Actual tears streamed down my face as my dad met me outside Boise airport. No, not tears of joy. Tears of absolute exhaustion because It took me 29 hours to get to the states from Ireland. I was only in the States for two weeks. Mainly to raise support which i’ll talk more about under ‘Ministry Stuff’. Anyway, it was a horrible start to the trip. Sorry dad for greeting you like that. I promise I was actually excited to see you! Not as excited as I was to get my Venti shaken espresso, no classic, three pumps toffee nut, no milk, add salted cold foam on top, Starbies! My sweet heart of a father took me to get one. I had two sips on the journey home and was ON CLOUD NINE. Smart me put my FULL Starbucks on the ledge of the bed of my dads truck while I gathered my things. Yes, of course my long awaited Starbucks fell, spilling $9 all over my dads garage floor. HAHAHAHA what is my actual life. I’m laughing now but in the moment.. trust me I wasn’t.

After I got home from the States, I hopped on another plane and headed to Wales. Sarah was graduating bible college and Amy lives there so both my Irish besties were in freaking Wales! It was WONDERFUL to see Sarah graduate. The ceremony felt like church and me and Amy were laugh crying the whole time. WE LOVE YOU SARAH!!! Obviously I got to spend some quality time with Amy while I was there and obviously that mainly consisted of several coffee shops and our ADHD taking the lead.

I ALMOST FORGOT TO TELL YOU. Soup (my cat) got fixed. Neutered, spayed, whatever ye want to call it. In the beginning all was well.. until it wasn’t. She started biting her stitches AND GOT HER TEETH STUCK IN HER STITCHES. I took her to the vet and she got the cone of shame! I personally think she looked like a handmaid from Handmaids Tale. She was PISSED with me. Tried to give her a gin fizz to fix things but she wasn’t having it. All this to say, she’s fine now and thriving, smacking Christmas baubles off my tree everyday.

I’ve realised that I let fear consume me. It’s a constant battle in my heart and mind of fear and trust in the Lord. I so badly wish I could just overcome it. I see people go with the ebs and flows of life, trusting God in EVERYTHING. I WANT TO DO THAT. But if i’m being honest I don’t. You’ll read in the prayer requests that my visa extension was denied. We’ve appealed. But I am having such a hard time trusting God in this. My prayers are filled with “But God” and “I want”. The reality is IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT I WANT. Sure He loves to give us the desires of our hearts, but at the end of the day it’s never about us. It’s always about Him. Always , Always, Always. HE is good. HE is faithful. HE directs. HE gives and takes away. And this visa thing is the perfect example of that. He has given funding for me to stay, for two years He has given a visa, He gave me community, ministry opportunities. I could go on and on. But, right now I don’t know what He’s taken away. And It’s never out of anger or disappointment. It’s out of love and care and it should provoke worship, trust, and expectancy. Anyway, this is me going on and on. This is what I’m challenged with at the moment. Trusting His will. Worshiping in moments of fear. Letting thanksgiving be my song. PRAISING BEFORE BREAKTHROUGH!

SO MUCH STUFF ALL THE TIME. It’s been incredible. I’ll go in order of all the things the past three months.

Centre of Mission Review- Every couple of years Church Army sends over some people to review our Centre of Mission. Just observing what we are doing and how we are doing it. A man called Andy came for about a week and even though it was a wee bit stressful I found it so fun to have someone tag along and watch what we are doing day in and day out! Getting to really explain why we are doing things.

YA- We have been meeting weekly at ReCentre and SO MANY YOUNG ADULTS ARE COMING. God is so good. Earlier on in the summer I started planning a retreat for the young adults. There were hiccups in the planning process that taught me so much. Man is it hard working with so many different personalities and theological views. But even after all the tears and laughter, God’s hand was so in that retreat. We treated them to a weekend away filled with LOTS of worship, time spent together, and LAUGHTER.

Alpha- My entire week feels like i’m just doing Alpha but I kind of love it. Those young people are SO WORTH IT. Gosh, the questions they ask. They don’t even realise the depth in which they are thinking. They challenge ME. Were starting to plan Holy Spirit day for all three schools and i’m beyond excited to see how they interact with the day.

States- Soooo, I needed to raise more support. I started in Idaho where I did the biggest part of my support raising. THANKS BE TO GOD, He provided for my financial goal. I then took a trip over to California where I got to visit some pretty incredible supporters I have. Denny family, I LOVE YOU!! I really am beyond blessed to have such amazing saints praying for me.

Church Army- I’ve been to two training weekends so far and I love it! I love the community. Everyone, staff, EIT’s, Tutors, they are all so welcoming and JOYFUL. I haven’t had an assignment yet so maybe i’m in ignorant bliss.

Isaac- Isaac is ReCentre’s newest intern! He’s so great and has honestly become my best friend. He expressed a desire to serve and we thought… hey we could make that happen. So here we are with our 20 year old hippie of an intern. He fits in with the team so well!