Across the Sea

It was pretty spontaneous. I said, "We should go somewhere!" And Adrian said, "Where?" On a whim we looked up ticket prices. We were surprised how small the numbers were. We said, "Maybe we really should go somewhere." So we did.

A few short weeks later, we were on our way to Ireland. An Adventure. A Gift.
The funny thing is that somehow in the midst of packing, and last minute hotel-booking, and my incessant need for research, I think I forgot a couple of things. 1) It was a gift, 2) It wouldn't fulfill me.

It sounds simple. But the first couple of days were really hard for me. I had said I would be carefree and adventurous, but when I insisted on walking until finding the pub I had my list that e needed to visit, or when I walked up and down the street fearful of missing our bus, or when we actually did miss our bus the next day, or when we were standing in the rain being smashed by people trying to get a picture of who-knows-what parade float, I did not remember it was a gift. I remembered that I couldn't let things get out of control. That I had a plan. That my plan had a plan (probably). And then God totally blinded me with breathless beauty and tore me apart.



I've been thinking about this trip today, because it seems to be the story of my life (the controlling planning anyway). Today I'm remembering the good gifts of our trip to Ireland.

• A bed and breakfast in Dublin with lots of character (squeaky floors, small silver tea pots, long hallways, a bright blue door)
• Wandering around Trinity College at night
• Touring the Guinness Storehouse and learning all about the process of making beer
• Eating fresh fish and chips on the wall outside of Christ's Church
• A beautiful wooden pub with walls of old, colored beer bottles
• Getting madly lost in the streets on Dublin
• Eating traditional Irish stew (lamb stew to die for)
• Hiking the national park - coming around the mountain bend and seeing the lakes laid out before us
• Eating many, many Cliff Bars
• A bus driver who gave us our own personal ride to where we wanted to go, since we had missed the only bus that day
• Standing cramped inside an ancient building, seeing the way the light was made to penetrate the darkness
• Long conversations on the bus, driving through the rain
• Walking along narrow roads besides pastures
• Morning light through glass doors
• Hearing the Gospel proclaimed
• Stopping to buy a picnic-worth of food
• Driving through the sunshine, coming around the corner to see green hills laid out in splendor
• A breath-taking walk, discovering a path along the lake, rainbows, sunsets over mountains
• A long pub dinner and live Irish music
• Fresh scones right out of the oven with jam and cream
• Seascape - cliffs and jagged rocks, small ocean-side towns, running breathless in the rain around a deserted castle
• A morning walk
• Castle exploration
• A hill-hike fulfillment, chasing sheep
• (See all pictures on facebook)
  

I saw and felt how little all of this did to fulfill me. I realized that if I would just take time to be thankful, I would see the graces of God around me, even in California. But I am thankful for this trip. I am thankful for our adventures. For our conversations. For the people we met. For the beauty. For the beer. For the pictures. I will hold this trip dear in my heart.