Beautiful Life...

I have had the hardest and yet most amazing weekend since being out here. . .

It started on Friday. I woke up under major enemy attack. I think the heaviest since moving out here. It wasn't one "specific" thing. . . it was something unexplainable really, but I felt such a weight on my shoulders, such condemnation, - I felt all twisted up inside and physically I was having trouble breathing. I had no one to turn to but Him and knew it was time to take the devil on.
About an hour before Street Reach I went into my room at the church, put on some worship music, filled up my air mattress fully and went to town on my "boxing match" (thanks MCLA). I can't even begin to describe what happened in that hour. Lots of tears and running mascara. I was wrecked. I fought for so many things - people, ministries, but most of all myself. Complete liberation happened in that hour. It was beautiful ♥

Street Reach that followed was absolutely incredible. Every week God continues to move outside City Hall and I am completely torn for those teens. I can't get over how much they have all captured my heart.


I had Adopt-a-Block Saturday morning - only 5 youth came out to volunteer but it was a good group that came. We spent most of the morning visiting with a family and had some wonderful conversations - excited to go back next week! Afterwards Lynsey came and picked me up. We spent the afternoon at her church that was hosting a craft fair. Cute stuff - but nothing that I needed :) Then headed out to Funderland (A Carnival in Belfast)
SIDE NOTE: I have decided that I am NOT a fan of carnivals. Who PAYS money to vomit and get a headache?? (No I didn't vomit but felt like I was going to towards the end) - - - I am much more a fan of amusement parks - yes rollercoasters instead of spinning whirly twirly rides. . . still the company was great and we had a good craic :)

Everyone came back to Lynsey's and after my head stopped spinning and my stomach settled I was able to eat some Chinese take-out while we all watched the US x-factor.

Sunday was a wonderful day! Church in the morning. Came back to the house (Alan and Rachel's) for a few hours for lunch and relaxation before heading back to the church for church in the evening. Afterwards we took the youth group to a nearby church to join up with their youth club for a service. Steven gave his testimony and all the teens performed a drama. They were all EXCELLENT! So proud of them!

Today was good. Spent the morning relaxing with Rach and Benjamin before heading out to run some errands. Got a couple cards and gifts that I needed + some stuff for Saturday's Adopt-a-Block. Then Rach and I met up at Montgomery's so she could get a cappuccino and I could get a chai. We had a lovely chat - not a day goes by where I'm not thankful to have her in my life. Came back around 3pm and phoned home. (It's so weird having such a large time difference. My day is half over and theirs is just starting. . . ) Got to talk to my mom and the twins - miss them but glad to hear that they are all well. Since then I've been doing laundry and packing (I move back in with Sue tomorrow - should be my last move until after the Christmas holiday). Right now Rach is cleaning the house while I'm blogging (feel bad that I'm not helping her but this post is long overdue), Alan's on his way home from work in the south of Ireland, and Benjamin is away at campaigners (it's the UK version of Royal Rangers). I think Rachel will be leaving shortly to pick him up. We have our show (One Tree Hill) on later tonight so i figured now would be a good time to play "catch up" on the blog.


Working in the office tomorrow - no plans for the evening except maybe to unpack. Hmmm hard to believe I've been out here for two months now. Even harder to believe that we are near the middle of October. . . days continue to fly by. I'm trying my best not to look too far ahead into the future - I'd hate to look back and see days I missed out on. Can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store!

Be encouraged! God is in control ♥
-J