Heading Home...

Hello!

Hard to believe that I have been here 4 months and 4 days! Leaving to go back home to the States tomorrow morning!! I spent yesterday packing up and watching Christmas movies by the fire. (My family's fireplace is broken so I'm trying to enjoy having one while I can)

Today I did last minute things in the office to prepare for the holiday season when I'm away. Had a couple of meetings to make sure everything would be taken care of and I definitely feel better now having done that :)

After work I headed over to my AAB site to visit Mr. McCrae and a couple other ladies who weren't there this past weekend to say goodbye. So glad they were all home and I had a lovely visit with each! Did some last minute shopping for gifts for friends and family (mostly sweets) and finished packing last minute items.

I'm at Lynsey's house now. Eating some chicken curry and watching TV. Stephen just weighed my bag and I do believe that it's exactly 50lbs. (Crossing my fingers its not over!)

Heading to bed here shortly! Waking up before 5am to drive to Dublin! Get to spend the day in Newark with the longest 7 hour layover ever! (Good thing my favorite hobby is people watching!)

The past 4 months have been by far the hardest and most stretching four months in my life - but I have never been more challenged in exercising faith and trust in the Lord then I have and I am so excited to see God continue to move in this amazing country! Ready though for a much needed holiday and visit with my family! I wont be writing while I'm home - so this is goodbye until mid January.
I pray you all have a wonderful Christmas that carries into the new year!

xoxo
Julie


"At Christmas, all roads lead home."  ~Marjorie Holmes

The Night I Met My First Gypsy...

Happy December 11th!! Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday - (Or had. . . depending where on the globe you live) I have HAD a great one. Though I am pretty exhausted at this point (and unfortunately not yet over my cold) so this entry will be a rather short one.

Church this morning was really good! The message was spot on. I also received more Christmas cards than I think I have in all my past Christmas' combined!!

Lunch at the Clarion with Sue, Allison, and her dad (Jim). DELICIOUS as always . . . although they were out of my favorite dessert :(

Christmas caroling at a care home with 6 others. . . really touched my heart. I never realized how much I adore elderly people. But I do. . . very very much.

Came home for about an hour before heading back to the church for worship practice and our night service.
John Purcell was our guest speaker for the evening. My very first gypsy! I was ecstatic!!! For those who know me know that this is something I have always wanted. . . to meet a gypsy. The message he brought tonight was really good and VERY entertaining. (He also looked very much like a mix between "Max" on Sound of Music and Maxwell Smart (w/ his mustache) on Get Smart.) - Random I know. . .

Texans won tonight in an absolutely incredible, nail-biting, edge of your seat, hold your breath, silent prayers of "God, if you could just please. . . " type of a game!!! And with it (thanks to the Saint's beating the Titan's) they clinched the AFC South - marking there first EVER playoff berth! Awk wish I was able to watch this game live (Though I probably would've had a heart attack!) Can't wait to watch my first game of the season next week!!! Hope they play decent!

Well I said most of my goodbyes tonight - now heading home is that much more real! Awk can't wait to see my family!! So soon now!!
Have a splendid evening!
♥
-J

Let Heaven & Nature Sing...

Hello!!!!! Hope your Saturday was as wonderful as mine!

Last night was AMAZING! Wonderful time with the Jamesters! We walked all over Belfast but had several good chats :) Street Reach went great as well! Got to see my favorites!! Amy, Gemma, Jack, Erin, Jenn. . . to name a few :) Also got to pass out my wee Christmas cards to them!

Today was great! Last Adopt-a-Block before I head home. Saw several families :) A couple of them weren't home - I'll go see them Monday or Tuesday to say goodbye though. Then I went back to the church to record an interview for Beauty for Ashes. Home to rest for a couple hours. The Loft Youth had their Christmas show tonight. Amazing job! It was the Nativity story set in modern day Belfast. Very cute! And 3 of my Junior youth girls were angels in it and also had a couple singing parts - so proud of them!

Busy busy day tomorrow! Definitely need to head to bed!

Have a wonderful night!!

xoxo

-J

Meet Moses...

Agh! I'm so upset with myself for getting almost a week behind - AGAIN! Haha but it has been a busy week sooooo I forgive myself this time :)
Ok. . . quick catch up. . .
Monday I worked in the office. Not too busy of a day. Painted some in the youth game room and got things ready for the Junior Youth Christmas party. Monday night after tea I Lynsey came and picked me up for a sleepover. Spent the evening watching TV with her and her brother.
The next day (after sleeping in) we went out for a delicious breakfast! However thanks to the shots of wheatgrass Stephen made for us earlier. . . and the all the vitamins we took to help with our colds - we both weren't feeling too well by the time our food arrived :( Still we enjoyed a lovely morning together :) Ran a ton of errands that afternoon - getting me ready to head back to the States and her to California in January. That night we went to her church for a prayer meeting that was really good - so glad we went! Then finished our night at Tescos buying last min things I needed for the Christmas party.
On Wednesday I worked all day in the office - painting majority of the time. (The youth game room needed to be finished for Thursday night) Had prayer meeting that night at JCC - and then back to Sue's for our cooking show which I have become quite fond of (Unfortunately I realized I will miss the last 3 episodes!!)
Thursday turned out to be a busy day. . . borderline stressful. Had the wee hours of the morning off - but then worked on the Christmas party before heading to the Clarion for a staff Christmas lunch. Immediately headed to the church from there to get ready for the Junior Youth Christmas party! Craziness - but SO MUCH FUN! Games - Pin the nose on Rudolph, Find the yellow snow, Winter BINGO, and more! Hot Chocolate, snacks, and a gift exchange! Their highlight was definitely snow mountain (made from a stack of paper that I shredded) - by the end of the night. . . after 30 mins of "snowball fights" the sanctuary was COVERED! Ha but they had a blast. MY highlight was definitely the gift exchange. We were at the end of our white elephant gift exchange. One child left to go...one present left under the tree - she chose though to steal a present instead of picking the one underneath the tree. . . then that kid stole a present. . . and this went on for about 3 more kids (I was worried we'd never finish) when finally one girl said "Ok, I'm curious to what's in the last present;" so she took it - thus ending our gift exchange. John (7 years and one of my favorites) looked on anxiously as she opened the overly taped gift . . . as this was the gift he brought. A look of confusion crossed her face once opened. "What is this?" she finally asked him after several suggestions of what it wasn't were said. (The thing was a ball made out of what looked like strings of dried play-doh) He smiled and proudly replied. "I don't know. I just found it under my bed!" Ahahaha I couldn't stop laughing! Such a boy! The older youth party was good too. Couldn't ask for a better night :)
Today I've been hard at work in the office, finishing up little things here and there. Heading into town shortly to get some last minute shopping done. Meeting up with one of my Street Reach girls. . . should be fun! And then tonight I have my last Street Reach. . . gonna be hard to say goodbye to everyone - but I know I'll be back soon enough :)

Have a wonderful Friday everybody!!! Hard to believe I'll be home in less than a week!!! Gosh been 4 months today actually. . . crazy!
-J

PS: Meet Moses. The kids found him in Sunday school the week I was teaching and I made the mistake saying I'd keep him (instead of putting it back outside) Benjamin named him after our lesson for the day - too cute. He has now been in my office 2 weeks. . . don't know whats gonna happen to him when I leave but man. . . having a pet caterpillar is exhausting - I didn't even need to feed my guinea pig this much!

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful...

. . . but the fire is so delightful!

What a cold and wintry night! Had church this morning. Really good service - then Alan, Rach, Ben, and I went out for lunch. DELICIOUS! Afterwards Ben and I watched his Christmas present - "The Incredibles" while Alan snored on the couch and Rach worked on songs for the Christmas play. Haha halfway through Ben got bored and played a video game. Got bored of that and then the movie went back on. Oh the short attention span of a 4-year-old :)

Heading from Ballymena to church tonight we hit some heavy snowfall driving down the motorway! Would've filmed it but I didn't think it'd show up (plus those who are used to snow would find it rather silly) Still it was exciting! I've never driven through snow before! Unfortunately by the time we got into Jordanstown the snow had gone back to rain and thus I will need to wait a tad bit longer to build Frosty.

Tonight was our first Sunday night youth discipleship. Haha it was promising but also gonna be a stretching time for the leaders :)

Had a lovely skype date with my sister Emily tonight...though the Internet kept dropping our call :(
I also got to catch the last 5 mins of the Texans game!! I can't wait til the 18th for my first game of the season to actually watch NOT on Internet gameday!

Have work in the morning...taking Tuesday off instead this week so I can spend time with Lyn's (who has Tuesday's off) Trying to stay warm right now by the fire. . .

Love you all!
-J

It's Beginning To Look Alot Like Christmas...

YAY FOR DECORATING DAY!!! What a wonderfully festive day today was! I had Adopt-A-Block in the morning that was short on volunteers (just 3 of us) but was still a really good AAB.
Got home around noon and the Christmas decor came out of the attic!!! Sue and I got busy to work! With Sinatra's Christmas Collection playing in the background we focused on decorating the tree. Random decorations of tinsel, snowmen, reindeer, and nativities came next. A short break for lunch and then we completed the rest of the rooms. After the last snowflake was added to the window we sat down in the living room by the fire to enjoy a cup of coffee over a lovely Christmas film. . .

SOME OF OUR DECORATIONS:

Mini Christmas Tree

Mr. Snowman outside my room

"Urso" (Portuguese for Bear)

Our beautiful Christmas Tree :)

That pretty much sums up my day! Except for the exciting dinner we had. . .


THE STORY OF THE MAGGOTS:
So this is a rather funny but slightly gross story - so if you have a weak stomach prone to queasiness you might want to skip reading the following. Sue and I waited on dinner because we had such a late lunch but by about 6pm we were hungry so she went to make some pasta. It was DELICIOUS! (No exaggeration) Noodles in tomato sauce with pieces of zucchini, yellow pepper, mushrooms, and onions. Now I have become quite fascinated with the art of eating ever since I started watching Master Chef on TV. I can't seem to help it but now whenever I'm eating I try and savor every bite checking for it's blend of flavors and textures. Quite fun actually. Anyways tonight was no different and as I was thoroughly enjoying my meal, and after finishing half of it, I noticed what looked to be a maggot in my bowl of pasta. (Still not completely used to the different types of ingredients out here I was a little hesitant to mention it to Sue thinking it might be something that only resembles the miniature grub.) But no that was definitely a maggot. So I asked Sue; "Ummm are there supposed to be maggots in this?" Now noticing another one hiding behind a mushroom. She looked at me confused and after some discussion that maybe what I was seeing was herbs I picked one out to show her. Sure enough there were maggots in our dinner!!! After later investigating we discovered they were in the bag of pasta (we noticed some in the strainer - because they were the same color as the noodles they were hard to see if you weren't looking for them) I have now taking a careful look through my bowl and discovered about 12 others (in only the uneaten half mind you)! So yes I am certain I have consumed several maggots tonight! Thank you Tescos! Surprisingly I wasn't as sickened as I thought I'd be - however eating pasta again may not happen for some time. Needless to say, neither one of us had much of an appetite after that but managed to have a good laugh. Oh what a memory we both created! So yes this will go down as the night I, Julie Ochterbeck, ate maggots.

Well I wonder what tomorrow holds!
ps Everyone is saying there is to be snowfall but according to every weather station I have yet to hear anything about snow! We shall see. . .

xo
-J

A Rough, Tough, Yet Incredible Week...

Wow hard to believe we are already into December!! Time is rushing by so fast! Been so busy I completely forgot to write! So much has happened in this past week! Extreme highs - Extreme lows. . . Hmmm where to even begin???

Well I guess I should probably pick up where I left off. . .

Sunday went to church in the morning - incredible service with the Tharp family. For lunch the Tharp's, Sue, and myself, went over to Cecil and Evelyn's. Oh my word - what a GORGEOUS home. Straight from a Jane Austen book. Had church in the evening and then back to Alan and Rachel's. The three of us had some Veda and cheese and stayed up until 2am visiting. . . haha probably not the best idea.

Monday was a really good day. Hung out at the house until about noon and then went into Ballymena to get some gifts and just walk around town taking in all the Christmas decorations :)

Rebecca came and joined me after school and we had such a lovely time. That night Rach and I went grocery shopping and then had a TV girls night which was a perfect ending to the day.

And then Tuesday happened. One of my lowest days to date. One thing after another the enemy was really getting me down. At one point I had pretty much decided on not coming back in January. I even told the Lord; "I know you have called me here but regardless of that, unless you do something massive, I don't think I can come back - please don't force me to come back." No joke - that's word for word. But then He told me to read Psalms 119:1-8 in the message. And that one silenced me. That night I was completely overwhelmed and remember saying to myself; "This is too much for me." And then I heard him say; "Is it too much for me?" So even through it all He was right their to encourage me and gently remind me that He is with me and NOTHING is impossible with Him.

Wednesday was a little better. Work, Bible Study, Prayer. . .

Yesterday was the extreme high. God really showed off His magnificent power and left me in awe once again. Woke up with a bad head cold and sore throat so I opted not to go into town but take the morning and afternoon slow. Stayed home and did some minor work for Junior Youth that night and watched TV. I even got an hour nap in there before youth! Watched a cheesy yet entertaining Christmas film w/ Sue and then headed off for the church. Junior Youth went better than I had anticipated with a couple first timers and tons of regulars showing up! Then The Loft Youth followed with even more first timers and about 35 regulars. That night Zippy, one of our youth leaders, gave a message about destiny and purpose. . . Alan closed it up - both were really anointed by the Holy Spirit ... Then we put on some good worship music and the teens really got into it. . . (you can see for yourself in the video)

Then Alan spoke a wee bit more and closed with a call for salvation - 5 accepted Christ for the first time and 2 rededicated!! PRAISE THE LORD! One of them that got saved was the girl I had mentioned in "Oh Christmas Tree". I can't even begin to express how excited I am!!! There is such a new level of passion on Thursday nights from the leaders to the teens - and an expectancy that something is going to happen. Can't wait to see what next week holds! Please be believing with us for a mini bus as we have more teens we reach on Friday nights that want to come but don't have a way to the church!!

Today, aside from being sick, was another really good day. I got a ton done in the office and touched up painting on the youth game room with Alan. Had Street Reach tonight in Belfast which was amazing. Last two weeks the Christmas Market has been up outside City Hall as well so the crowds of people, the smells of food, the energy, lights, everything is just bustling with the holiday spirit. Even the rain held off for us :)

Tomorrow I have adopt-a-block in the morning which I can't wait for since I missed last weeks. Then, Sue and I will be putting up our Christmas decorations  - including the tree! Christmas music and movies galore!! Gonna be spectacular!

Well that's about it. Will try my best in the future not to let a week go by without writing. . . though my next two will be pretty busy! Haven't decided yet if I'm going to write while I'm home in the States. . . hmmmmm.

Hope you are having a WONDERFUL evening wherever in the world you might be :)

And remember that no matter what you face tonight - He's bigger than it.

xoxo

-J