Is there a sheep in my room?

Well this morning I woke up to the sound of a sheep bleating ("Baahhing" as we say). It sounded as if the sheep were right outside my window. I immediately thought that the sheep from the pasture behind our house got out somehow. However, all I could yell is "sheep!" I ran to the window but when I got there I got light headed from jumping out of bed so fast! So I just leaned against the wall while Ludie wondered what in the world I was doing and why I yelled "Sheep!".

After a second I explained that the sheep got out. I ran and got Ruthie out of her bed. Yelled for Griffin to get up. We all got our wellies on (golloshes) and headed outside. Ludie moved the car to block the sheep from going down our road to the main road. Griffin filled in the hole in front of the car to make a wall. I got to be the sheepdog (no comments) and go get the sheep and herd them back while Ludie opened the gates. Ruthie barked at the sheep.

We realized that the gate to the cemetery had been left open. There is a stone wall around the cemetery that has an intentional hole in it big enough for a sheep or child to fit through (I don't know why, but that is how it was built). So the sheep must have come through the hole in the wall into the cemetery and out of the gate into our yard. We successfully herded the sheep back into the cemetery where they made it single file through the hole in the wall back to the pasture.

I was excited of how our family worked together to get the sheep back in. However, I can only imagine what a sight we were. I pray no neighbors happened to see us as we all had unbrushed hair, pajamas and wellies on. But it was a fun way to start the morning and made for a good story to tell when we got to church.

Hi, My name is Barbara and I am a messaholic.

Oh my goodness. I thought moving to a house half the size of our house in the States would be easier. It is easier in the sense that there is not enough room to collect all the junk you don't really need but have. However, it is harder to hide what a mess we make! I so love to have a clean, orderly house. Living in Ireland you never know when someone is going to "call" for tea (or as we say "drop by"). I wish I could say my house looks like a "Southern Living" or "Better Homes and Gardens House. But sometimes, life happens.

Well we have been running for 3 days straight and so you can only imagine what an untouched house looks like in 3 days with a 6 year old, a toddler, and their mama that gets something half done and then off to the next thing. It looked like a corn flakes and scrambled egg bomb had gone off in the kitchen, and I won't describe the rest of the house. I started working on the house this morning as we are on school holiday at the moment. I got so busy that by 11 am no comb had touched my hair and no brush had touched my teeth. I had on what I call my Santa Clause pajama bottoms, with a regular shirt on, and Ludie's shoes on while hanging out the laundry thinking that only the sheep and my kids would be the ones seeing me.

Then it happened. One of my friends pulled in the driveway! Gasp! Oh well, no where to run, no quick change, mouthwash or anything. Well a true friend she is. She helped me finish hanging out the laundry, and came in and waited patiently while I put on regular clean clothes, rapidly brushed my hair and teeth and put on a kettle of water. I have no idea what she thinks of the house or of me, but she was wonderfully pleasant. If she comes around again, I will know that she is a true friend.

PS I came home today with the wind whipping and the rain going sideways. So I took down the laundry off the line and put them in the dryer as my wise friend had taught me, and then proceeded to hang them up on the radiators around the house. I would have left them out but even though the clothes pins are "gale force clothespins" I did not want to have to climb the hedge to pick up my child's underwear out of the sheep field the next morning, that is if the sheep did not eat it before I got to it.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Starting out St. Patrick's Day was a God ordained day. Here are some pictures from the St. Patrick's Day parade in Athlone. The picture of the team in front of the bus is a combined group that worked together to hand out tracts and information on St. Patrick's Day (who he was and what he represented) and info on the bus (probably over 2000 easily). The group is a combination of River of Life Church and Cherith Baptist Church in Athlone, as well as the OM team with the Big Red Bus. When we went back through the town some of the handouts had been thrown on the ground, but the next day we were in town and saw a little boy had picked one up off the ground and was taking it home. God's word does not return void. We took some of the million euro tracts and gave them to the really clinched faced people that looked for fear, "don't come near me!" It is amazing how the demeanor changes when handed a million euro tract! And then they actually smile and say "Thank you!" At the end of the parade, Griffin said he really had fun. St. Patrick's Day was his favorite holiday. He said, "I was kind of embarrassed about being in a parade and handing out stuff, but that was really fun!!!!" I told him, "Me to!". PS You can go to Living Waters.com for the million dollar or million euro tracts to see what they look like. Griffin actually liked using the optical illusion cards (pink and blue ones on the same website). He would give those out and show them the illusion when the parade stopped and we were at a stand-still for a minute or two.

The picture of the church now restaurant was taken just to show you a common sight in towns where old churches, abandoned are now used for different things like this one that was turned into a restaurant.

We followed up the parade with a fellowship night at the Creech hacienda. We love having a house full of people. Any holiday or reason will do. The next couple days though...we were tired!

The trio.

Hello! I apologize that it has taken me so long to make a post on the blog but as most of you know, life has been happening. Well, we heard the Irish have big families and we really wanted to integrate into the culture so we wanted you to know that we are expecting another blessing of a child in October. Let me tell you, there is nothing that will put you on the fast track into culture shock like moving to a foreign country and then finding out you are pregnant! I have been beyond impressed with the healthcare and how proactive the medical staff has been in working with me. We have had a past history of five miscarriages. I also was very sick when I was pregnant with Ruth Anne with morning sickness. So finding out I was pregnant, my fears of entering a new health care system, learning how to drive on the left hand side of the road and with a manual car, along with my fears of going through morning sickness or miscarriage threw me for a loop. My biggest fear is my inability to show my love for my kids through quality time (my love language). So all that combined, needless to say. I freaked out. I could not sleep, I could not eat and my stomach was playing tricks on me. Not a good combination at all and I knew it could not last long and still function properly. My next biggest fear was that I would be the weak link in the family that I would not be able to handle living in a foreign country and would somehow fail and we would have to come home. Well if I could not function physically then the second fear was becoming a self fulfilling prophecy.

Well, God had been preparing me for this, thankfully, because I needed it. I am in the middle of a study by Dawn Mooring, studying the life of Joshua. Specifically Fighting Fears. I remember saving this study for when I got to Ireland just to have a study ready to go. Well I remember praying God, I am not really fearful of anything that is out of the ordinary or stands out but help me hide this in my heart because maybe someday I will need it. Well it hit me blindsided. What I have learned... I am so thankful for God's word that is useful and relevant today as it was the day it was written. I thank God that He is sovereign, and in control, even when I feel that life is out of control. I am thankful that I have hope in Him alone. I am thankful that it is Christ that works in me to give me strength to get through the day, that I do not have to rely on myself!!!! And I am thankful that He is teaching me to rest in Him. These are things that I could have given you the answers to before but knowing them in my head and applying them in my heart are two totally different things. I am not that great of a spiritual person but know that I cannot get through the day without Him.

So this is where we are. I am 8 weeks pregnant. The ultrasounds look great. The baby has vigorous cardiac activity. I live with the reality that each day is a gift and that tomorrow this baby may be taken to heaven, but don't we all live with that reality with life. I praise God for today! The doctors have been proactive and have me on every medication possible, the rest is up to God (but isn't it all?)

Tying this together, but hang in there with me: My Grandmother passed away at the beginning of this month. I praise God that I had such a blessed time with her before we left. We got to spend time with her. Questions that I wanted to ask her but had forgotten she just mentioned in conversation. Things I would have wanted to know but did not think to ask, she mentioned in our last conversation. My last memory of her is her standing on her front porch waving goodbye as she always does. We received so many prayers and notes of sympathy and concern. It was overwhelming. Even a note asking if we needed to be flown home for the funeral. Nothing will touch your heart as the sacrifice that someone is willing to make at the drop of the hat. Just the fact that we had the option. Everybody keeps asking how we are. I want you to know that I am thankful for a family that understands that at the time of the funeral it would have been physically and mentally too much for me to deal with getting the medical things I needed with the pregnancy dealth with as well as making a transAtlantic flight in the middle of all that was going on. I am sad that this world is not the same without my Grandmother in it. However I can honestly say I have never been so happy for her. I know people talk about heaven and how it is such a great place but it does not feel that great when you have to give that person up.

We were even discussing tonight that death was never God's intention for us. It came with the fall of man. So dying is not natural. Giving up a loved one is something that happens to us all but it is not natural and was not intended to happen. However our Father loves us so much that He did not make us puppets but gave us the decision.

Back to Grandmother: I am honestly happy for her that she is no longer physically limited and most of all that she gets to see her Lord and Savior that she loves more than life itself as demonstrated by her life. I thank God that He prepared a way for us through the sacrificial gift of His Son and that I can know for sure I will be there too someday.

So to tie it all together. When we told Griffin that GG had died and gone to heaven he came back later and told us "If the baby is not in mommy's belly anymore, I am sure GG is holding it in heaven". Wow! Out of the mouths of babes. I praise the Lord that that has not happened, yet and hopefully won't. But if it does. God is a good God. I know that because He has shown me that as He has walked this road with me.

Love ya'll. Miss ya'll. And am overwhelmed by your messages and love. Thanks.

Ruthie and I went on a walk today and ended up here. Kilkenny Castle. Kilkenny used to be the capital of Ireland.

Look up at the stars and rest

I noticed the Mom Moment part of the blog for today talks about looking at the stars. I love to go outside and look up at the stars here. Amazingly there have been many clear days and nights (but that does make it colder, as the clouds hold the heat in). Our focus this year in MomCare has been on rest. Our leader, Suzanne Miller talks often about when you want to put things into perspective go out and look at the stars. When I do that I know that God is in control. That He placed the sun, moon and stars in the sky. He created me and loves me. He is the same God as the covenant God in the times of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is the same God that King David prayed to when he was just a shepherd out in the fields looking up at the stars and is the same God that I pray to and He hears and answers my prayers. Wow! How easy it is to rest in Him when you look up at the stars and realize how big He is and that He has everything in control, and that He is a god who is alive, and loves me.

Wow where do I start!

There is so much I want to tell you! I don't know where to start! Mosbach was amazing and a great place of rest for our family. We had been in at least one new place every 2 weeks since Thanksgiving through mid January. I was a bit scared about some things moving back to Ireland. I had gotten so used to transition that I actually feared being in one place that I might have the feeling that I had no escape. There were some other things I was concerned about in protecting my thought life. I voiced this to one of my new friends at OM. She understood exactly what I expressed and gave me Psalm 91 to pray. God did so much work in my life during that time. It was so good as it was the first time we stopped in a long time. There were a lot of lessons He taught me that I knew in my head but had failed to apply them in my heart. I felt like I did in school when I had heard something over and over, but then it finally clicks and makes sense. I wonder if I am making any sense at all.

One of the huge blessings that God has allowed me to see is how he is working in Griffin and growing him. I have been praying that God would make him wise beyond his years and that he would give him a desire for His word. I can see God doing that. Side note: Griffin likes listening to the audio Bible on the internet, however the KJV is just a little much for his age but that is the one that is free. He likes Star Wars. So you ask, what does Star Wars and the Bible have in common? Well James Earl Jones, who did the voice for Darth Vader also has CD's of him reading the Bible. Griffin is very excited about that and we want to get him that sometime.

We are back into our house and settling in. I feel like I am living on Little House on the Prairie but with modern day conveniences. Griffin has the best room in the house. It has room for a bunk bed and his shelving unit but it is cozy! And we have decorated it with a poster of Andy Griffith, Barney Fife and Opie, a poster of the Logos Hope OM ship that just set sail today...and is coming to port in Dublin in May...I can't wait. He has also put up all the post cards his Sunday School teacher Mrs. Pat has ever sent him and is still sending him. And his window sill is about 2 feet deep because of the thick walls of the original cottage to protect against the cold (good hiding space for hide-and-seek). The window sill is where he keeps his lego projects (a good display place but also safe from Ruthie eating them).

We do homeschool in the morning while Ruthie takes her nap. We then have lunch together and then we go for a walk in the afternoon. We find where roads (which are places on you can get through by walking or tractor) go through. We meet the neighbors, go to the playground at the end of our road on the bay, walk to a friend's house, play in mud puddles and Griffin practices riding his bike. Then we come in, Ruthie takes her afternoon nap, Griffin and I read a chapter of The Secret Garden, and then I cook supper while Griffin watches a DVD. We have no tv, no phone and no car. It is great! I do have a cell phone, a "mobile" now in case of emergencies and Lord willing maybe a car soon. Ludie uses the car to go to OM and if I need it I take him to work but I have only done that twice. Ludie does the grocery shopping, and has always enjoyed that.

He has been teaching me how to drive a manual car and I have been learning on the left side of the road. I now feel comfortable driving except for downtown which is on a hill and you have to parallel park with a road that is rarely big enough for two cars to pass but somehow we make it. My favorite road is what we call the Bog Road. It is a road with a bog on each side and is a one lane road. You cannot go off of it because you will get stuck so if you meet a car, one of you has to back up. I have only gone down it by myself once. I had a big sense of accomplishment.

There is a wild hare that comes by our house every couple days. He is huge. He is a big as my dog I had growing up and very fast. It is funny to see him hoping around. He actually came up to the patio outside the kitchen windows. I would give him a name but we might actually eat him someday. :)

I have learned to stop what I am doing at a moment's notice for guests that stop by unannounced and have tea and biscuits. Time together is valued more than tasks that have to be done and I like that.

We had a nice comment made the other day. Some friends came to visit and went to the wrong house. When they asked for us the person replied, oh you want the Christian family... May God help us to honor Him in all we do and say at all times. How humbling and convicting that is.

I will post pics soon but I am in Kilkenny right now and don't have my camera cord with me to download my pictures.