Louckses in Northern Ireland

Christmas Letter

2011-12-17T21:41:00.001Z

Check out our Christmas letter below!

http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=ae65fe2808aa2474e0006dbef&id=6d4ba1c1bc

Celebrations!

2011-10-30T19:58:00.000Z

It has yet again been awhile since we blogged. Sorry for doing such a bad job updating youall at home. The past month has beenfilled with celebrating (L’Arche Belfast’s 10^th anniversary and Micah’sbirthday), Trent and Erin visiting, and the changing of seasons.

It seems since the last time we wrote the weather haschanged from summer to winter and then back to autumn. The daylight seems to bedisappearing fast. A few months ago itwas light until after 11 and now it is barely light at 6. But at least we arenow having the lovely weather that makes us want pumpkin, butternut squash andparsnips! It is time to start bakingagain (as soon as our oven if fixed!). This weather makes us both miss those beautiful autumns in Goshen wherethe leaves became a variety of brilliant colours. Here it either yellow or brown no beautifulreds and oranges! If you are somewherewith beautiful falls….take advantage and remember the beauty in it!

The 10^th anniversary was a real success. Over 200 people met to celebrate the past 10years of L’Arche Belfast through stories, songs and symbols. After celebrating the past, we took time tolook toward the future and the community leadership was handed over toScott. Everyone had a brilliant time andRoot Soup was the buzz around the tables. It was amazing to see how many people have touched and been touched by L’ArcheBelfast. The day was filled with workfor the two of us. With Root Soup catering,Micah and the crew were busy in the kitchen. Lucy helped Larry out throughout the day whichis a pretty easy job since he is one happy man! After the main celebration, the past and current assistants gathered fordinner at the Ark. It was lovely to seethe core members reconnecting with past assistants!

Two days after the 10^th, Trent and Erin (Micahlived with them in Seattle during MVS) arrived in Belfast. We gotto show them a bit of what we do before hitting the sights around Ireland. We were able to see the north coast (Giant’sCauseway), Dublin, Rock of Cashel, Dingle Penninsula, Galway and sometraditional music. Sadly the day theywere supposed to go to the Cliffs of Moher it was REALLY foggy and we couldn’tsee a thing! The week provided Micah a great chance to reconnect with goodfriends and Lucy a chance to get to know them a bit better!

While Trent and Erin were here we got to celebrate Micah’s26^th birthday! YAY for Micah!

Today we had our Halloween party. Between charades, a New York theme and lots of good food, we had a great time! Lucy was a mouse and Micah was a mobster. Good fun with good friends sums up the day!

Other than the travels and celebrations, we have been workingaway. Micah has worked hard at thesustainability of Root Soup. The RootSoup team had a planning day where they looked at how they are going toaccomplish their business plan. It washelpful, but also showed how much work there is to be done in the next fewmonths. Lucy has been searching for 1more volunteer and is preparing to hand over a few of her responsibilities withvolunteer coordination in preparation for our departure in 5 months. Hard to believe it is almost that time! Please be praying for us as we begin to looktoward the future. We desire God’swisdom in both our future plans as well as in ending well here. 5 months is still a lot of time, but we aresure it will pass quickly, so please be praying!

Is it really the end of September already?!?!

2011-09-28T17:28:00.001+01:00

It is hard to believe it is already the end of September. Recently Root Soup has been quite busy catering and hosting events. The crew hosted a fundraising cinema night at a 1950’s Tudor style cinema in Comber. The movie was great. The food was great. The turnout was great. We watched Radio and had old fashioned candies and popcorn! Doesn’t get much better than that!

Then, last Sunday, Root Soup catered for over 90 people at an after church lunch. A few people said they were expecting ‘just some vegetable soup’ but were pleasantly surprised by the 3 choices (spicy parsnip, potato and ham, and French onion). The guys from Open Door did a great job greeting people, serving soup and clearing up! It was another successful day even though the cooker blew its fuse and was off for about 30 minutes before we realized!

In addition to Root Soup, we have been busy helping to plan the 10^th anniversary for L’Arche Belfast which is on Saturday. Lucy has been in charge of invitations, RSVPs and coordinating the food. Micah (and Root Soup) will make the soup for about 250 people as well as a light dinner for about 40. It will be fun to be a part of a milestone in the history of L’Arche Belfast!

The weather here has begun to be a bit unpredictable, but one day the sun was shining and it was just lovely, so we decided to bike on the Comber Greenway. It is a 7 mile path that we can pick up near to our house. We have been desiring to bike out to Comber for a while and we absolutely loved it (even though we rode into the wind on the way home!). It is always nice to get away from the loud traffic of the Ormeau Road!

One funny story from the Ember (where the core members live): Lucy was helping Jillian to phone her dad one evening and we didn’t get a hold of him so she headed up for her bath, but on the way up she kept saying ‘Larry out drinking. Larry bad boy out drinking. …’ It was incredibly funny! She is such a great woman!

In the midst of the busyness of this time, we were able to get away for a weekend down to Wicklow with Joy, Bobby and their boys. Our friend, Sam (who just moved to Russia) and his family own land in the mountains. They have a beautiful piece of land and were gracious enough to let us use their ‘hut’. It was a brilliant weekend of laughter, reflection and great memories. It is hard to sum up in words how beautiful and peaceful it was! Maybe pictures will do a better job!

In the next week we are really looking forward to celebrating the 10^th anniversary of L’Arche as well as have 2 friends visit (Trent and Erin who Micah lived in Seattle with). It will be wonderful to show them a bit of our life here! A prayer request for us is that we find more volunteers soon. We have had 6 for quite some time but because of different circumstances we will be down to 3 at the beginning of October. It will be a tricky month so we would appreciate any prayers!

Root Soup Video

2011-09-15T11:46:00.001+01:00

Here is a video that Micah made about Root Soup to show at the cinema night fundraiser tonight. Hope it gives you an idea of what he has been up to!

End of the Summer Holidays

2011-09-08T10:23:00.007+01:00

The past two plus weeks seem to have followed the theme of the summer, busy and beautiful.

We week of August 22-26 was the Root Soup Summer Activities Programme. It was a week full of food, fellowship, and fun. We had eight young men, ages 10 to 17, in the kitchen making soups, buns, wraps, and just about anything else you can think of. We also had other activities for them though out the week. Tuesday we made packed lunches and had a picnic in the park followed by games. Wednesday was our healthy eating day where we talked about healthy eating. Thursday we went out to Bangor to a community farm and learned about gardening. Friday we headed up to the allotment and celebrated the week with a BBQ . Overall it was a great week! Micah was absolutely wiped out by the end of the week.

Lucy went to Root Soup on Wednesday since everyone else was involved in the Summer Activities Programme. I can give you an outside perspective on what happens on a Wednesday in the kitchen. When we arrived in the kitchen, we began with some tea and coffee (typical Northern Irish style). There were 2 guys from Open Door Housing, 2 L’Arche people, me and Neil (another assistant at L’Arche). Then we began to cook cottage pie and flour-free peanut butter cookies. Everyone chipped in on the chopping, stirring, peeling and preparations. During the time we were preparing, a few of the other guys from Open Door would stop through. I heard several times that Micah and I look like siblings because of our smiles. I have heard that as you live with a person longer you start to look like them but it’s just been 2 years for us! Imagine us after 50! After the preparations were done we started on the cookies. I didn’t realize that peanut butter cookies were so American, but the guys thought it was really weird to make cookies with peanut butter. They were convinced by the end of the meal that it was a good idea! Throughout the lunch together, the conversation ranged from politics to films to favourite activities to job searching. My perspective of Root Soup was reinforced by being in the kitchen. It is an amazing project that connects people from many different backgrounds, capabilities, and outlooks through cooking and eating together in the spirit of growth and community.

The weekend following the summer scheme, we had a stay-cation (rather than a vacation). We stayed behind from a work-weekend at Corrymeela and church camp to spend some time relaxing together. We had nice food, did some errands and simply hung out. It was the perfect weekend of no obligations!

Our friend, Sam, had a premier for his documentary, Wannabes that showed on BBC. The documentary followed a band from West Belfast as they tried to ‘make it’. Check out the trailer for the documentary below! Beware there are a few naughty words...

Last weekend we had the chance to go to Scotland with Thomas. Thomas LOVES going on holiday so it has been about all he could talk about for a few weeks. The requests that Thomas made for the trip were that we flew in a plane, had burgers, had a road trip and stayed in a hotel. So once we checked those off we were able to be creative with the other things we did. In the airport, Thomas was in a wheelchair so he didn’t pass through the metal detector and had to be patted down. Afterwards he told us, ‘That man touched me,’ which is incredibly true, but wasn’t what we wanted a vulnerable adult saying in a public space! We flew into Glasgow airport and rented a car to drive up to Inverness. We stopped for lunch on Loch Lomond before continuing. Most of the way up was a national park which was gorgeous! There were many Lochs, mountains and heather (which was purple and beautiful!). By the time we got to our hostel just off Loch Ness, we were all pretty hungry and tired from the trip!

Loch Lomond

Loch Ness

On Friday, we went down to Fort Williams and had a delicious seafood lunch before having a boat trip on Loch Linnhe. We saw seals, salmon farms and just tons of natural beauty. The pictures will explain it better than me. After a bit of shopping we headed to a pub for dinner.

Hanging out on the boat.

A view of Loch Linnhe, that we took our boat trip on.

On Saturday we had our road trip up to the northwest coast. It was gorgeous but a bit too much driving for one day! Again the pictures will show our day better than anything I could describe.

A view from a lookout on the north coast of Scotland.

The amazing Scottish Highland cattle.

Amazing view over Loch Ness

Our final day, Sunday, we drove back down to Glasgow to fly home. We sadly didn’t get any pictures of the beautiful scenery because we were a bit short on time. By the time we were back in Belfast, we were all ready to be home, but we had a brilliant time in Scotland with Thomas.

Check out the poem below that we have been reflecting on today. It was written by a Northern Irish man.

Malcolm Duncan

God-Gazer

I want to be a God-gazer,

captured by the brilliance

that springs from the radiance

of You.

I want to be a God-gazer!

Not a cheap food grazer

or an easy option lazer.

I want to be a trail-blazer

for the ordinary, everyday life.

I want to be a God-gazer -

not just copying the halcyon ways

that shimmer brighter in the haze

of by-gone rays and the good old days.

I want to be a God-gazer!

Looking beyond the trappings of success,

cutting through the stucco of respectability

like a laser piercing darkness.

I want to be a God-gazer!

Reaching for the stars and

seeing beauty in the moment by

becoming fluent in the language

of the God Who is here, Who is now.

I want to be a God-gazer

until my imagination is saturated;

until my thirst is sated;

until my passion is stirred;

until my intellect is stretched

as far as it can be;

until my yearning yearns

for others to be free.

I want to be a God-gazer -

not a meetings manager

or a people pleaser

or a 'tea and sympathy' vicar -

not a leadership trainer,

not just a speaker

but a seeker.

I want to be a God-gazer...

and for a moment I want God

to gaze through me.

I want others to see

His eyes

Heart

Mind

and Love

above everything else in me.

I want to be a God-gazer

captured by the brilliance

that springs from the radiance

of You.

Life-giver!

I want to be a Life-giver

not a life-sucker.

I want my life to be releasing

not appeasing or placating.

I want to be a Life-giver,

A drainpipe without blockages,

A circuit without stoppages,

A connector without breakages.

I want to be a Life-giver!

A 'you can do it' releaser,

A 'have a go' preacher,

A 'you were born to do this' pastor.

I want to be a Life-giver -

Seeing rivers flow, not die,

Seeing others rise and fly,

Helping friends reach for the stars

even if they sometimes miss.

At least they can say they tried.

I want to be a Life-giver,

Generous in spirit and in heart,

Letting the forgotten make a start

at being Life-givers, too.

I want to be a Life-giver

because I am a God-gazer

not because it's about me

but because it's about Him

because life can't spring

from any other 'thing'.

I want to be a Life-giver

connected to the Source

and pointing to the Son -

standing in the shadow of the Light

celebrating Him.

World-changer.

I want to be a World-changer

not just a furniture re-arranger

or an 'it could be better' winger

or a 'have the left overs' stinger.

I want to be a World-changer!

A doer, not just a talker.

I want to spread the clothes of heaven,

No more or less than a poor man's dreams,

beneath the feet of Jesus.

I want to be a World-changer -

'Cos on a morning many winters ago

the tomb was open

and the curse was broken.

Death had to let go

and re-creation burst out

of an old wineskin

like water from a geyser,

Like the cry of a child

pushed into the world

and nothing

would shut Him up.

I want to be a World-changer

because it's started...

because the vanguards on the move...

and love is pushing out hate

and light is shining out

and darkness can't understand it

beat it

change it

hide it

kill it

stop it

win.

I want to be a World-changer

because there's safety in this danger.

There's meaning in this purpose.

There's joy in this mission

and too many others are missing

the power of life in all its fullness.

World-changer? Life-giver? God-gazer.

God, break in - then break out

Fill - then make me leak.

Plug me in and push me out.

In me, through me, around me.

Make me a Patrick.

Make me a Brendan.

God-gazing, life-giving, world-changing.

Captured by the brilliance

that springs from the radiance

of You.

Belfast, Bonn, Brussels, Bruges, Belfast

2011-08-19T09:52:00.014+01:00

Over the past 2 weeks we have been busy bees! On Friday, 5 August we had the joy of serving at a BBQ for our friends Sam's wedding. Sam is from Northern Ireland and his now-wife, Hanna, is from Germany so their families had not had a chance to meet. It was fun to not only meet their families but also provide the space for the families to meet before the wedding day. On Saturday, we attended their wedding. We got to experience many of the differences between Northern Irish/German wedding tradition and American tradition. Here the wedding is a full day event. The wedding was at 1 pm, the dinner reception followed, and then their was an after-party. The party was still going at 1 am. The bride and groom were exhausted by the end of the day I am sure! Micah has said that it is a great tradition for the people attending, but he is glad we got married in the US where the day isn't quite so long! Other differences is that they don't feed cake to each other, the speeches are REALLY important here and tapping your glass doesn't cause them to kiss...it just means to be quiet! It was really great to be a part of their wedding day!

On Sunday (after arriving home a bit after 1 am) we woke up at 2:30 am to head to Germany. It was a day full of travel! We were in 4 countries during out travels! We headed first from Belfast, Northern Ireland down to Dublin, Ireland to fly to Brussels, Belgium. Then we took the train to Bonn, Germany. Even with a few naps along the way, we arrived at our retreat centre a little worse for wear. The retreat is for all European BVS volunteers. There were 18 of us in total. After dinner and some ice-breaker games, we were off to bed for some beauty sleep!

The rest of the week was filled with project sharing, meditations, a visit to GermanWatch (an environmental organization in Bonn), games, sessions on community development, human security and inspiration, a photo slideshow, watching the film 'Life in a day', playing bocce ball, 7s, and ultimate frisbee, a group hike to an old abbey, and a BBQ. On of the highlights for the two of us was biking along the Rhine River on our free day. The weather in general was a bit cold and rainy, but on our free day the weather was PERFECT! Five of us headed out to rent bikes and spent the day biking, taking pictures, 'trespassing' to have a picnic lunch, and eating yummy ice cream! By the end of the day our bums were sore, our faces were sun burnt and we were exhausted....but it was well worth it for the views!

On our ferry across the river with our riding partners, Julianne, Kendra, and Jill.

A pretty cool church.

A vineyard we came across when on a walk.

After the retreat, we spent a few days in Brussels, Belgium. We were able to stay with a L'Arche community there, which was such a blessing. Before we got on the train for Brussels we went to the Cologne Cathedral, which was just magnificent! Brussels was beautiful and we saw way more of it than expected because we got pretty lost the first day when we were trying to find a brewery! It was really interesting to see how divided the city is. During our rather long walk to the brewery we went through neighbourhoods that were almost entirely Asian or Middle Eastern, which is just an interesting phenomenon in cities. Eventually we found it and really were glad we didn't give up. The Cantillon Brewery is family-run traditional brewery that uses the same method as the early 1900s including natural yeast--which means they don't have the control over the outcome as modern breweries do. It was a really interesting process that included a couple years of fermenting in wine barrels and a year of fermenting in bottles. If you are ever in Brussels-even if you don't like beer-we would highly recommend this place! By the time we were done with the tour it was time to head out to the L'Arche house for dinner.

Cologne Cathedral

Sunday we spent the whole day exploring Brussels. We went to a couple cathedrals, enjoyed the architecture of the Royal Place square, ate waffkes, saw Mannequin Pis and Jeanneke Pis, ate frites and mayonnaise, and walked around a lot! By the end of the day we were exhausted and headed back to the L'Arche community to hang out for the evening.

Out side the EU Parliament Bulding

The EU Parliament Building

From the main square in Brussels. Amazing!

Mannequin Pis

Yummm! Chips with mayonnaise

Belian waffles!!

Christian, one of the L'Arche Brussel's core members.

On Monday we went to Brugge, a smaller town about 1 hour from Brussels. It is known as the Venice of the North because of all the canals...we think this might be an exaggeration, but we really enjoyed spending the day in a quaint Belgian town. A fellow BVSer, Kendra, joined us for the day. It was lovely getting to spend the day with her. Other than lots of walking, we visited churches, went on a canal boat ride, and went out to some windmills. We headed back about 5 pm in order to catch our flight out of Brussels at 9. We had a bit of trouble actually getting to the airport, which led to a bit of freaking out since for awhile it seemed like we were going to miss our flight. Next time we will have learned to make sure our metro map is up to date before we use it to try to get to the airport! But...we made it in plenty of time and even had a chance to buy some Belgian chocolate!

Central square in Bruges

Since being back in Belfast, we have worked in the office. Micah is working hard to get the final details together for Root Soup's summer programme next week. Lucy is trying to recruit a volunteer for September after a volunteer left only a few days after arriving. We have hung out with Joy and Bobby. Micah has helped Sam move a shed to his parents house to store lots of stuff since Sam and Hanna are moving to Russia in a few weeks. Lucy has gone to pick blackberries with Joy and the boys. Last night we went over to Peter and Jenna's (MMNers) for dinner and had a great discussion on self-sufficiency! It seems that life just gets filled up pretty quickly!

We are looking forward to our final summer holiday to Inverness, Scotland with Thomas in a few weeks. Then, we are looking forward to returning to a routine! It is amazing how tiring being out of routine can be even when we are so thankful for the experiences we have had!! Please remember Micah and the Root Soup team in your prayers as they work hard next week to make the summer programme a huge success!

Holiday, Visitors, and Wedding Prep...

2011-08-03T21:46:00.008+01:00

Wow! It has been a long time since we have updated you all. Our days seem to be flying by without much chance to stop and smell the roses...which are almost finished blooming here. Since we last blogged, we have had a community holiday in County Cavan, celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary, had visitors from Chicago (Lucy's Aunt Connie and Uncle Chuck) and managed to squeeze in a few days of work. It has been a crazy busy month and it doesn't appear to be slowing down any time soon....but for now we will tell you a bit about what happened throughout the past month.

Community Holiday in County Cavan

L'Arche Belfast rented a house for 2 weeks in County Cavan...which is not a well-known county even by locals. It lies just south of the border (in Ireland) and is pretty much only known for its fishing. Before the holiday we were not too sure what we were going to fill our 10 days down there with, but it turned out to be a lovely spot. Just about the perfect getaway from the city. The house was situated up on a hill overlooking rolling green hills, a few lakes in the distance and a horse's pasture. Not what we typically see in Belfast!! The house was a massive 7 bedroom house with plenty of different common areas. Outside the house there was a green house where we could pick fresh salads, potatoes to be dug in the garden and chickens that gave us fresh eggs. So I can't explain it much better than to say that the setting and house were pretty much ideal.

We were quite worried about the location because there seemed to be very little to do around and Jillian in particular needs to have a variety of activities. But, after the first day of not being sure what to do with our time, we were able to fill it with lots of nice holiday activities. We went on short and long walks, had lots of picnics, laid out in the sun because it was soooo sunny, barbequed, watched movies, read magazines and books,went out for a delicious dinner and went on a boat ride with the house owner. One of the highlights was the boat ride with Paul (the owner of the house). He arranged for 2 boats to take 8 of us out and invited local musicians along to play for us. It was awesome to be out on the lake and it was Thomas's first time on a small fishing boat (he had been on a ferry before but this was a bit different). We stopped off at an island that had a really old tower (I forget how old it was...sorry history people out there) and the musicians played for us at the super scenic point. Another highlight was when we went out the dinner. The owner of the house owned a restaurant and from the photo it appeared pub-like, but when we arrived (after booking) we saw the menu and the cheapest main was 23 pounds. Somehow we didn't think that we could afford it, but since we had booked we sent Micah in to say that we weren't going to be able to keep our booking. When he came back out, we were all planning to load into the car to find somewhere more in our price range, but Micah reported that Paul was willing to give us a deal--15 pounds for a starter, main and dessert. We only had a few options instead of the whole menu, but it sounded perfect! And the food was delicious. It was one of the best meals we have ever had. After we had dinner, we headed to a pub to listen to some traditional music. When we got into the pub, we were informed that some of the locals had seen a video of us on the boat and had 'heard about us'. We are a motley crew so it isn't too surprising that we were the talk of the town! A final highlight was when we went on a walk to an old abbey. It was on a family's private land, but we got permission to walk back to it and have a picnic. When we got back to the abbey, the landowner offered to let us picnic in his holiday house that he rents out. It had a beautiful wrap-around deck with picnic tables which made the perfect picnic sight. We were really blessed during the 10 days to have so many people be so generous in interacting with us. (Another highlight of course was celebrating 2 years of married life! We were able to sneak away for lunch and some yummy dessert, which was really nice!!) Below is a highlight video from our time in County Cavan.

Aunt Connie and Uncle Chuck Visit!

By the time we got back from community holiday, Lucy's Aunt Connie and Uncle Chuck had arrived in Belfast. They had visited Ireland a few years ago, but hadn't made it up to Belfast or the North Coast. The first evening (after a bit of a nap), we toured the Ember, saw the allotment and then they took us out to a beautiful dinner at 'Made in Belfast'. Thursday, their second day in Belfast, was a work day for us so they headed out to explore the city before joining us in the Ember for dinner. The next day, we headed out bright and early to drive up the Coast to the Giants Causeway. Our first stop was Carrickfergus Castle. Then we drove on Torr Head Road. Uncle Chuck did a great job on the tiny road! After lunch and ice cream we continued onto the Carrick-a-rede bridge before finally making it to the Giant's Causeway. By the time we were finished at the Giant's Causeway, we were all pretty knackered, so we found a bed and breakfast to stay at and headed out to dinner. The next day (Friday) of the tour of the North began at Bushmill's Distillery. Before we even got the tickets bought, the fire alarms were going off so we had to evacuate and wait for the all clear. It was a really interesting tour even though it is the 'dry' season so no whiskey was currently being produced. After the distillery, we headed to the Ulster-American Folk Park where we were able to 'travel' through the process of leaving Ireland during the famine and arriving in America. It was crazy to think about all the changes the immigrants went through to from different house styles to different crops to different climates. How true is that still today for immigrants! Our final stop on the driving tour was several stone circles. The purpose of the stone circles is not known for sure, but it is believed they were used in celebrations and burials. By the time we were back on Saturday, we were all ready for some take-away pizza and bed! Sunday was their last full day in Belfast. Aunt Connie and Uncle Chuck attended church with us and then we headed to the Mount Stewart House. The house is surrounded by beautiful gardens. It was a lovely day out except that Micah got the flu and felt really awful while we were there. He even had to ask to leave the tour of the house!! When we were finished with the tour we went to look for Micah and he was no where to be found. The visitor's centre was shutting down but we were able to get someone's attention so we could phone Micah. Lucy was almost in a panic by this point thinking the worst, but Micah answered and had just been laying in the sun! I can't imagine what it must feel like to loose a child if loosing my husband was that stressful! Uncle Chuck and Aunt Connie left SUPER early on Monday morning. It was so lovely to have them here and they were so generous in inviting us along on their adventures!

Connie and Chuck at Carrickfergus Castle

Back at the Giants Causeway

The Stone Circles

Back to Work...

For almost the past 2 weeks, we have been back in the routine of work, church, hanging out with friends and trying to fit in a little relaxing. It has felt good to get back into some sense of routine after many weeks away from it. Micah this past weekend was invited along to a stag do (aka bachelor party). A group of guys headed down to Wicklow Mountains to the groom's family's land to camp. It was a great weekend filled with repelling, hiking, canoeing, and good craic. He came back really tired and really stinky! We had to wash his clothes 2 times in order for them not to reek! Since getting back, Micah has been helping Sam (the groom) set up for the wedding reception. We are looking forward to going to and helping out with their wedding this weekend. On Tuesday evening, Eileen, a board member, invited us over to her house for dinner. She was the director of hospitality at Queens University for over 40 years so we were expecting a lot and she didn't disappoint! It was a lovely evening and so nice to be in her home.

Next week we are headed to Bonn, Germany for BVS retreat and then stopping off in Brussels, Belgium afterwards for a few days. We are looking forward to a break from Belfast life except that our flight is out of Dublin at 6:50 on Sunday morning (the morning after the wedding!!). Yikes that is going to hurt! Keep us in your prayers as we travel!

We made this video for our BVS retreat. It is a brief overview of what we do in L'Arche.

2011-07-08T10:30:00.004+01:00

The past three weeks have flown by since Lucy's family visited. We have been working quite a bit because a lot of people are away on holidays. Lucy has had reduced office hours and more time in the house which has been a blessing but very tiring. In addition to work, Micah has been going out with Street Pastors fairly frequently, we have been involved with various activities at City Church and have had a volunteer leave (Susan from Germany) and a new one arrive (Johanna from Germany)! Our house has functioned partially as a hostel the last couple weeks with various visitors coming and going. It has been a busy few weeks! Now onto a bit more detail!

Saturday 18 June was a rest day for us...well for Lucy. Micah was away for the majority of the day at a Street Pastor's training. He had the training on rules and regulations from 10-3....after staying out on the streets for Street Pastors till 3 a.m. He was a tired boy when he got back on Saturday. Lucy spent the day running, cleaning and relaxing...the way a rest day should be spent!

Sunday it was off to church in the morning. After church we hung out with Joy and Bobby for the afternoon. The Sunday afternoons with the Orfs are always full of good laughs, good and challenging chats and good food!

Monday, Lucy led the prayer in the morning and then we had a team meeting. The team meeting was a good hear about what had been happening in the community while we were gone and what was coming up! After the team meeting, we jumped on a bus to IKEA for free coffee and a chance to chat! It was a lovely afternoon.

Tuesday was a rest day. We spent the morning relaxing and then headed over to the Ember for Susan's leaving prayer. In the community, leaving prayers are a way to express our thanks to volunteers and to really make sure they understand how important they were/are to the community. Additionally it is a way to clearly say to all the core members that this person is leaving. After the prayer, we stayed around the Ember for dinner which is always great. You get yummy food and don't have to work to much for it...just help a bit with clean-up!

Wednesday began with Lucy heading to women's cell and Micah heading off to Root Soup. In the afternoon we were both working in the office. Lucy was preparing for upcoming volunteers, answering emails and being Micah's admin assistant. Micah was plugging away at responding to emails, setting up the details of the summer program and preparing for his class. In the evening we headed to our cell group and had a great chance to discuss the times when we see God's power throughout the Bible.

Thursday was a rest day, but there was no rest for the weary. Root Soup was asked to cater an AGM (annual general meeting) on Friday so Thursday was spent making soup, baking and having some good craic. Lucy enjoyed the chance to meet the guys that she had heard so many stories about and hang out with Jillian for the day. We made 2 kinds of soup and lots of desserts like banana muffins, carrot cake and German biscuits (which we have found out are not truly German). It was a long day, but a really fun one! By the time we were home in the afternoon we were knackered!

On Friday, Lucy headed over first thing to the Ember to help the guys get off to work, while Micah got ready to go up to the allotment. The berries, salads and peas are coming into their peak so we are starting to get great fresh food from the allotment each week. Micah did a lot of weeding, picking of food and some strimming. In the afternoon at the allotment, we spent a bit of time getting ready to go to a pot luck at St. Johns church with a few other faith communities around Northern Ireland including Focolore, Carris and Corrymeela. The event was set up to share ideas about what it means to live in community and encourage each other along the journey. Many of the questions asked were very intellectual and spiritual, which was a bit much for a few of the core members. Plus we didn't eat dinner till after 8 which is not good when we are on a very scheduled day of dinner at 6. By the end, Jillian had had enough and displayed some challenging behaviour so we left a bit early (although I think we were all ready to go!).

Saturday we were present in the Ember. The day was filled with a lot of different errands, cleaning and cups of tea. Lucy spent the morning with Larry. Larry has an addiction to the TV series 'One Foot in the Grave' and was only missing 2 seasons, so Neil helped Larry to order his last two seasons from Amazon and Larry was ecstatic! Not only did he order on the computer...but he was going to get the DVDs in the post! Then at lunch time went with Jillian to a tea party fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity. After huge yummy scones and great coffee, Jillian and Lucy stopped by to see Joy for a few minutes. Then it was back to the Ember to clean Jill's room. Micah went in the morning with Thomas to Common Grounds. By dinner time everyone was pretty wiped, so we decided to go out for burgers! It was a nice way to end a busy day!

Sunday we went to City Church and then walked through Botanic Park. The sun was shining and the roses were in full bloom making it the perfect day to play in the park with the Orfs! After a bit we headed home for a few hours before going to a family from City Church's house. The family recently started coming to City Church and it was a really nice time getting to know them and they grilled AMAZING food! Their hospitality meant a lot to us!

Monday began with prayer and a team meeting. Afterwards, we went shopping for a community party on Tuesday. We went to dinner in the Ember and then spent the evening cooking chilli for the party.

Tuesday was a busy day. Micah had a couple meetings; Lucy went to the chiropractor. Then we had a leaving party for Susan! It was lovely to gather and eat outside! The weather was amazing! Susan has been a great fit in the Ember and is already deeply missed! She brought so much energy and flexibility!

Wednesday began with women's cell for Lucy before heading to the office and Micah worked all day in the office. After work, we got dinner ready and Maria (our community leader) came over. She has been away for a few weeks as she takes on a new role as regional coordinator so it was really nice to reconnect. After dinner the two of us headed to City Church for a table quiz fundraiser for an outreach programme this summer. On our team were 4 American (including us) and 2 guys from Belfast which made the local history/culture questions quite difficult. Only 1 person in the group had a TV and car...which really made the pop culture questions quite difficult! Needless to say we got 2nd to last! :( We did however know that Alaska was the biggest state (land wise) and that the Battle at Bunker Hill took place during the Revolutionary War or as they call it here the American War for Independence!

Thursday began by saying goodbye to Susan before going on an adventure with Bobby and Padraig. We biked down the toe path and found a great spot to set up the Orf's hammock. Although it took Bobby and Micah a few tries to get it tight enough so our bums didn't hit the bottom, it was a good adventure on a lovely day! In the afternoon Micah had a meeting and Lucy relaxed!

On Friday, Lucy was present in the Ember all day and Micah headed up to the allotment. The allotment time was filled with berry picking, weeding and watering. The time in the Ember was filled with cleaning, preparing the new volunteer, Johanna's, room and making dinner. Johanna arrived at about 9:30 p.m. so we had a lovely chat and cup of tea before she was ready to crash!

Saturday was another full day in the Ember. Micah went to Common Grounds with Thomas to volunteer. Lucy hung out with Larry...who got a new radio and loved finding different stations to listen to! After a bit, Lucy, Johanna and Larry walked up to Home Base in search of the weekly DVD for Larry. Johanna had her first experience watching Larry pick out DVDs. It is quite an ordeal. He gets down on the ground, he picks up every single one, he asks what certain things say and then looks through them all again! We were probably looking at DVDs for about 45 minutes before he made up his mind! He is in love with the process of buying DVDs! In the afternoon we headed to Lady Dixon park for a nice walk and some ice cream. For dinner we had a BBQ with a few of the guests that were staying in our home and the community. Yummy! Micah headed out in the evening for a busy night of Street Pastors. It was the the beginning of the month and everyone had just gotten paid, it was beautiful weather, and people were out celebrating the "mini 12th". Our night was filled with keeping people on the side walk and out of the middle of the streets, helping intoxicated people stand, helping diffuse arguments and even helping out in the aftermath of a fight. It is amazing how much different the streets look at midnight than they do when we are out walking through them in the daylight.

Sunday was a rest day for us. After church, we had a picnic in the park with the Orfs and a few others from church. Then the two of us just laid in the grass enjoying the sunshine...Micah fell asleep! After a nap in the park, we went back for a more restful nap at home and then got ready to go to Sam and Hannah's house (from church) for dinner. Our lives seem to revolve around yummy food and this was another example! Hannah made delicious Indian food it was a great time!

Monday began as usual with prayer and a team meeting. After the team meeting, Neil, Scott, Johanna and the two of us ate lunch together in the back garden. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and preparing for our monthly date night. We usually go out somewhere but since our house mates are away in Sweden for a few weeks we decided to take advantage of a chance to cook nice food. We had yummy trout, roasted potatoes and asparagus! It was delicious and a great chance to connect!

Tuesday was a rest day, but Micah had a training for the summer programme for most of the day. So Lucy spent her day cleaning and organizing the house, and working out.

Wednesday was a rest day. We went to Ian's in the morning and then did some weeding in our back garden. After dinner, Lucy got the chance to talk to a great friend from college on Skype, before we headed to cell group. On the way to cell (we were already running few minutes late) we got caught by a Orange Order parade not once but twice! The way the route was set up by the time the end was past us the front was in our way again on a street over! As we were walking along beside the parade, it probably looked like we were huge supporters of the Orange order because we just couldn't get by it! Needless to say we were quite late to cell.

Thursday was a rest day. We spent a bit of time cleaning the house and the chickens' house in the morning as well as running a few errands (like to replace the coffee pot Lucy broke when she completely missed the counter while setting it down). In the afternoon we headed over to Joy and Bobby's house to hang out with them and their wee boys. After dinner we came back to relax and get a good nights sleep!

Friday, Micah was up at the allotment, the majority of the time was picking strawberries and raspberries, and Lucy was in the Ember cleaning, cooking and hanging out with the guys. After dinner Lucy, Micah, Jillian, and Johanna spent about an hour and a half washing and chopping strawberries to freeze. So far we have about 6.5 Kg in the freezer. We are looking forward to the jam to come!

Today, we are both in the Ember. There are many preparations for the community holiday that starts tomorrow so the day will be filled up by packing, cleaning, doing laundry, shopping and hopefully resting a wee bit. Tonight Micah will head out with Street Pastors. A restful holiday will be in order!

Please pray for our safety in travel, our patience in interactions, and energy as we spend the next 10 days submersed in community life. We hope everyone is enjoying the intense heat of the Midwest (it has gotten up to 70 here...).

Summer Unrest

2011-06-23T15:32:00.004+01:00

The past few days there has been some unrest in Belfast as we are approaching the Twelfth of July. Rather than celebrating the success of Rory McIlroy, violence and hatred have been at the forefront of people's minds. For two nights there were riots about 2 miles from our home, but we have been largely unaffected by the violence. A majority in Belfast desire to leave the rioting and violence in the past, but there is a minority that still feel strong hate toward the opposite side of the community. After peace talks yesterday and more strategic police initiatives, last night was largely calm. We will be praying for the Holy Spirit to intervene with love and peace over the next weeks and would ask that you join us in this prayer.

For a bit more information on what has been going on, check out the links below.

The Roths take on the UK and Ireland!

2011-06-16T15:08:00.019+01:00

Lucy's parents and little brother arrived on May 26th. After a nap for her mom (Carolyn) and brother (Jacob), we walked around the neighbourhood and had some leek and potato soup for dinner. The family was in bed pretty early after a long day of travelling!

On Friday, Lucy worked in the Ember and Micah worked in the office. Lucy's family headed up to the Giant's Causeway to explore the North Coast. Although it was a bit rainy they had a great time. It was Thomas' birthday so the clan headed to Wolfes for some burgers. Traffic was a mess because of a few bomb threats, but we all eventually made it and had a great time!

Saturday morning bright and early (4:30 a.m. but it really was bright because the sun was up!) we flew to London. We had lunch with Lois and Wayne who attend Lucy's church and are currently in London with MMN. After lunch we visited St. Paul's cathedral and then headed out of town a bit to visit Aileen, a woman who lived with Lucy's dad (Peter) while he was in junior high. The family had the first experience with formal British tea. After the visit we went in search of a place to watch the Champion's League final (soccer). Although we were in London and so was the game...we did not go to it! Instead we ended up watching it in a Thai/English pub. The food was Thai but the rest was English! Such a weird and awesome place!

Lunch at London Mennonite Centre with Lois and Wayne.

St. Paul's Cathedral

After tea with Aileen.

Sunday was our day to tour London. We started at the Globe Theatre for a tour. Then we walked across the Tower Bridge to the Tower of London (where the crown jewels are located). Afterwards we went on a Thymes Cruise. Once off we saw Big Ben, Parliment, and Buckingham Palace before getting back on the cruise. We walked across the London Bridge before having a London Bridge Experience (but we were too tired to find humorous) and ended the day back where we started, at the Globe Theatre watching 'Alls well that ends well'. We were all 'groundlings' which meant we stood down by the stage. Micah, Lucy and Peter where right by stairs that led up to the stage and enjoyed being so close to the actors as they entered and exited. It was an awesome experience!

Globe Theatre

London Tower--where the crown jewels are!

Big Ben and Parliment

Buckingham Palace

In the stinky phone booth!

The little brother!

Tower Bridge in distance. London bridge in front.

Westminster Abbey

Monday we began driving around England (well technically Micah began driving the rest of us just rode along). The first stop was Windsor Castle where the queen was in residence! We saw the changing of the guards but not the queen. Then we headed onto Stonehenge, Salisbury Castle where an original copy of the Magna Carta is kept and then down to stay near Land's End. Our hostel was a bit tricky to find as it was off the beaten path a bit hence the following directions, but after as Jacob put it a 'sixteen point' turn on a narrow road, we found our way.

By car or bike: IMPORTANT: The only road access to YHA Land's End is via Kelynack on the B3306. Turn off the B3306 at Kelynack and follow the road through the farmyard and past the sign "Unsuitable for motors" - although narrow the road is tarmac and in good condition all the way to the hostel entrance. Follow this road without making any further turns until you reach the gate with "Letcha Vean", YHA and Hostelling International signs.

Windsor Castle

Changing of the Guards

Stonehenge

Salisbury Cathedral

On Tuesday, the two of us started our day with a coastal walk before the whole crew headed to Land's End. After hiking around, we went to a cove where seals are known to be seen and enjoyed watching them swim about for a while. Then it was on to St. Michael's Mount. We missed the time of day when you are able to walk on the causeway to the castle (low tide) and had to take a boat across. The two of us decided to stay back and explore the little town. We had Cornish Pasties, ice cream and tea before the rest of the group came back. After a light lunch it was back in the van and onto Bristol.

Coastal Walk

Land's End

St. Michael's Mount

Wednesday we went to see the Roman Baths built in Bath. After we all made our way through the exhibition, we went to Avebury, which Jacob can tell you is just rocks and sheep poo and nothing impressive even though it was created thousands of years ago! Then it was back to London to drop off Lois and Wayne and rest up!

Roman Bathes

Big Stones at Avebury!

Thursday we headed onto Stratford upon Avon, where Shakespeare was born. We visited his birthplace, Mary Arden's childhood home (his mother) and Anne Hathaway's cottage (his wife). Afterwards a few of us went out for some Indian food while the others rested up!

Shakespeare's Birthplace

Anne Hathaway's Cottage

Friday we headed onto Liverpool to go to the Beatles experience. There was a couple right in front of us that took a picture of everything!! I don't think they missed a single object in the museum! Afterwards, we had some ice cream before getting 'Mexican' food and watching Pirates of the Caribbean 3.

Lennon Peace Monument

Saturday we left England and drove into Scotland. The first stop was Glasgow for the People's Palace. It was geared more toward local people and was interesting to see Glasgow's lack of hope toward any change in the future. After we finished in Glasgow we headed onto Edinburgh for a relaxing evening.

No description needed.

On Sunday we went to the Edinburgh Castle before walking down the Royal Mile. The day was filled with walking and seeing/experiencing a bit of Edinburgh. By the end of the day we were all a bit wiped out!

Monday was our last day in Scotland. We headed to Inchcolm, an island with an old abbey, for the morning. Our trip over was a bit ruined by a school group of about kindergarteners who were all but quiet. It was great that they were having a good time, but we missed all the information! Once we were on the island, the trip was well worth it! The abbey was an amazing maze of passages and there were old tunnels used during time of war, but we were not able to see them because the sea gulls were nesting and were quite protective of the area. A few dive bombed toward our heads!! Once we were back on the mainland, we had some lunch and coffee and then it was time to return the car and head to the airport. After landing in Belfast, we picked up the next rental car and Peter got his first experience driving on the 'wrong' side of the road! The rest of the evening was spent doing laundry and repacking for the next day!

The family in front of the Abbey on Inchcolm.

Tuesday morning, Lucy, Peter, Carolyn and Jacob headed out to Donegal, while Micah stayed behind for a course on Wednesday. Those of us travelling went to Slieve League. Micah did some reading and rested up after so many days of driving!

Family tradition - changing flat tires.

Donegal Beach

Wednesday, Micah headed to his course on managerial leadership. The rest of us headed to see the Marble Arch caves, which were spectacular wet caves! Then we went onto Galway for the night.

Thursday was a day filled with wrong internet information. Lucy was supposed to get a bus back to Belfast on Friday morning, but the bus station said there was not a bus at the time the internet said there was. Then it was decided that Lucy would stay with her family till Saturday and then the whole group would head back which meant the family missed seeing Dingle Penninsula, but everyone was okay with that after so much driving and travelling. Also, we went to Galway Crystal for a tour, but again the internet information was wrong so we headed onto the Burren. Since there was no tour in the morning, we were there a bit early so we had a chance to explore the wee town and go through the exhibition on the Burren and the town. The walk in the Burren was amazing! We saw Arctic, Mediterranean, and Alpine flowers growing side by side! The landscape was so weird and unique! It was awesome!

Friday we headed to the Aran Islands. Lucy had been there once before with Micah's family but to a different island. The island we went to this time was a bit smaller but had some amazing ruins. Jacob thought it was just rocks and cows, but the rest of us found it quite amazing! On the way back we sailed under the Cliffs of Moher, which was pretty spectacular to be at the base of such awesome cliffs! AND it gave us the chance to see HUNDREDS of puffins nesting! So neat! Once back on shore we headed to the top of the Cliffs of Moher and the exhibition before we had some dinner and tucked in for the night! Back in Belfast Micah attended his first night out with Belfast Street Pastors. It is an inititiave just started with the help of local churches, Belfast City Council and Belfast Police to be a positive presence on the streets late at night. We went out at about 10:30 and finally finished up about 3:00. It was a fairly slow evening, which isn't a bad thing. We spent most of our time chatting with quite intoxicated folks and making sure everyone had a way home. It is a great experience and Micah is looking forward to going out regularly on the weekends. Although, there are drawbacks to the program, like having to ride your bike home as the sun is beginning to come up...

A bit blurry but hundreds of puffins or miniature flying penguins.

Saturday began early with our drive back to Belfast. On the way we stopped at Newgrange and saw the passage tombs of Knowth and Newgrange. Once we arrived back it was nice to just hang out for an evening.

On Sunday we went to City Church and then spent the afternoon with Joy and Bobby! It was so nice for my family to meet the Orfs! Once back, we had another relaxing evening which was definitely what was needed after so much sight seeing!

On Monday, Lucy and Micah went to the team meeting and the family relaxed in the morning. In the afternoon, we headed to Grey Abbey which is where Lucy's great great grandparents lived. We visited the Abbey where relatives are buried. The cemetery was in a bit of disarray, so we were unable to find the specific stone we were looking for, but it was still quite interesting. When we arrived back in Belfast, we looked at pictures from the trip which is always fun!

Tuesday, Lucy and Micah had a meeting in the morning and worked in the afternoon. The family went into town for a Black Taxi Tour. In the evening, Thomas came down for dinner which was really special! It was fun to have him meet my family.

Wednesday morning, Micah headed to Root Soup and Lucy hung out with her family until they left for Dublin after lunch. They had an early flight back home on Thursday It was really hard to see them go, but it was so lovely having them here and travelling with them! It will be great to look back on this time in years to come! Wednesday evening we had dinner at the Ember and then did a whole lot of nothing!

Thursday was a rest day so we took advantage of the chance to catch up on some rest and enjoyed a really yummy dinner at the Ember!

Since my parents arrived, it has been really really nice weather whenever they have been outside pretty much. Now that they are back in the USA, it is pouring! Poor Micah is up at the allotment working away in the rain! Lucy is working in the Ember today. It is great to be plugging back into community life after some time away!

In the past weeks we have seen A TON and had some great time connecting with Lucy's family and some friends! We are looking forward to the slower pace that summer brings here. Hope you are all well and not too hot as the summer sets in!

Community Night Away

2011-05-26T10:22:00.004+01:00

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

2011-05-16T18:37:00.004+01:00

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!

2011-05-05T15:46:00.003+01:00

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!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-26T19:36:00.002+01:00

Wednesday 20 April began with Root Soup and women's cell. Micah is continuously amazed at the positive impact that Root Soup is having on the men that live in the homeless hostel. One of the men asked, 'When can we have a barbecue with the Root Soup family'. In the afternoon we both worked in the office. Micah met with a guy from Ardmore advertising who is working on a website for Root Soup. Micah isn't quite ready to give the link so you will just have a wait a bit longer. Lucy found out a volunteer that had agreed to come in May decided not to come. It is a bit stressful to find another volunteer in such a short time period, so pray for good candidates! Wednesday evening we headed to our cell group!

Thursday began the 'Holy Week' community activities. We all headed up to the North Coast to visit Giant's Causeway, have a picnic and do footwashing. It has been an annual tradition from the beginning of the community (minus last year when it was snowing on Holy Thursday). It was BEAUTIFUL day full of sunshine, good food and great people! Once we were back, we had ice cream for dinner with the community! YUMMY!

On Good Friday we attended a ecumenical service that began in Ormeau Park and ended at Jillian's church. Afterwards Root Soup catered a meal for us in the park. It was another wonderful day with lots of sun! Once we were back from the park we sat in the back garden and ate more ice cream before going for a run. Eating ice cream before a run is a bad idea just in case you didn't know!

Saturday was a day at the Ember for us. It was a pretty quiet day amongst the busy community days. The two of us headed up to Forestside with Thomas and Larry to do some errands. Then we made some yummy wraps for lunch. The afternoon was filled with lounging. In the evening we made delicious veggie burgers instead of our usual Saturday dinner of fish and chips! It was a nice healthy change.

Easter Sunday began really early with a sunrise service with City Church. It was held at the park around the Malone House, which is a old, big country house. We had a lovely service followed by some bacon baps! It was a good way to start the Easter day. After we went to Joy and Bobby's for some much needed coffee, before returning to bed for a few hours. Once we were a bit rested, we got ready for our Easter dinner. There were about 20 of us that enjoyed salmon, corn casserole, green beans, lots of different salads and LOADS of desserts! It was a nice way to finish off the Holy Week but we were glad when all the busyness was finished!

Monday was a rest day (which we were very thankful for!). In the morning we went for a 6 mile run! Woot Woot! Afterwards we went to get a coffee before going grocery shopping. In the afternoon we spent a few hours making lasagne for Makiko's leaving prayer (on Tuesday). After we were done, Lucy got a bit sick from a bad headache so it was pretty much straight to bed for her!

Today was another rest day. We tried to go to IKEA with Joy and Bobby, but alas the buses in Belfast are still on a holiday schedule so there were no buses going to IKEA in the morning. It is an interesting difference between Northern Ireland and the USA that businesses take holiday even when the could be making money. So instead we ventured to Starbucks. You can always count on the American chain to be open! This evening we had Makiko's leaving prayer. She has been in L'Arche for almost a year and is returning to Japan on Saturday. She has brought a lot of life to the Ember so it will be sad to see her go! After the prayer, we had a huge dinner and good fellowship!

It has been a busy week, but we have enjoyed the community time celebrating Holy Week. We hope that everyone had a chance to celebrate Easter and all that it means! (We will upload pictures of Easter in a few days...our computer is hopefully being fixed by a friend!)

Back for Year Two

2011-04-19T10:05:00.004+01:00

On 15 March we headed to the airport at the awful hour of 4 in the morning. Thomas was convinced he wanted to drop us off but for some reason he couldn’t find anyone to drive us, so we stuck with our original plan of taking a taxi. After a lot of hours of travelling we arrived in Chicago to be greeted by Lucy’s mom and sister, Anna. It felt good and weird to be back in the USA after a full year. We spent the next 3 weeks visiting, Lucy’s family in Bloomington, IL, Micah’s family in Hesston, KS, Micah’s sister in Tucson, AZ and our old stomping ground in Goshen, IN. We are so thankful for the time we were able to spend with family and friends!! On 5 April we began our journey back to Belfast and arrived back to our house at about 11 in the morning on 6 April. We took that first day back to relax and sleep, go visit Bobby and Joy and their boys who had grown so much and have dinner with the community at the Ember.

Lucy getting friendly with a cactus.

At the Mirror Lab, where they make the worlds largest mirrors for telescopes.

The Loucks Fam.

Our niece Ashley on an Easter Egg Hunt.

Our new nephew Syler, who we met for the first time.

On Thursday we were back to work (after we slept about 12 hours overnight!). We worked a bit in the office responding to many emails, getting caught up on how much Root Soup had grown in the three weeks away, returning phone calls and doing other tasks that were left while we were away. In the evening we were pretty quick to go to bed! Getting over jetlag yet again took awhile!

On Friday, Micah headed up to the allotment. It was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine. The allotment crew built raised beds, planted, weeded and enjoyed the sun! Lucy had a rest day so she headed over to Bobby and Joy’s and joined them for a trip to Botanic Park and for lunch. After Micah got back we had a few friends over for a BBQ before Micah headed to Street Pastors’ training.

Saturday was a day in the Ember for both of us. Micah headed up to Forrestside with Larry in order to buy a DVD. Lucy mowed the grass at the Ember and picked up trash around the garden. After lunch, we all headed to Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park for a stroll and some ice cream. For dinner we had another BBQ at the Ark. After the BBQ, Thomas, Sharon, Matthew and Lucy went to a ‘Crosslink’s’ performance that May was involved in. The ‘Crosslink’s’ group is a cross-community group (takes both Protestants, Catholics and other minority groups) to work against stereotypes and bullying. The performance revealed a lot of stereotypes held between groups and involved dancing, singing, artwork and drama. It was a nice evening out!

Sunday we headed to church in the morning. After church, we went to Joy and Bobby’s for lunch and sat in the back garden for hours in the sunshine picking dandelions and chatting away. After we left Joy and Bobby’s we met up with Pam and Kendra (two fellow BVSers). Pam was working at Quaker Cottage in Belfast and finished this past Monday. Kenda is working in Hamburg Germany working at a peace organization. It was great to have dinner and play cards with them!

We were back at the prayer and team meeting on Monday. In the afternoon we met up with Pam and some of her co-workers at the Eg. Then we went to a kebab place. Lucy hated the kebabs and Micah loved them!

Tuesday we had a formation on the future of L’Arche Belfast. We looked at what it meant to be a leader and decided qualities our next community leader needs to have. Then we worked in the office for the afternoon and then cleaned the Ark. After work, we had dinner in the Ember.

Wednesday morning, Micah went to Root Soup and Lucy went to women’s cell. We both enjoyed being back! After Root Soup, Micah had a meeting with NOW Project. The NOW Project is interested in a contract with Root Soup to either receive training or buy soup for their cafes that employ people with learning disabilities! So exciting to see God at work in Root Soup! After dinner at the Ember, we headed to cell group which met at the church because our church was participating in the 24/7 prayer movement. Currently in Ireland and Northern Ireland every day of this year, people are praying 24 hours a day for different cities on the island. The month of April, the focus is on Belfast so different congregations are providing prayer spaces for people to pray in 24 hours a day. City Church hosted the movement for 2 days so we were able to focus on the Holy Lands (the area that is right around our church), Belfast and Northern Ireland.

Thursday was a rest day but we attended a meeting about Project Able. Project Able is a scheme providing work placements to people on the autistic spectrum and they are working in collaboration with Root Soup. They provide trainees for the allotment. In the afternoon we were really lazy (we can still blame it on jetlag!). In the evening we played games with Frans and Julia.

On Friday, Micah worked at the allotment. The garden crew made raised beds, weeded, put up lattice for the peas to grow on. Lucy worked all day in the Ember. In the morning she helped Thomas get up and around. In the afternoon she coloured with Jillian and then cooked dinner before watching a bit of TV with the lads. Larry is away on holiday leading a retreat in Poland with Gosia and Maria so things have been quieter in the Ember (even though Larry is a very quiet man!).

Saturday was a rest day, but instead of resting Micah had a meeting from 9:30-3 with the Community Leadership Programme. The meeting was led by a facilitator who was selected for Root Soup because of his fundraising expertise. The group talked about Root Soup mission, vision, aims and outcomes in the morning and fundraising in the afternoon. It was a very long meeting but also very beneficial as Root Soup continues to grow. During the meeting, Lucy babysat for Scott’s 3 kids (since Scott was at the meeting and his wife was in Scotland). After the meeting, we went on a walk and stopped by Joy and Bobby’s house before spending the evening resting!

Sunday we went to church and then spent the rest of the day at Joy and Bobby’s. Micah and Bobby went to pick gorse (a yellow flower) in order to make gorse wine. Lucy and Joy hung out with the kiddos.

Yesterday began with prayer and a team meeting. Afterwards we went on a run and went shopping for some toiletries. We went to the Ember for dinner and came back to do nothing! Micah spent the evening looking at computer possibilities because ours is on the fritz. Bummer!!

Today we are having a full-on rest day. Other than Noah’s birthday prayer we have no plans! Woot woot!

It has been a period of adjustment since being back (especially for Lucy), but slowly we are settling back into our daily routine and the life of the community. The end of this week is full of community events preparing for and celebrating Easter. It will be a time of lots of laughs and probably a bit of frustration, so keep us in your prayers that are hearts remain full of joy during the celebrations!

End of Year One

2011-03-14T16:33:00.004Z

Friday March 4 began with Micah heading to the Allotment. The allotment crew did some weeding, built, assembled and painted raised beds and filled the beds with dirt. Lucy worked in the Ember in the afternoon. In the evening, a bunch from the community headed to a ‘table quiz’ held at a supporting church. ‘Table quiz’ is a quiz game for teams of people. It has many different rounds such as ‘In the news’ or ‘Child’s play’ or ‘Advertisements’. The two of us were on a team with a few older ladies and Larry (and we got 3^rd place...no thanks to us!).

Saturday we worked in the Ember. Micah went to Common Grounds with Thomas and Lucy headed to Michel’s (the local green grocer) with Jillian and then went to coffee with Jillian and Joy. After lunch, the boys took the 6 months worth of recycling to the recycling centre and the girls went to a craft show at Jillian’s church. In the evening, we were all pretty tuckered out so we decided to watch a film together!

On Sunday, we attended church in the morning and then made a yummy lunch and relaxed! It was perfect!

Monday began as usual with a prayer and team meeting. Micah had a meeting in the afternoon to discuss how to use a £2,500 grant that must be used to better the community. Afterwards, we went for a run to train for the team marathon!

Tuesday began with a formation on the mission of L’Arche. In the afternoon we worked in the office. The day was spent beginning to tie up loose ends in preparation to leave such as the newsletters, confirming volunteers and having a supervision meeting with Scott (our boss). Since it was international women’s day, the women of L’Arche Belfast went out to eat, and then all the community celebrated Pancake Tuesday. The boys made yummy pancakes for the women upon their return. After a brief celebration of Pancake Tuesday, the two of us headed to babysit for Joy and Bobby’s boys. They were already in bed so it was pretty easy!

Wednesday was a Root Soup and women’s cell day. Then in the afternoon we worked away in the office. Wednesday evening, Lucy went to cell group and Micah watched the Tottenham game...he is such a bad boy!

Thursday was a rest day. In the morning we went running and then went to get groceries. Around lunch time, Micah went to hang out with Bobby and Sam. Lucy started working on packing! In the afternoon, Micah did a bit of work and then we watched the final ‘Human Planet’ on BBC (if you ever get a chance...check these out!)

Friday, Lucy headed to the Ember for a full day and Micah headed up to the Allotment. The allotment crew finished ‘the new world’ aka finished making raised beds and filling them with soil in the new allotment space, did some weeding, built a bench and tried to stay dry. Lucy and Thomas made dinner and then watched a film in the evening.

The Bench Micah built is in the back of the picture!! Way to go Micah!

The garden's oasis from rain!

So much excitement from Matthew to be at the allotment!!

'The New World' aka the new allotment all finished!

On Saturday we had a BVS day in the Ark. Our European coordinator was in Belfast and so all the Northern Irish volunteers (about 10) gathered at our house for the afternoon. We had a lovely dinner at ‘Hooligans’ to finish off the day.

Sunday began with church and then lots of preparations for our trip to the States. In the evening we headed to Joy and Bobby’s for yummy soup and to play cards.

Today has been a whirlwind. We have been attending meetings, doing laundry, packing, cleaning, and running errands. It has been a very busy day! But tomorrow we will be heading to the USA! Our first flight is at 6:30 in the morning so it will be an early start and a long day. But, we are excited that it will end with seeing family and friends for a few weeks! We are pumped to see many of you very soon! Pray for our safety in travel, patience with the long trip and a speedy visa process! We have not had much time to reflect on the end of year one, so hopefully that will come in the next couple weeks! For now...a video compilation of our first year!

Bryson's View of Root Soup

2011-03-03T11:46:00.004Z

Thursday 24 February was the Root Soup ‘Friends and Forks’ evening in the Ark. About 32 people came from the community and beyond. We had a lovely time chatting and eating delicious food including mushroom lasagne, chilli and rice, and cauliflower mac and cheese. It was great to spread the word about Root Soup to people beyond the community. Many ideas about future events were formed by the guests including women’s evenings and a weight watcher point-based evening. It was a long day with lots of work, but it was a true success!

Friday, Lucy worked all day in the Ember and Micah worked in the Ark garden and then headed to the allotment for the afternoon. It was a beautiful day outside so it was finally a joy to be up at the allotment after many weeks of rain and wind. After the allotment, Micah headed to church for ‘Street Pastors’ training. ‘Street Pastors’ is an initiative in cities around the UK to provide a church-based response to anti-social behaviour. With the backing of the police force and the city council, Street Pastors go out from 10-2 to care, listen, and help people get home safely and keep the city safer. Micah’s first training didn’t last as long as expected because only a couple showed up. When he got back, the two of us hung out in the Ember with Larry.

Saturday was a rest day. We headed to St. George’s market in the morning and then hung out at Bobby and Joy’s house. Micah and the boys brewed beer and Lucy and Joy headed to the park with their kids.

Sunday we headed to church in the morning and then went out to lunch. After lunch settled, we went on a run to start training for our team marathon! Sunday evening we had a chat with our housemates about a few problem areas around the house. The talk went better than we had anticipated.

Monday began with prayer and a team meeting. In the afternoon we went for a walk in Botanic Park and then had a date night! We headed to the cinema. It was our first time without the chaperones of Micah’s parents! We watched ‘Gnomea and Juliet’ which was quite good! Afterwards, we went out to dinner at Nando’s a Portuguese restaurant after being rejected at our first choice since we didn’t have a booking!

Tuesday we worked in the morning in the office. Then we met with Kristin (our BVS coordinator) who is visiting Ireland for lunch at Common Grounds. In the afternoon Micah had a meeting and Lucy went for a run. In the evening we had a community gathering at the Loom (our prayer space in North Belfast). We celebrated Maria’s birthday and enjoyed some yummy pizza.

Wednesday morning, Micah headed to Root Soup. He did an interview with Bryson, a trainee from Open Door Housing Association and then made Broccoli, Potato and Cheddar soup. Lucy went to women’s cell in the morning and then both of us worked in the office in the afternoon. Micah edited the video of Bryson and Lucy worked on sending out the L’Arche Belfast March newsletter. In the evening we went to our cell. It was the first time we met since our cell ‘multiplied’ into two and added a few new members. It is exciting to see how much the church has grown in the short time we have been here.

Adam drying dishes.

Jill cleaning up (with her new glasses).

Bryson.

Alison and Matthew.

Today is a rest day. We went to Ian’s bakery for an Ulster Fry which includes soda bread, potato bread, eggs, sausage, pancakes and bacon. Yummy! The rest of the day we are planning to clean the house and relax. This evening Micah has a training and Lucy is babysitting for Scott and Megan’s children.

12 days until we are back in the USA to visit. Yipee!

Root Soup Really Takes Off!

2011-02-24T11:00:00.001Z

Friday the 11^th of February was an early morning for Lucy. We have been blessed with a schedule that allows us late morning starts, but since Lucy was present all day in the Ember, she was up and around early. Micah and the garden clan headed up to the allotment for a windy day of painting, hauling soil and beginning to plant! The wind was so strong that they had to be careful not to get blown over! In the Ember in the afternoon, Lucy went with Thomas to purchase some new boots (for Thomas). He is the easiest guy to shop for (unlike Micah) because he is not picky at all! The first pair of boots he tried on he loved and they fit him great! The evening for Lucy was spent hanging around the Ember with the guys enjoying cups of tea and a little television!

We had the entire weekend off which doesn’t happen too often so we used the day to go for a run and then enjoy an early dinner with Joy, Bobby and their two boys. In the evening, Lucy headed with Joy to meet some other women from church for a ladies evening and Micah and Bobby played cards for their ‘boys’ evening’. It was a good day of fun and fellowship.

Sunday started by heading to church. After church we walked down to St. George’s Market in city centre to get a bite to eat and enjoy the nice weather. By the time we walked home it was almost time for some dinner and a good relaxing movie!

Monday morning began with prayer and then the team meeting. After the meeting, we caught a ride to the train station with Jenny so we could head to Bangor for a nice afternoon out and Lucy’s chiropractor appointment. After a lovely cup of coffee and some lunch, Lucy had her last scheduled appointment. It has been a real blessing to see progress through the chiropractic appointments. Although it hasn’t taken away all the migraines, it has allowed Lucy to stop taking medicine daily as well as decreased the intensity of the migraines! So praise God for this healing! By evening we were both pretty tuckered out so we enjoyed doing very little!

On Tuesday we had a formation on the mission of L’Arche Belfast. It was good to revisit the mission statement and see areas of strength and weakness in how we as a community are living out the mission. After the formation, we both worked in the office. Lucy is trying to finalize a volunteer for the beginning of May before we head home to renew our visas. Micah is working hard at nailing out the details of the future plan for Root Soup as well as organise events! In the evening, Micah headed to the pub with Bobby to watch a Champions League football match and Lucy went to Joy and Bobby’s to stay with their sleeping kids since Joy was out at a church event. Tottenham was able to hold onto the win so Micah was a happy man!

Wednesday began with Micah heading to the Root Soup kitchen and Lucy heading to women’s cell. The women’s cell that Lucy is a part of has about 7 children between the young mums so Lucy took her turn watching the kids so the other women could focus on the study. Lucy learned pretty quickly that caring for 7 children under the age of 5 is not her calling! Chaos and Lucy are not good friends! In the afternoon, we were both back in the office. Wednesday evening we went out our cell group. It was the last week that we will all meet together. Because of the growth in the church, our cell group is dividing (or I guess multiplying is the correct term) into two groups to make room for new members. It is an exciting time at City Church, but also a time of a lot of adjustment for the ‘old-timers’ of the church.

Thursday was a rest day for the two of us. After a run, we spent the day cleaning and hanging out. In the evening we went over to Joy and Bobby’s to stay with their kids so they could have a date night. Babysitting is pretty easy when the kids sleep and we get to watch TV!

Friday morning, Micah headed to the allotment for the day. They continued their work of prepping the allotments for planting! The garden crew has had some bad luck with weather recently...it has been cold, windy and rainy for quite a few weeks now. They are all looking forward to the warming up that spring will bring! Lucy was gearing up to go to the Ember when she got a tummy bug. The rest of the day was not so much fun for Lucy!

On Saturday, Micah went to the Ember and Lucy stayed in bed with the tummy bug! Micah went to Common Grounds with Thomas in the morning to volunteer. After lunch, Larry, Micah, Neil and Matthew went to city centre in search of boots for Larry. Larry loves boots. Whenever someone has boots on, he says, “boots nice”, but because his feet are so small since he is a wee man, finding adult male boots that fit him is a task! The four guys went to lots of stores and walked a few miles in search of boots and alas they did find some! Larry has been the proud wearer of his boots ever since! By evening, it was time to relax in the Ember!

By Sunday, Lucy had finally stomped the tummy bug and the two of us were able to head to church in the morning. After church, Pam (a fellow BVSer) came over for a late lunch and to catch up. We live on opposite ends of Belfast, so we haven’t seen each other nearly as often as we would have liked to, so it was a really nice time to hear how things are going for her!

Monday began the same way as always with prayer and a team meeting. The team meeting focused on May’s one year review. She moved in just before we did and it’s hard to believe that it has already been about 1 year!! After the meeting, Micah went with Stephen, a guy from church to show him the manure stash that the garden crew uses for the allotment. (Stephen is building some raised beds in his garden and needs a bit of fertilizer.) After Micah got back, we went for a run and then shopping for some groceries. When we were walking to the grocery store, we saw a Roma man who used to beg on Ormeau (the road we live on). He and Micah would always give each other the thumbs up so he has a special place in Micah’s heart. We hadn’t seen him about for awhile (He is now selling ‘The Big Issue’, a magazine published once a week and sold at intersections), but Micah got to chat with him a bit and of course give and receive the thumbs up. By the time we were back, it was time to prepare some appetizers for a dinner at Joy and Bobby’s. The evening was spent enjoying yummy food and good friends.

Tuesday morning began with the team giving a ‘spring clean’ to the Ember. With so many people going in and out of the Ember, it needs a good clean every now and again. Once we finished cleaning (and eating doughnuts), we were both back in the office. Lucy worked on preparing a brochure for Root Soup and Micah continued to work on organizing the upcoming Root Soup evening as well as got groceries for the cooking on Wednesday at Root Soup. We went to dinner on Tuesday at the Ember. It had been awhile since Lucy had been over since she was sick, so it was nice to be back! Tuesday evening had some nasty weather, so we stayed in the house!

On Wednesday, Lucy headed to women’s cell and Micah headed to the Root Soup kitchen. Micah was in charge of the kitchen, because Alison (the trainer) was off this week. It was the first profitable day in the kitchen, since they sold their first batch of soup!! Good work Root Soup! In the afternoon, we were both in the office again. Lucy worked on printing more brochures for Root Soup and spent way too much time trying to figure out how to print on an envelope! Micah was organizing, organizing and continuing to organize the event!

Today, Micah is prepping for the Root Soup event, ‘Friends and Forks’ with Alison and Bryson that is taking place tonight. The hope is that people directly connected with L’Arche Belfast will bring friends in order to spread the word about Root Soup (and raise a little money!). Lucy is taking a bit of time to relax since it is our rest day! We will let you know soon how the event goes!

Overall, life in Belfast is going really well. We are enjoying the weather warming up a bit, our jobs and our friends in and out of the community. But, we are starting to look forward to seeing out friends and family in the States in a few weeks. It is hard to believe a year has almost passed!

Back to the clouds and rain!

2011-02-10T12:03:00.005Z

24 January began with a team meeting. Then we caught a ride into town with Jenny so that Lucy could head to a chiropractic appointment and Micah could head to city centre. When Lucy got back to the house, Micah was a bit worried because Micah’s parents had emailed to ask to skype about ‘something important’. We had just talked to them the day before so it was a bit troublesome. No fear though...they were just calling to wish Lucy a happy birthday a day early! Since we missed dinner at the Ember, Bobby and Joy dropped extras over for us. The rest of the evening was just filled with relaxing.

Tuesday began with ‘breakfast in bed’ for Lucy. It is a L’Arche Belfast tradition to get breakfast in bed on your birthday, but since we are early risers compared to much of the community, it was not in bed, but still quite lovely. The rest of the morning was spent in a formation on supervision. In the afternoon Lucy accompanied Maria, Frans, Larry and Jillian to a talk at a college for future teachers. It is always wonderful to see Larry and Jillian using their gifts to inspire others! Micah spent the afternoon working on stuff for Root Soup. For dinner we headed over to Bobby and Joy’s for Lucy’s bday dinner. Micah made delicious meatballs! They were so yummy!

On Wednesday, Micah headed to Root Soup in the morning and Lucy headed to women’s cell. At Root Soup, they made a lip-smacking potato and leek soup! In the afternoon we worked in the office. When we were on holiday, a few assistants helped Larry steal Micah's clothing that he left behind (because Micah picks on Larry a lot). So in order to get his clothes back, he had to wear an outfit of Larry's over to the Ember. Larry is just a bit smaller than Micah so the picture below says it all!

Thursday morning Micah and Bobby came close to completing the chicken coop and run. In the afternoon we moved the stones from the chicken run so that they will be able to scratch around. Before dinner we did some grocery shopping for our house. For dinner we had a celebratory party because L’Arche Belfast was inspected by the local quality control and passed!

On Friday, Micah headed to a training about strategic planning. Micah felt that the training showed that Root Soup is on a good path and showed a few ideas for improvement. Way to go Root Soup! Lucy spent the morning in the office and the afternoon in the Ember.

Saturday we were in the Ember all day. Micah went to Common Grounds Cafe with Thomas in the morning to volunteer. Afterwards, Micah and Matthew worked on the chicken coop. Lucy spent the morning with Jillian getting coffee and doing some shopping at the local green grocer. In the afternoon Lucy and Thomas did some crafts in the Ark. After dinner we all watched a movie. It was Matthew’s pick and not that great.

Sunday began with church. Lucy had her first experience in the crèche (aka the nursery) at church. Since we were there a bit early to set up the crèche, Micah got selected to be a part of the drama during the sermon. The sermon was on Jacob and Esau and Micah (being so smooth skinned) was chose for Jacob. He got to put on part of a bear costume to make him hairy during the deception part! Lucy is pretty disappointed she missed this!! It sounds pretty classic! We made a yummy lunch and then enjoyed an afternoon of scrapbooking, drawing and movies.

First thing Monday morning we had a team meeting. Afterwards we continued to work on the chicken coop. We got it close to complete! In the evening we headed over to the Ember for some dinner!

Tuesday began with a second formation on supervision. In the afternoon, we worked in the office. Micah headed to the store to buy a few odds and ends for the Root Soup kitchen. The early evening was spent almost finishing the chicken coop!

Wednesday started with Micah heading to Root Soup and Lucy going to Women’s cell. After Root Soup, Micah went to IKEA with Matthew before he accompanied Matthew to the dentist. In the evening we headed to the Ember for dinner and then went to our cell group.

Thursday was a great day! We headed to IKEA with Bobby to enjoy the free coffee and tea that we get for being an IKEA family member! After having some lunch, the two of us headed into city centre to get some scrapbooking materials. The evening was spent scrapbooking and drawing.

On Friday, Micah headed to the allotment for the day. It was super windy so they made lots of raised beds and tried not to get blown over! Lucy spent the morning in the office and the afternoon in the Ember. Micah worked until dark finishing the chicken coop while Lucy and Thomas made some dinner in the Ember.

Saturday we were in the Ember all day. Micah went to Common Grounds with Thomas to volunteer. Then Lucy, Micah, Larry, Thomas and Jillian headed up to Forestside to buy toiletries and a DVD. Larry and Micah then headed to Bobby’s to brew some beer. Larry was in heaven! Later on, the rugby match between Ireland and Italy was on. Then Lucy, Jillian, Thomas and Makiko headed to the Ark to do some painting and crafts. The evening was spent relaxing in front of the TV watching Thomas’ favourite show (Casulty)...an awful hospital drama.

On Sunday we walked to church in the rain! It was the first time it rained on us when we were walking to church on a Sunday morning! Pretty incredible since we live in N. Ireland! Bobby, Joy, the kids and Jessica (a visitor of Bobby and Joy’s) came over for lunch. We were planning pizza, but ended up doing hamburgers because the local grocer didn’t have what we needed for pizza. Our ‘lunch’ was finally started at about 4 p.m. but it was really nice! Micah did a great job grilling the burgers! Yum! Then Bobby and Micah went to Sainsbury to buy groceries for the Superbowl. Once back, our chickens came!! Nigel (a guy from church) brought us 3 chickens from his father-in-laws farm. After clipping their wings, they were put in the coop for the night. After the chickens were safely put away, Micah went out with the volunteers to a pub. (Lucy was exhausted by this point and needed a bit of alone time before people arrived for the Superbowl!) Micah arrived back just in time to welcome people from church for the Superbowl which started at 11:30 p.m. here! Most people watched the first half and headed home, but Micah, Bobby and Malc (the pastor of City Church) were hardcore and watched the entire game. Micah got to bed about 3:30 a.m. Crazy boys!

Monday began with Lucy leading prayer and then we had our team meeting. In the afternoon, we did our visa application that we will be trying to renew in about a month! This process took much of the afternoon. In the evening, Joy, Bobby and Sam stopped by to chat and then we had dinner. By this point in the evening, we were both exhausted after the little sleep the night before so we watched a movie and headed to bed!

On Tuesday we learned all about food hygiene! Woohoo! In the afternoon we worked in the office. Lucy is trying to recruit a volunteer for April and has not found anyone yet so please keep that in your prayers! After work, we headed over to the Ember for Megan’s (Scott’s wife) birthday prayer. After the prayer, we hurried back to the Ark to get something to eat before Jenna and Peter (the MMN volunteers) came over to play some games.

Wednesday started with Micah heading to Root Soup and Lucy heading to women’s cell. In the afternoon we both worked in the office. After work, we went grocery shopping then headed to the Ember for dinner before going to cell.

Today Lucy went on a walk in the morning with Joy. We are planning this afternoon to head to Ian’s Bakery for a traditional fry and then walking in the Castlereagh hills. We will just see what the rest of the day brings!

It has been a busy time, but Micah is pumped to have chickens (even though they haven’t laid any eggs yet L ). It is hard to believe that we have almost been here for 11 months, but we are getting excited about the possibility of seeing many of you when we are back in about a month to renew our visas! Pray that we can have patient hearts as we wait to see family and friends again (especially Lucy!).

Our 3 beautiful hens!

Our coop and run.

Fun in the Sun

2011-01-23T15:55:00.012Z

January 15 began quite early. We had a 4:15 wakeup call to catch our 4:40 taxi in order to catch a bus at 5:00 in order to catch our 6:30 plane! It was the earliest we had been up in a long time. After a 3 hour flight, we arrived in sunny Portugal! The ‘fun’ had just begun when we arrived. In order to get to our hotel, we had to catch two buses. We just missed a bus when we first arrived, so we waited awhile. Then when we got to the bus terminal (after taking the first bus), we had just missed the second bus. This gave us a chance to get a bite to eat. We found a little cafe on the marina and enjoyed our first moments in the warmth and sunshine. When getting on the second bus, we (mainly Micah) freaked out a bit that we really had no idea where we were suppose to get off. About half way through the bus trip, Micah felt like we should be getting off, but since we didn’t really know where we were or where our hotel was, we decided to stay on till the terminal. (We later found out the point where Micah wanted to get off was about a 3 minute walk from our hotel...we should trust his gut in the future!) Once we arrived at the terminal, the lady behind the ticket counter told us that our hotel was not in Albufeira and didn’t really know how to direct us. So we walked into the city centre and found the information office, where we were again told the hotel was a ways away. Micah wanted to walk there (to save money), but Lucy by this point was tired! Lucy got her way and we took a taxi. It didn’t end up being super far away (and it was in Albufeira), but it was worth the taxi ride (says Lucy). Once we finally arrived at the hotel, we were tired and ready to relax, but the hotel room was a bit below our expectations. There was a bit of mould and no real bed (two sofas that could be pushed together). After the initial disappointment of the room, we realized it was still pretty nice for how much we paid! The late afternoon was spent in the sun by the pool, buying groceries, playing cards and finding a place to eat dinner. Then we crashed early after a long day of travel.

Our room with our little kitchenette.

The pool.

Sunday began in the most perfect way! We went to walk on the beach soon after waking and discovered walking paths along the cliffs on the coast. The views were breathtaking; the sun was warm; the crashing of the waves against the cliffs was so peaceful! Afterwards, we laid out in the sun by the pool, played games and read. We discovered one of our favourite aspects of Portugal: the oranges. With loads of orange groves throughout the area, the oranges were cheap, fresh and amazing!! These quickly became a staple in our diet! After lunch, we continued to enjoy the sun (tough life!) and then went to get groceries for the next day. After grocery shopping we walked on the beach again before heading to a pub to watch the Tottenham game (soccer). Because so many people in Albufeira are British, most pubs show the Premier League. Somewhere close to 50% of houses are being purchased by Brits in Algarve (the county Albufeira resides). There is no shortage of chippies, football and British grocery stores. After the game, we headed out to another delicious dinner!

Along our morning walk.

Monday began in much the same way as Sunday...with a great walk along the cliffs. After the walk on the beach, we headed to explore the town a bit. We discovered ‘the strip’ which has tons of restaurants. We couldn’t understand why the hotel receptionist pointed us in the other direction for restaurants, but we soon discovered almost all the restaurants on the strip were closed for the season. They are only open from mid-February to November. Next was time in the sun (of course), followed by lunch and then more sun and reading. The afternoon was spent on a 4-wheeler tour. We were picked up at our hotel and headed off to a small town outside Albufeira. Once there, we got acquainted with the 4-wheelers and then headed off. We enjoyed traipsing through the orange and lemon groves, seeing almond trees in bloom, going down the steep embankments, and stopping at a country Portuguese cafe before returning to the base. It was a lot of fun to get out of the city and see a bit of the countryside. The owners of the 4-wheeler company, Claire and Rory, (who happened to be British) gave us great suggestions on what to do in the area and places to eat! By the time we got back, it was quite chilly (for Portugal standards), so we enjoyed some tea to warm up, before heading out to dinner. For dinner, we headed out in search of Chicken Piri-Piri (a local dish suggested by Claire and Rory). It was really good and quite spicy!

From our morning walk again.

On our quad.

Looking out over the almond trees into the valley

The pretty almond trees.

Through the lemon grove.

LEMONS!

Tuesday we walked to the centre of Albufeira along the cliffs and coast. We explored old town, the marina and walked in the water...where we got a little wetter than planned! After walking about, we enjoyed a picnic on the beach before heading to another suggestion from Claire and Rory...a cake shop! We got big, big pieces of cake and yummy coffee before walking back. Then it was time for our daily dose of the sun by the pool before dinner (which was another suggestion from Claire and Rory!). We ate at a fish buffet. It is not a buffet in the sense we would have thought, but rather the waiter brought around different types of fish for us to sample. By sample, we mean half of a grilled fish! The dinner started with bread, potatoes and olives before getting into the fish. The first fish was an amazing salmon steak! It was among the best salmon we have ever had. Next was sea bass. It had amazing flavour, and Lucy’s even had an eye (kind of creepy!). The third piece was pollock. Neither of us liked this one much. It was flavoured with sea weed, which wasn’t our favourite. The forth piece was halibut. It was so meaty; it almost was like eating chicken! The fifth was grilled sardines, which was a lot better than anticipated, but still lacked a little flavour. The sixth and final piece was squid. This was super chewy and an interesting flavour! We really enjoyed getting to taste all the different types of fish and left the restaurant stuffed!

A view of Albufeira.

Wednesday we followed another one of Claire and Rory suggestions and looked into car rental for a day. We found a place that was reasonably priced and let us return it to the airport for free, which avoided the crazy bus route on the way back. Afterwards, we headed to the beach for our daily walk. Then it was time for the sun by the pool, lunch, more sun and sangria at an outdoor cafe. For dinner we headed to find kabobs (another local dish). Micah was not convinced on the place Lucy decided on, but soon came on board. We had delicious kabobs with 4 different meats (steak, chicken, sausage and veal). For dessert we had some almond cake since almond trees are a dime a dozen. The best part of the restaurant was the owner. He had a lot of Portuguese character and had spent some time in the states so his English was amazing!

Our morning walk again...

Thursday we started with our daily walk on the cliffs and reading. Then it was time for some sun, lunch and more sun! In the afternoon we went and got sangria at the cafe again, before heading back to play some games. For dinner we had omelettes, which was another common dish.

Friday began by playing games (no walk...which made us sad!). Then we headed to the car rental place to pick up the car and head west. Our first stop on the journey was Silves to visit the local castle. It was up on the hill, which provided great views and it is always interesting to see buildings from the 12^th century! After Silves we headed onto Monchique. In Monchique we climbed to an old monastery, which looked a lot cooler from the below. It was really run down! Then we walked though the oldest part of the city, before driving to the highest peak in Algarve. The peak is 922 m. It may not seem that high, but since it is the highest point and so close to the coast, the views were breathtaking! Also, there were tons of Eucalyptus trees, which smelled amazing as we drove up to and back from the peak! Then we drove farther west to ‘the end of the world’. Cape St. Vincent was referred to as the end of the world by early explorers as it looks off into the west over the Atlantic Ocean. We saw a few old forts and a light house. Then it was time to drive back to Albufeira. For dinner, we had two delicious dishes, cataplana and paella. Paella is a rice, meat/seafood and seasoning dish that is baked over a fire (traditional in Spain). Cataplana is a traditional Portuguese stew with seafood/meat, tomatoes, peppers and onions served over rice. They were both delicious!

Silves Castle

A beautiful orange tree inside the castle.

The church outside the castle.

Yes, the picture doesn't lie. It is a Hustler Z! Made 5,000 miles away in Hesston, KS!!

The cliffs at Cape St. Vincent

Lighthouse in the distance.

One of the many palm trees Micah loved!

An old fort along the coast.

Beauty!

A HUGE old fort.

Saturday was the cloudy day, but luckily (or unluckily) we were heading back to Belfast. After returning the car, we went through security and found out our flight was delayed by 1.5 hours. So we had bit more time than we desired in the airport, but by 11:45 we were on the plane. Once back in Belfast we got a bus into town and Sharon, Thomas and Larry picked us up to bring us back home. Micah headed to the Ember for dinner and Lucy headed to a women’s cell gathering. There were 22 women, fondue (cheese and chocolate) and lots of goodies to dip in!

Our cute little car.

Today we headed to church, enjoyed a long lunch and are enjoying an afternoon of relaxing. Tonight we are heading to Joy and Bobby’s to catch up with them over a popcorn and cheese dinner!

We are so thankful for the amazing weather and time to relax and reconnect with each other that Portugal provided. God knew just what we needed!

Battling the Bug

2011-01-13T11:32:00.004Z

Sunday January 2 we headed to church and then took the train to Carrickfergus. We got a deal on a ‘romantic’ night away. We didn’t know what to expect for dinner since it came with the package, but we were pleasantly surprised with the options! We were able to order any main course on the menu!! Since we are Mennonites and want the best value for money, we went with the most expensive items! Micah had a nice steak with potatoes and Lucy had grilled duck. After dinner, Micah decided to pass on his cold to Lucy. So Lucy felt pretty rubbish for the next few days, which wasn’t helped by loud neighbours causing little sleep! So much for the romantic night away!!

Carrickfergus Castle

Looking back towards Belfast.

Monday began with a huge buffet breakfast. Then we tried to go see Carrickfergus castle, but we were there 1 of the 2 days per year it closes. So we walked along the sea and headed back to Belfast. Once home, Lucy didn’t leave bed for a few days. Micah did a great job taking care of her! Matthew (a long time friend of the community and new core member) moved in!!

Tuesday, Lucy was still in bed all day. Micah went to a team meeting and then worked in the office. Micah headed to the Ember for dinner and was able to meet the new live-in assistant, Susan from Germany.

Wednesday, Lucy was still in bed all day. Micah had a meeting in the morning about Root Soup with Maria and Allison. They came up with a new idea for fundraising and broadening the target area of Root Soup, called ‘A Touch of Nostalgia”. It will be social events, mainly targeting middle to upper aged people, including cinema nights and supper club events. The first event will be ‘A Dinner to Die For’, which will be a murder mystery supper. Root Soup will cater the events with nice food and will hopefully make a good profit! Wednesday night, Micah headed over to Joy and Bobby’s house. A friend that had been staying with Joy and Bobby made a Cajun meal for his farewell party. (He is from Louisiana.) The food was really nice (and Lucy got leftovers!).

Thursday was Lucy’s first day back among the living. It was a rest day, but we spent a lot of the morning cleaning and the afternoon building the chicken coop. Micah, Bobby, and Micah (Bobby’s friend) worked a few hours struggling to get anywhere. THEN, Sam came into the picture. Sam attends City Church and lives just down the road. Sam worked as a builder before his current job and he took over (in a good way) the building of the coop. Soon enough it had 4 walls, a roost and a door for the chickens! All that’s left is to put siding on, add roofing, build the run and build the nesting boxes. We really are almost to the point to buy chickens! Thursday evening, we headed to Peter and Jenna’s house (the MMN volunteers) to play cards.

On Friday, Micah and the clan headed up to the allotment. They got manure, worked in the freezing cold, dug soil from down the hill to transport to the allotment and went shopping for the chicken coop. Lucy worked in the office in the morning and the Ember in the afternoon.

On Saturday, we were in the Ember. Micah and Thomas went to Common Grounds to volunteer. Lucy and Jillian spent the morning browsing charity shops, having coffee, shopping at the green grocer and getting Jillian’s hair done. In the afternoon, Lucy and Jillian cleaned Jillian’s room. Micah helped Thomas with his laundry. In the evening, Thomas and the two of us headed over to Scott’s house to babysit his three kids. After a pizza dinner and a few games, the kids headed off to bed (except the youngest who really wanted to see mama). He eventually fell asleep in Micah’s arms.

On Sunday we went to church in the morning and then hung out at the Ember a bit, because James and Faythe were back for a visit. (James was an assistant when we got here and Faythe was the volunteer coordinator.) We enjoyed a nice dessert and a trip to the pub with the lads. The rest of the day was not too memorable.

Monday began with prayer and a team meeting. Micah had a meeting in the afternoon to further discuss Root Soup with Alison, Valerie and Maria. The big news of the day was the house across the road (which started collapsing on itself) is being torn down. Ever since we arrived, cracks had been growing on the top floor and before the New Year the roof and front of the top floor fell in. Nothing was done for awhile, but now it is being taken down bit by bit. The odd part is they are trying to save the other half of the duplex which is also cracking. The pictures explain it best!

Picture taken after the initial part fell in, before they started taking it down.

Guys from the City Council working on taking it down bit by bit.

Tuesday we worked in the office in the morning and afternoon. In the afternoon, Lucy got a pretty bad migraine, so she headed to rest yet again. Micah went with the rest of the community to the Loom (the prayer space in North Belfast) to pray and then have a welcome party for Matthew at the Ember. Lucy just rested.

Wednesday, Root Soup kitchen training began! The group met in the Ark to make sandwiches and assemble light supper boxes for a L’Arche fundraiser later on in the day. Lucy headed to women’s cell in the morning and then worked in the office in the afternoon. After work, we did some grocery shopping before heading the L’Arche cinema night. There is a theatre in Comber (a nearby village) that is used for charity events or private functions. It was a real success! A lot of people came and the movie was great!

Night at the Flicks.

Today, we had a rest day. Lucy had a meeting in the morning and since then we have packed and done errands for the trip to Portugal! Tonight we are going to babysit for Padraig and Porter (Joy and Bobby’s kids).

Tomorrow is our last day of work before holiday! Micah will be up at the allotment, building new raised beds. Lucy is in the Ember all day with the lads. One last day before a good, long, warm break!

We are really excited about our week in Portugal! It is suppose to be fairly warm and sunny and we should have plenty of time to relax! Pray for our safety in travel and that we take advantage of the opportunity to rest! And start preparing...2 months from Saturday we will be back in the States!!

Welcome 2011

2011-01-01T14:12:00.005Z

The 20^th of December began with a prayer and team meeting. After the meeting we went shopping for our final KK (Kris Kindle) gifts and food for the Christmas celebrations. We spent the evening in the Ember for dinner and hanging about. Micah joined Bobby, a couple other guys and a visitor of the Orf family (also named Micah) at the pub for a boy’s night out.

Tuesday we were suppose to have training, but Scott decided that it was a beautiful day for a walk by the Lagan. It was FREEZING! Our feet were numb by the time we arrived at Sharon’s house for tea. In the afternoon, Lucy had a meeting with Maria and then Micah had a meeting with Maria, Scott and an interviewer for a training program.

Wednesday began Micah’s fight against sickness. He was suppose to go to the Root Soup kitchen in the morning, but since he was not feeling well, decided against cooking. Probably a good idea!! We relaxed most the day and then headed to Bobby and Joy’s house for a shepherds’ meal. A tradition in Micah’s family is to have a shepherds’ meal close to Christmas time. It consists of a simple meal of bread, cheese, meat, fruit and veg and the reading of the Christmas story, all in candle light. It was a really nice evening with the Orf family and a great way to really get into the Christmas spirit!

Thursday was another day to rest up before the holiday celebrations. In the afternoon we went on a walk. Micah had desired to walk down a street that we pass frequently, so we ventured down and found a beautiful snow-covered field. A development had been started so there was a road and street lamps, but no houses had been built. It was the perfect place for a wee walk! In the evening we ventured out to a Japanese restaurant with the other volunteers to have sushi! It was so good and a really nice evening out.

Everyone getting ready to enjoy some sushi

Friday began with the KK celebration. Throughout the 4 weeks of advent we were giving gifts (in secret) to one person in the community. On Christmas eve we all gathered to guess who our KK was. Micah was way off, but Lucy guessed right. It was a nice way to start Christmas eve. The afternoon was free, and the evening consisted of a party for the family members of the core members and another shepherds’ meal with the people who were going to be around for Christmas day. This is the first year for 2 Thanksgiving dinner and 2 Shepherds’ meals. We are truly blessed here! After the shepherds’ meal we headed to a midnight mass at Maria’s church. It had lovely music and Thomas loved it because we were not back until 12:30! He loves staying up late. Thomas and Makiko slept over in the Ark for the weekend so they wouldn’t be alone in the Ember. It made a full house!

Christmas day began with a big breakfast of baked French toast and egg casserole. Afterwards, the 6 of us (Thomas, Frans, Julia, Makiko and the two of us) opened presents. It was mainly Thomas opening presents because he has a lot more connections in Belfast, but we all received a few. After opening presents, we went on a walk. We headed to the same field that we had been in earlier in the week. It was quite beautiful still and there was enough open space for a snow ball fight and snow angel making! Once we were back in the Ark/Ember, it was time to dress up for dinner. In Maria’s tradition it is important to look nice for Christmas dinner. Scott’s family, Maria, and the Orf family all joined the 6 of us for dinner. It was nice to have the ‘extended family’ over for the meal. We enjoyed a lovely dinner of salmon, potatoes, lots of veg and lots of yummy desserts. After dinner, we headed back to the Ark to talk to our families. It was really nice to be able to chat with them on Christmas day. Once the 6 of us were all gathered in the Ark again, we put together puzzles, did crafts, ate lots of food and hung out! What a lovely and busy Christmas!

Sunday was Boxing Day in the UK. Traditionally the rich would box up leftovers for the poor after the big Christmas meal. Now-a-days it is another excuse to eat lots of yummy food. People who were around the community were invited over to Matthew’s house (a soon to be core member) for a huge smorgasbord prepared by Roberta (Matthew’s mum). We had 5 meat dishes, 2 potato dishes, 1 veg and 7 desserts! SO MUCH YUMMY FOOD all for 11 people! There was just a little bit left over! In the evening, Lucy helped Jillian off to bed and Micah watched the Tottenham game with Neil.

Monday was a rest day, which was essential since we had been with lots of people for the past few days. After some time just resting, we headed over to Bobby and Joy’s house to discuss the event the next night...the Mexican Extravaganza! One thing we really miss here is Mexican food so we decided to bring Mexican food (or at least our version) to Belfast. We spent the afternoon dreaming about all the delicious things we could make and then making the shopping list for the next day. Then we headed over to the Ember with Bobby and Joy to help them make their weekly meal for the core members. In the evening we got the joy of talking to Lucy’s extended family (on her dad’s side). Afterwards, we headed back over to the Orf’s to babysit for their 2 kids while they ventured out to a birthday party.

Tuesday was Mexican Extravaganza day! It was also the day that our water got turned off kind of. More on that later. Micah, Micah (the Orf’s friend) and Bobby went shopping in the morning (for like 3 hours!!). Then the two of us headed over to help with the preparations. Lucy mainly played with the kids, while Micah did more of the prep. In the middle of prep, we had to leave to go to Emily’s leaving prayer. She had been a volunteer for 4 months, but was heading back to the states for a bit and then hopefully Germany. Then it was back over to finish preparations for the Mexican Extravaganza. For dinner we had 3 homemade salsas ranging in spiciness, enchiladas, Mexican rice, and stuffed chillies. The locals were not big fans of the stuffed chillies; they were a bit too spicy for their flavour. After dinner we played ‘la familia’ and another game that we do not know the name of! It was a really nice evening.

On Wednesday we were back in the Ember. Sickness has been going around the community so it was just the two of us in the Ember with the guys. Jillian was the only one who went to the centre; the other three were on holiday. Larry and Micah went grocery shopping in the morning and then Thomas, Larry, and the two of us headed to IKEA to buy a new wardrobe for Thomas. IKEA was crazy busy, so we were hoping to get in and out, but alas the first wardrobe we purchased was broken and we only saw it after we were on the way to the car. So Lucy headed back into the store to exchange the wardrobe, while Micah and the lads headed to the car. BUT...stupid IKEA doesn’t exchange things, so Lucy had to return the wardrobe and then go purchase another one. BUT...there wasn’t any more to be found. Luckily, a friendly IKEA man found another one for me. When we were back home, we started to put the wardrobe together before Micah and Thomas headed to Common Grounds to volunteer. After Lucy had dinner with Larry and Emily, she went back to finish the wardrobe to discover that the wardrobe was not put together right. The sides were switched, which meant the shelves did not fit! BUMMER! Once Micah was back, we decided that we would try to fix it the next day.

Thursday was another day in the Ember. Again due to sickness, we were the only two on. Thomas and Jillian headed to the centre, but Larry stayed home. We spent the day cleaning, doing laundry and fixing the darn wardrobe. After a few frustrations, the wardrobe is together although a little worse for wear. After dinner, Lucy helped Jillian off to bed and then we watched Mr. Bean with the lads. Larry was ready for bed early, and Makiko offered to help Thomas off to bed because the two of us were exhausted from the 2 long days. Thanks Makiko!

Friday was a great day in Micah’s book. Scott, Micah, Bobby, and Noah started to build the chicken coop. It currently has 3 walls, a roof and a floor, but it is really starting to look like a coop!! After the guys finished for the day, we walked up to Forestside to get some goodies for New Years Eve. We spent the evening at the Orf’s with a few other people.

Padraig is such good help.

Today we are being pretty lazy. Micah is still not feeling great, so we are taking it easy. Tonight we are heading to Peter and Jenna’s (MMN volunteers) to play some games. It should be really nice.

Lately in Belfast, lots of people have been without (or with little) water. There have been problems with leaks in pipes that are leading to low reservoir levels. We have been fortunate to have some water all the time, but we haven’t been able to flush our toilets since Tuesday (we can be thankful for bucket flushing) and there are about 2 showers a day for the 4 of us. Supposedly the leaks will be fixed by next week, but Scott informed us that as they are trying to fix the leaks they are also discovering some pipes are wooden dating back to the early 19^th century. It sounds like a bit of updating is needed on the water system!

We hope you all are healthy and happy at the beginning of 2011. Pray for Micah as he continues to try to get better! Looking forward to seeing many of you in a few months.

Christmas Video

2010-12-28T11:31:00.003Z

Hello dear family and friends!

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

First Pot of Soup!

2010-12-19T16:36:00.001Z

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!

2010-12-04T16:03:00.006Z

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

2010-11-15T20:39:00.003Z

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?

2010-11-03T13:51:00.005Z

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

2010-10-11T19:05:00.002+01:00

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!