An Account of My Blessings (Which are Innumerable): An Update on May 29th, 2009

Dublin was a cool city with not much to do. To be honest, there were some great ministry opportunities there, but I missed out on most on account of seeing the sheets too late, and the last week I have been on the 8 to 12 watch, meaning I miss out on a lot. The city itself was incredibly diverse and rather nice (as I explained last update). In the center of the city was Trinity University, which housed a good number of students. The campus was gorgeous, but was very “touristy”. A few of us went to the school on an off day to use the rugby field, but for American Football. We had a blast and a local student of Trinity even played with us for a while. The only reason we were permitted to play was because it was exam week, so God offered yet another blessing to my life that I don’t deserve.

I also had an opportunity to go to a local guy’s house that is originally from Minnesota. Five of us Americans went to the house where he had prepared a delicious barbequed meal for us, complete with ranch. He was a pilot and was housed in Dublin, and was a part of an event we held on board. The time of fellowship was awesome, and we talked about everything ranging from sports to politics to religion. His family was very warm and incredibly nice, and it was yet another blessing from God.

Another thing that happened was kind of an accident. Clayton (USA), Fitzy (Australia), and I went to a nearby court to play a bit of basketball, hoping that some locals might want to play. After noticing the emptiness of the court, we decided to just play 21, but eventually some of the kids from the surrounding apartments joined us, at first just watching us, then talking to us. We eventually just got to hang around the kids for a while, talking about little things and playing with them. We returned a few days later to play some more, and some of the same kids returned, and some new ones showed up. We played with them for a few hours, and just hung out with them, giving them some needed attention. I eventually rolled my ankle pretty bad, so some prayer for healing would be cool.

The moral of the story here is that God blesses at every turn, if we choose to notice. So rejoice in suffering, and rejoice in glory. This is one lesson I am trying to pound into my head, and that wherever we may be, God is apparent through all of it if we just look for Him.