Dublin—Day 6

We woke up around 7AM and headed to Dublin Christian Mission’s summer campsite (the exact location of which I can’t quite remember). 

Nathan and Kelly dug a trench for the overflow from the pond and Aubrey, Becca, Kyle and I cleared brush and twigs and huge logs from the trails. This went on until about 2:30, with some lunch in between. The best part of my day was watching Kyle (who jumps over literally everything) attempting to jump the gate to let us in, only to have his heel clip the gate, resulting in what looked like a slightly painful fall. He took it much better than I would have, though—with a smile on his face and a good laugh about it. It was also great watching Aubrey get her galoshes stuck and unstuck from the super deep mud along the trails. I’m sure I was a beautiful sight myself doing the same thing. Overall it was a great time of fellowship (and exercise!).

We ran into some trouble heading back to the hostel—the Garda weren’t letting any cars cross the canal (because the Queen was about), so Billy, the Director of the DCM, dropped us off near the Luas station (the Luas is Dublin’s cable car system). When we arrived, however, there was a marquis saying delays were expected on the Luas. So we decided to walk. After about twenty minutes, and realizing we still had a long way to go, we decided to hop on the Luas at the next station we saw. We got all the way to the Four Courts with two hours until we had to be at the DCM for Wednesday club with the Junior Teens. We were all hurrying to shower, when Liesel showed up at the hostel with another change of plans—turns out, most of the kids lived on the other side of the canal, and thus could not get to the DCM because the roads were barricaded. So, Andrew (another DCM staff member) was going to drive them to another campsite for Wednesday club, and we were to take the Luis to Suir Street and meet them there. Becca went to an ATM and was just going to meet us at the Luas stop to head that way. Liesel stayed with the rest of us, and Aubrey and I had a chance to get to know her a little better (she’s super awesome). 

Once everyone was ready, we headed toward the Luas stop, which was just across the river. Literally, as we were walking up to the bridge, the Garda were barricading it, letting no cars or pedestrians cross. We ran to the next nearest bridge, and the same thing happened. It was so sad to see all the people trying to get home from work or trying to get to work, but were unable to because every block was barricaded from the next. 

This also meant the Becca was separated from us. We had no way to contact her, because none of us have cell phones, so Liesel quickly called Decko (another DCM staff member) and told him to fetch her from the Luas station and invite her into the Mission House until the barricades came down.

With nothing else to do, and no telling how long the barricades would be up, we all decided to treat Liesel to dinner. We went to the Bull & Shield Pub House, and Nathan was finally able to have his first Irish Guinness, while Kyle chose a red ale, and all the girls joined Liesel in a glass of Guinness (which is half a pint) and black currant, a juice or syrup of some sort. I don’t like Guinness at all, but this was delicious! Liesel said is was a very girly thing to add black currant to Guinness, and that ladies have glasses because they’re not so masculine as having a pint of it. She also educated us on the history of Guinness (did you know that the creator of Guinness says the recipe was God-given, and was actually the healthiest beer of its time?! People actually drank it for all the iron it contains, and women were given it when breastfeeding, and after people gave blood they were to drink a pint of Guinness! Liesel even said it was prescribed to a friend of hers not twenty years ago!). This was such a fantastic and relaxed hang out time for us, and we watched some of the Queen’s proceedings on the television. Becca was finally able to join us, and after eating dinner, we’ve just arrived back at the hostel.

This was such a wonderful night, and the change of plans was just what we needed after a long day of serious manual labor. I’m so thankful that we got to hang out with Liesel, and she said something that really encouraged me—when talking about why she decided to come to Ireland (she’s actually Canadian), she said “God doesn’t call us to do stuff that’s going to be easy, it’s always going to be hard.” This was just what I’ve needed to hear! Sometimes I let myself get discouraged when things get too difficult—I think “God must not want me here, because nothing seems to come easily or go the way it should—but that’s just the point, and it was proven today: it’s not about our plans, it’s about God’s. And it’s not about what’s easy, it’s about being in the center of God’s will, and letting yourself be encouraged by difficult circumstances. Satan is so scared of your success that he’ll do anything in his power to stop it. God is not the Creator of Chaos, he’s the God that changes our plans to line them up with his. This doesn’t make these things disorderly, but perfectly ordered to his will.