Well, it has been a while. A long while.  I suppose it is because facebook has more or less taken the place of xanga in networking with my friends; but now, given my general aversion to notes and the fact that xanga lends itself much better to actual blogging, I shall return to xanga-ing.  At least for a while. 

I have come home, at least in a manner of speaking.  My lifelong desire to return to the island of my fathers has finaly come to fruition.  Today we flew in to Dublin after a long flight from Chicago to Amsterdam and Amsterdam to here.  I am completely brain dead.  I am trying desperately to wax eloquent but am failing miserably.  Baisically I haven't slept in like two days.  Today was a whirlwind; we got in and then went to see all the sights on the north end of Dublin. We saw a lot of castles and chruches and had some fantastic food.  And so did the seals in the harbor at Howth.  We met with a number of people who are actively seeking the Kingdom in the swelling streets of this ancient city and talked about what it meant to be the Chruch in an Irish context.  The one thing we were constantly warned against was the common misconception that things are the same here as in the States.  But they're not.  The culture and the context are incredibly different.  Actually it reminds me a bit of being in Israel; there is obviously American influence in the culture, but the people are just like sabras (the hebrew word for cactus).  It is incredibly hard to get in, they have developed a skin that is tough to penetrate; yet once you do, you find a fruit that is incredibly refreshing and welcome.  It will be interesting to see the direction that our trip will take.  It won't be what we expected; but I am wondering what it is God will do.  I hope only that we are aware of His moving among us and willing to join when he makes a way for us to join Him in it.  I'll try to post more lucid blogs in the future...

In other news, tomorrow we are going to spend a day learning about the history and culture of Ireland, including catching a performance of Riverdance at the Gaitey Theatre.  I'm also looking forward to developing relationships and hopefully fostering partnerships with several of the groups here.  I'll try to keep you all updated; thanks all for your prayers.

But I cannot end without relating what was, for me, the most meaningful moment of the day.  It was after lunch when we took a walk across the beach at White Sands.  I stood there facing the Sea.  The Sea from which my fathers sprang, which bore them to and from this blessed isle, and drank in the briny blast and knew that finally...I had come home.

HOLY COW!! I'm pretty lazy, its been about eight months since my last post.  There is no way on earth I could begin to summarize my life in the last eight months; so I'm just going to go on as if my last post was yesterday.  For the record, I'm typing this up at a time I would normally be in class; but this is not a normal week.  It's production week for Peter Pan, and it's been an interesting one so far.  I really have no clue how in the world I'm going to write a research paper this week.  I'm really hoping for some grace from my professor; but I am so thankful that God has worked out a lot of unconnected "coincidences" that have severely limited my workload in most of my other classes.  Really, after more than eight hours of rehearsals and considerably less than eight hours of sleep, after freaking out about a paper and changing topics three or four times, after putting together a presentation and failing to find a duet scene for acting class, and after a power struggle for control of my life that has at times left me completely broken; things are pretty good.  Thank God for reminders.  Reminders that He really is able to work out circumstances beyond my control and is much better equipped to run my life.  It is truly amazing how, after three years of surrendering to God, there is still so much that comes into the light that needs to be let go of.  And it probably will never stop.  (If I'm not making any sense, I blame it on the lack of sleep and ineffectiveness of my morning coffee.) 

So, Neverland.  I've had a lot of time to think about it lately.  I've decided never to grow up (I'm sure that's shocking to all of you ).  But seriously, how many of us grow up only to become to busy to "play at make believe and dancing."  We miss so much of what we could have because we mistake maturity for busyness.  We become tame and loose our wonder when life is a series of tasks instead of a story "with hardly any space between one adventure and another."  What if we saw life that way?  What if we lived with the same wonder and enchantment at the marvel of creation that a child has?  Don't get me wrong, Neverland is a very dangerous place, much more dangerous than a comfortable nursery.  There are pirates and indians, poison cakes and wild beasts.  But perhaps it is far more dangerous to remain in the nursery.  We were created to experience the uncertainty and danger of an adventure we cannot control or completely understand, not to avoid it.  There is an old Celtic proverb: "Never give a sword to a man who can't dance."  In other words, grown-ups should never be allowed near something as dangerous as weaponry.  Perhaps the people best equipped for the battle of life are the ones child-like enough to see it for what it is: a dangerous adventure just waiting to be unleashed.  Ok that's enough soap-boxing for now.  I'm gonna go dance...or maybe I'll take a nap first.

P.S.-Don't get your hopes up, chances are it will be another eight months before the next post.