night owl + work ethic

This is how I feel (and probably look) after my first full week of work - when I'm still trying to balance staying up late and getting up at 7am.

sometimes you should judge a book by its cover.

In an old, secondhand bookshop called "John's Books," I found myself talking to whom I assumed to be John. He sat at the back of the store - which was about 20 square feet - behind a desk stacked with papers and old books.

 He asked me where I was from, and we had a conversation about California, the one state he's been. He asked me what I was doing here and for how long, and after explaining for a bit, he told me that he admired my faith. He was a pantheist, but he admired my faith. "Almost to the point where I might say I envy it."
I would've told him that he could have the very faith he envies, but he stood up, walked over to a shelf, and pulled off a book. He said "Who wrote Jane Eyre?" Good thing I'm super smart and knew the answer (okay, let's be honest, I just saw the movie). So I said "Charlotte Bronte." And he showed me a very old copy of the book. But it was written by Currer Bell. Good thing I'm super smart and didn't pick up on what that meant.
"The initials. Notice that they're the same. This book was published before women's writing was considered equal with men's."
"How much is that worth?"



He smiled, put it back, and pulled another one off the shelf.
"Sometimes, it's not the content of the book, but the binding."










He pointed out various marks on the leather that matched a family seal on the inside, meaning the binding was done by a wealthy family. Impressive. But not as impressive as secrets! He laid the book in his hand, so the front and back cover lied flat, and he held the pages of the book up with his thumb and index finger. Instead of gold leaf, like a gold leaf Bible or something, it looked a little tye-dyed. (This is hard to explain so I'll use pictures.)

He pushed the pages so they spread a bit,
and I gasped. It was like being a part of the Da Vinci Code. All of a sudden, it was a scene. A landscape of a field with a house and trees. Hand painted.
"How much is that worth?"
"3,500 Euros" ($5,000)

And that, is reason #467 that I love Ireland.

getting acquainted with home.

I've had a few days off to recover from TeenStreet before I start work on Thursday.
Sunday I slept, ate and did my first loads of laundry. I hung things out to dry on the line in our garden and had to hover around it and constantly look out my window because the Irish rain is so unpredictable. It was a success.

Yesterday, my housemate Andrea took me around Roscommon to get me acquainted with some of the usual sites around town. We first drove to Molloy's bakery for a snack/lunch. I had chicken and corn soup with brown Irish bread that was delicious. But just a word of warning - the Irish serve their soup hot. Needless to say, my tongue is still recovering ... I have a feeling I will be frequenting Molloy's quite often. It's right down the street, it took me about 7 minutes to walk there today (but I didn't go in). And it's wonderful.

We went to the castle afterward. This is the first moment I truly felt like I was in Ireland. The scenery was so green, and this was the first castle I had seen. The grounds were well kept - there's a huge loop around the site to walk on, there's benches, a lake, and a playground for kids. It took me 20 minutes to walk there today.

Next stop was into town to get groceries. I was informed that we'd have to get groceries on a weekly basis because none of the food here has preservatives like the States. I stopped by a bookstore called Easons and bought a map of Ireland. I needed it to gather my bearings and see where I've been and where I want to go. I already started sticking notes on where I went with my school five years ago and would like to go back.

Today I tried to see if I could walk to castle. Like I said, it took me about 20 minutes. I like the walk better than the drive because you can see more scenery and notice all the little details like cows in the fields or who has the best garden or who keeps a donkey in their backyard. And you might have a little old Irishman totter past you on his bike and say "lovely day, it'n it?" and smile at you. Made my day.

survey. Reader response requested!!

Okay everyone. I've been having a little "American" discussion about kettles. In America, or at least my household, we don't call them kettles, but just "water boilers."

Here are two examples. Now, when talking with my American, British, and German friends about these, the Americans all said that it was a UK, western European thing and that Americans didn't use them. Personally, in my household, we've gone through a few because we've used them so much. The American's just said "well, maybe you're just more British and fancy than the rest of us." I was shocked to hear that my fellow American's never had one in their homes in the States.

So here's my survey: leave a comment saying what part of the United States you are from (or what country you're from if you're outside of the US) and if you've had one of these in your home. You don't have to leave your name. I just need location and if you own one or have ever owned one.
Thanks!

REAL. experiences

It's 3:37 in the afternoon and I'm sitting in my pajamas, staring out the window, hearing nothing but the whirr of a lawn mower. The night before, I went (or rather, tried) to sleep in a concrete-floored warehouse, listening to the tear down team pull an all-nighter dissembling the entire stage with nothing but 4 plywood walls separating me and the fork lift. The last night at TeenStreet. 

This was my third TeenStreet (TS), and I think this was the most successful and spiritually challenging one I've witnessed. The theme was "REAL." with each day having it's own theme to fit inside that.

• Sunday - REAL. Jesus [who Jesus was as a man.]
• Monday - REAL. identity [finding our true identity in Christ.]
• Tuesday - REAL. shhh [how to be quiet with and listen to God.]
• Wednesday - REAL. encounters with Jesus [outreach in the city, and how it feels to encounter Jesus.]
• Thursday - REAL. last supper [what Jesus' death accomplished and what that REAL.ly means to us.]
• Friday - REAL. GO. [how to take what you've experienced at TS back home with you, and a missions emphasis.]

This week, the teens got to experience what a real relationship with Jesus looks like, and many were healed emotionally, physically and spiritually.

3,665 people attended TeenStreet this year, with around 2,000 being teens and 1,500 staff. Like I previously mentioned, my role was co-leader of the Newsletter team. The newsletter team is one small section of the Communication Team.

Communications Team

Here's what our little world looked like:

Our "office" backstage. Brainstorming "white boards on the walls." 

The befits of working backstage... 

our boxes for each language of the newsletter

Newsletter team's gotta have their inspiration!

Santa paid us a visit. You never know what's going to happen at TS. 

There are a few significant and fun things that happened this week you should know about. 

First, the official TS band [The Outbreakband] recorded a live CD during one of the worship sessions, and the CD will be available in October! This is one of my favorite songs by them.

Then, on Outreach Day, the teens had the opportunity to go into the city and make an impact on the people. Before we came, the TS programme [I'm going to have to start using British English] team asked the city if there was anything we could do. A goal of theirs was to beat the record for "Germany's longest coffee table." So, with 1,375 meters [4,511 feet] of 625 tables in the city centre, we served coffee and cake to the city while helping them beat the record! The people of Offenberg were also prayed for, given Bibles and roses, and served in lots of other different ways.

Lastly, I thought I'd leave you with a few pictures of TeenStreet in general so you can get a feel of what my week looked like. If you want to see more pictures, read the TS blog, or watch videos from the week, you can check out the website. 

Teen lounge

worship with art

this wasn't planned, plaid is just all the rage in Europe! :)