Micah with his first course session at the University of Ulster. He was accepted through the Community Leadership Programme he is doing with Root Soup. It is a great opportunity for his to continue to improve his management skills! Lucy's day began with a team meeting followed by time in the office for Lucy. The evening was pretty relaxed!

Wednesday, Lucy started the day with women's cell and Micah went to the Root Soup kitchen to help out. He interviewed another trainee named Adam. You can learn a bit more about the team at their new website (http://rootsoup.co.uk/). Micah keeps adding new information so check it out often! In the afternoon, Micah was busy putting grants together for Root Soup and Lucy on those days seems to become his personal admin assistant! By the time the grants were put together and we finally finished working, it was time to do a bit of nothing!In the evening, Lucy went to a baby shower for a woman at City Church and Micah went to Bobby's to hang out and brew beer.

Thursday we started out by a trip to Ian's Bakery which is always a good way to start a day! Afterwards, we went shopping for the house before Lucy met Gosia (another assistant who is originally from Poland) for coffee. In the evening we went to Joy and Bobby's house for dinner. They made steak which was a special treat!!

Friday began as a normal day. Lucy was in the house helping the guys out in the morning and Micah headed to the allotment. But soon the day got a little crazy....Thomas stayed home from work in order to attend an awards ceremony with Matthew and since Thomas had told George (the bus driver) that he wouldn't be in...the bus didn't come for Jillian. Jillian was not happy with George. She wanted to have a 'wee word' with him on the phone. Friday is a short day at the centre anyway so when Jillian didn't end up leaving till 11:30 and was back at 2:30 it was a super short day! So after that fiasco was figured out, Lucy went home to rest for a bit before going back to the Ember at 2:00. When Jillian came back, Lucy helped her shave her legs, which made her show off her legs the rest of the evening. She wanted everyone to look and touch them! Such a funny lady! The day continued to be abnormal as the community headed to a retreat centre for a night away to begin to dream and plan for the next 5 years. The board of directors, the core members, the assistants and friends of the community all came up for the night! We we arrived at the retreat centre we had a yummy dinner before going to a meeting to reflect on the past ten years and dream about what we would like to happen in the next 5 years. When we were reflecting on the past, we all said how we ended up at L'Arche Belfast and it was amazing to hear all the stories about how God was in the process. After we reflected we moved onto dreaming. All sorts of ideas came out from a new community space, to a new house, to soup being sold to prayer happening across Belfast 24/7 to connecting with elderly people. After the meeting, it was time to hang out as a community. We all sat around big tables, fellowshiping and laughing together. Wonderful memories were made although we all stayed up much to late!

The bartenders of the night!

CHEEEEESE! (that is what Jillian is saying!!)

What a beautiful setting for a retreat centre!

Lyrics to 'Beautiful'

Beautiful, Beautiful

Jesus is beautiful

And Jesus makes beautiful

Things of my life

Tenderly

Touching me

Making my eyes to see

As Jesus makes beautiful

Things of my life

On Saturday we shared a lovely breakfast before praying together. After the prayer, a smaller group met to make the dreams into a plan, while others got to go out and explore the surrounding area. The two of us were in the planning group. The meeting had a facilitator and was really useful to look at what we do well and what we need to improve on before moving into things we want to achieve and how we will get there. It was a packed 3 hour meeting! Then the whole group had a 3 course lunch together before ending with yet another meeting. The entire community came back together to report back on what was decided in the morning meeting. By the end we were all pretty tired and ready to head back to Belfast (except Thomas who said that it was too early to go back!!). Saturday evening we did absolutely nothing which was perfect!

Sunday began with church. Lucy was in creche with the little kids which is always exhausting and so much fun! After church we spent the day resting again!

Monday began with prayer and a team meeting. After the team meeting we headed to city centre to do some shopping for Matthew and Thomas' bdays that are at the end of this week. It took a long time to find the presents we were wanting so after a quick coffee stop it was time to head to Peter and Jenna's house (the MMNers) for dinner. With Peter and Jenna we almost always have tex-mex food because we never get it here! It was a nice evening of connecting and eating yummy food!

Tuesday, Micah had another session of his course through the University of Ulster so he was away all day. Lucy attended a training on our policies about protecting vulnerable adults. Afterwards, Lucy was in the office all afternoon typing notes from the meeting over the weekend, responding to tons of emails and processing apps. Tuesday evening we headed to the Ember for dinner before preparing a bit for Lucy's parents arrival!

Wednesday was another day in the office. Micah had a meeting in the afternoon with Invest NI who gave him a lot of pointers about how to get more grant money. Lucy then went grocery shopping for her parents and we both cleaned the house! After going to dinner at the Ember, we headed to cell group. By the time we were back from that it was bed time!

Today is the day Lucy's parents and little bro arrive! They should be here around lunch time! Lucy has spent the morning preparing the rooms and Micah had a meeting this morning to get advice on putting governance in place for Root Soup. The afternoon will likely be spent resting and walking around the neighbourhood!

Please keep us in your prayers the next few weeks as we travel in Scotland, England and Ireland. Safety in travel and maybe a bit of good weather would be big prayer requests right now!

Donegal and Daily Life

Friday 6 May was a day at the office for Micah and a day in the Ember for Lucy. Micah had a meeting with a lady from L'Arche UK to talk about social enterprises. L'Arche UK has a number of communities who have and are starting social enterprises. Hopefully this summer or fall a group will meet to share ideas and expertise! In the Ember, life was very much the same. It was full of cooking, laughing and relaxing.

Saturday was a rest day and Maria was very generous and allowed us to borrow her car for the weekend in order to take a trip to Donegal. Donegal is one of the areas of Ireland that we hadn't been to yet and really desired to go so we were and are very grateful for Maria's generosity. Maria picked us up Saturday morning and we dropped her back by her house before we headed toward Donegal. On the way we stopped by Omagh, the town where the largest single atrocity during the troubles took place. Here is a bit more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omagh_bombing. The memorial was really unique and quite interesting since it is based on mirrors and Omagh is one of the cloudiest places in Ireland (http://www.omaghbombmemorial.com/). Afterwards we continued onto Slieve League, which are the highest sea cliffs in Europe. After admiring the view, we went to check into our hostel. On the we saw peat bogs. It was incredible to see how the peat is harvested. Once we were settled into the hostel we headed for the Silverstrand beach and then to find some dinner. We got the traditional fish and chips before hitting a local pub for a nice evening of chatting. The weather was forcasted to be rainy but we were blessed with lots of sunshine!

Slieve League

Peat Bogs

Sunday began with breakfast before we headed into Donegal for a cuppa coffee. On the way back to Belfast we went to Beltany Stone Circle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beltany_stone_circle). Our lunch site was quite scenic...we used a museum parking lot for our picnic. By the time we got home we were quite knackered.

Beltany Stone Circle

Ahh...Ireland

Monday started as usual with prayer and a team meeting. After the team meeting we tried to go running for the first time post-marathon and didn't make it very far. We have yet to try again. After getting back, we walked over to Joy and Bobby's and then went to eat at the Ember. Micah met after dinner with the events coordinator of the church across the road to discuss the idea of using the church's kitchen for a summer program for Root Soup.

Tuesday, we had a formation on food followed by a day in the office. Micah had a meeting followed by a meeting. Lucy responded to tons of emails and then had a phone interview with a potential summer volunteer.

Wednesday was a day in the office. Lucy had women's cell in the morning and then we met with Scott for our supervision. Micah spent the day working on grant applications and added information to the Root Soup website. Lucy spent the afternoon helping Micah. Wednesday evening was just relaxed after a few busy days.

Thursday was May's birthday and our rest day!! We spent the day cleaning, drawing/scrapbooking and then went out to dinner with the community for May's birthday!

Happy Birthday May!

The gang.

On Friday Micah was back in the allotment and Lucy worked in the Ember in the afternoon. At the allotment the crew worked on weeding the beds, building new beds and planting. In the afternoon a photographer from Ardmore advertising (the company that helped Micah with the Root Soup website) came up to take his photo for a press release. He is a big deal here in Northern Ireland! Lucy spent her day finishing a scrapbook, drawing and having a lot of tea in the Ember. In the evening we drew and Micah made a big mess with soft pastels!

Saturday was a bit different than normal. Micah had a meeting for his leadership programme and Lucy babysat for Scott's kids while Scott was also in the meeting. Lucy spent a lot of time playing hide and go seek, colouring and watching Peppa Pig. After the meeting we went over to see Joy before having a nice relaxing evening!

Sunday began as usual with church. After we came back home for lunch and walked up to do some grocery shopping. That is about the extent of our Sunday!

Today we were suppose to have a team meeting, but a lot of the team is away planning for the Loom (the prayer space in North Belfast) so it was cancelled. Micah took advantage of that extra time to get a bit of work done! He is happy to share with you all the new Root Soup website!!! http://rootsoup.co.uk/. Check it out! It is awesome! Not much else has happened today!

We are finding it hard to believe that we have already been back in Belfast for over a month and that Lucy's parents come in 10 days!! Time is moving fast and life feels quite busy!

Barbecue Season has begun!

Wednesday 27 May was a day at the Ember. Since the guys were off work for the Easter week, we had a lot more time in the Ember than normal (instead of working in the office). Micah headed to Root Soup in the morning as usual. Lucy hung out with Larry and Thomas after helping the guys get up and around. In the afternoon, Micah went up to Forestside with the boys for sodas, and Lucy stayed in the Ember because an electrician was checking all the electrical stuff in the house. The evening was a mixture of chatting, TV and hanging about.

Thursday was a rest day. We went on our last run before the team marathon. Afterwards, we rode bikes to meet Joy and Bobby along the toe path. In the afternoon we hung out in the Orf's back garden, played ladder golf and enjoyed the sun. For dinner, we all headed to Pizza Express! By the time we got home we were quite knackered (aka tired).

Friday was a day at the Ember again. Instead of watching the Royal Wedding, we celebrated the April birthdays at the allotment!! Micah and Larry headed up to the allotment in the morning with Scott and Paul to actually work. The rest of us prepared food for a barbecue and then headed up to join the others at the allotment. The weather was great for a lovely barbecue! Larry hid in Rosie (our van) for most of the afternoon because he was scared that Micah would make him work more! Micah is so mean! After we got back to the Ember, Jillian and Lucy went down to the Ark to do the weekly cleaning. The rest of the day was spent relaxing!

Saturday was yet another day in the Ember! In the morning, Micah and Thomas headed to Common Grounds to volunteer. Lucy and Jillian walked to Michel's Veg shop and then walked on to Common Grounds so that Micah and Thomas would take good care of us! After their shift, we all went to get some chicken food before heading back for lunch. After lunch, Micah and Larry cleaned Rosie and then a bunch of us walked up to Forestside to do some grocery shopping. In the evening, we had a wee goodbye party for Makiko. We listened to music that reminded us of high school and really enjoyed each others company!

On Sunday we went to church in the morning. In the afternoon we prepared some food because Peter and Jenna (the MMN couple) came over for dinner (veggie burgers) and games (yatzee!!)! It was really fun to connect with them again.

Monday was a rest day kind of. It was yet another bank holiday and MARATHON day!! After an early start, Lucy met Joy at her house to walk down to city centre where the marathon began. Micah headed to his spot a bit later. After Lucy's 6 miles and Micah's 7 miles (5 uphill and 2 down) we were pretty tired. We relaxed a bit before the post-marathon barbecue and ladder golf! The evening was pretty low-key!

Tuesday began with a team meeting followed by a day at the office. We both answered emails before working on a proposal for Root Soup's summer activities programme. That took most of our afternoon! In the evening, we went out to eat with Frans, Julia and Makiko to an Indian restaurant. It was the real goodbye to Makiko this time!

Yesterday, Micah worked in the office all day. He usually goes to Root Soup in the morning, but as he has more and more paperwork to do, he has decided to only go when he is able. Lucy went to women's cell in the morning and then worked a bit in the office before taking a nap. We went to the Ember for dinner! After dinner we went to our cell group and talked about social justice.

Today has been an amazing rest day! We have been to Ian's bakery, gone grocery shopping, booked our flights to Bonn, Germany/Brussels, Belgium, scrapbooked, and relaxed! It has been a nice change of pace!

After a few weeks of being out of routine around Easter, it is nice to be back in the swing of things. It is hard to believe we have already been back for a month and that Lucy's parents and little bro will be here in 3 weeks! God is good!