June 14th...
2:00pm...
How did this happen? How am I here, in Ireland? Wow! I just feel so very lucky! So on Sunday, Tracey and I walked to St. Patrick's Cathedral, the largest church in Ireland. It's a very traditional Anglican church, which reminded me very much of the Catholic church. It was built in the 17th century. I am fascinated by history and tradition, so simply being there left me a bit awestruck. There was a choir full of males ranging from age 8 to mid-20's. The young boys sang just so beautifully! We are going to walk around the city for a couple more hours and then attend mass at St. Mary's church near Derek's house. One thing I am really appreciating is the universality of the Catholic church. No matter where I go I seem to find a church in which I come together with other believers, just the same as I always have back home. This is great!
(St Mary's Church) 
(St. Patrick's Cathedral)
5:00pm...
Here I am, kneeling in front of the altar at St. Mary's Church, and I feel like I am home. I believe that we are here to find and fulfill God's will for us in our lives, and that way may be unique for each individual. With God in our hearts, we are always at peace. The celebration of the mass is something I greatly missed. I didn't realize how much I missed it until I walked through the doors of the church and smelled the faint fragrance of incense. I feel like me. I feel like this is where I belong. Everything I have known my whole life is coming back to me and it brings tears to my eyes. I know we all struggle at times wondering how we should fulfill God's will. I feel so blessed to know so many people with various Christian denominations that are living their lives to serve God. My family and closest friends have served as beautiful role models of living Christian lives. I hope that in some way I have been a role model for them as well, as I strive to live my life in a manner pleasing to God. His love is so much stronger than I could ever really imagine. I know that I have struggled in determining the exact path I should follow, or denomination to claim, but I have never lost my faith in what is most important to all of us - which is serving God.
11:30pm...
We came home after a very satisfying first day, ready to go to sleep....but that is not what we did. We opened the door to our temporary home to find Derek standing in red pants, red shoes, a red hula shirt, and a huge white fuzzy hat that resembled an old Tina Turner wig. He found a movie for us to watch that was a foreign animated film...two hours long! Oh dear...what a way to end the day!
2:00pm...
How did this happen? How am I here, in Ireland? Wow! I just feel so very lucky! So on Sunday, Tracey and I walked to St. Patrick's Cathedral, the largest church in Ireland. It's a very traditional Anglican church, which reminded me very much of the Catholic church. It was built in the 17th century. I am fascinated by history and tradition, so simply being there left me a bit awestruck. There was a choir full of males ranging from age 8 to mid-20's. The young boys sang just so beautifully! We are going to walk around the city for a couple more hours and then attend mass at St. Mary's church near Derek's house. One thing I am really appreciating is the universality of the Catholic church. No matter where I go I seem to find a church in which I come together with other believers, just the same as I always have back home. This is great!
(St Mary's Church) 
(St. Patrick's Cathedral)5:00pm...
Here I am, kneeling in front of the altar at St. Mary's Church, and I feel like I am home. I believe that we are here to find and fulfill God's will for us in our lives, and that way may be unique for each individual. With God in our hearts, we are always at peace. The celebration of the mass is something I greatly missed. I didn't realize how much I missed it until I walked through the doors of the church and smelled the faint fragrance of incense. I feel like me. I feel like this is where I belong. Everything I have known my whole life is coming back to me and it brings tears to my eyes. I know we all struggle at times wondering how we should fulfill God's will. I feel so blessed to know so many people with various Christian denominations that are living their lives to serve God. My family and closest friends have served as beautiful role models of living Christian lives. I hope that in some way I have been a role model for them as well, as I strive to live my life in a manner pleasing to God. His love is so much stronger than I could ever really imagine. I know that I have struggled in determining the exact path I should follow, or denomination to claim, but I have never lost my faith in what is most important to all of us - which is serving God.
11:30pm...
We came home after a very satisfying first day, ready to go to sleep....but that is not what we did. We opened the door to our temporary home to find Derek standing in red pants, red shoes, a red hula shirt, and a huge white fuzzy hat that resembled an old Tina Turner wig. He found a movie for us to watch that was a foreign animated film...two hours long! Oh dear...what a way to end the day!
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