Friends

This is my friend Inge.

Yes, she is as sweet as she looks! Last summer we were having breakfast the morning after the Bible conference in Holland and we were trying to figure out when she would come to Ireland to visit me. We talked about a few different ideas but weren't sure what would work. She said that she'd work on and be in touch. The next thing I knew, she had a few other friends interested in coming too! I thought it was a great idea, but kind of doubted that it would come together. We're all Pastor's wives and have busy schedules, but I was touched that they'd thought of it.

Well, once Inge gets busy with something it really happens! Back in Cork I got an e-mail that 7 of them would come to visit! What an awesome treat!

                           
                              Inge, Margreet, Leyla, Marlies, Zwantje, Me, Gerda and Hanneke

We had such a great time. It was the first time any of us had done a "girls getaway" like this, but I don't think it will be the last. It was great therapy! We talked, shopped, ate, and laughed until we cried. I am so privileged to call these lovely ladies my friends, and so blessed that they would all come to visit me!

We went to Blarney Castle - No, none of us kissed the stone, but we did make it to the top.  

 

      

 

And so it begins...

We're open! Yay!!! Saturday we had 19 Dubliners invade our city. These awesome people gave up their Saturday and made the 3 hour drive to come and help us. What a blessing!

                                         Pastor Chris Sealey and the Blanchardstown crew.

                                                                 We fed them lunch.



And then it was time to pray!

 

 

and then hit the streets!

 

 

 

                                That night we showed a movie and had our first visitor.

            We're so thankful for all these wonderful friends who came and helped us in Cork!

Getting ready

We're so excited - only 2 more days until we open! Keith has been busy with all the details; searching for and buying equipment, designing and ordering advertising and a banner. Today our banner arrived in the mail.

We were planning on using an A-frame sidewalk sign, but the day we went to order it we heard on the radio that the Cork city council had decided to ban them. We were so glad that we hadn't wasted any money on one!

This can hang on the fence in front of the community center and will probably be more noticeable anyways.
                                       

                               
We have a pile of equipment that seems to grow with each day. You never really think about how much stuff you use - until you have to move it.

                                                             
The flyers arrived today, so we were able to go downtown and outreach! We're so looking forward to Saturday. Both of the churches in Dublin are sending teams down to help us. Please pray for good weather!

So last week we had a treat, one of my husband Keith's relatives came to town. Barbara is his mother's cousin. Her grandfather, Jeremiah O'Neil was Keith's great-grandfather.

Barbara has been coming over to Ireland for the last 45 years and she's a wealth of information. She filled us in on where all the different relatives came from and even drove us out to Kenmare where Keith's greatgrandfather was born. That cottage is in ruins and overgrown, but I did get to snap a photo of him there.

                                                                      
We then stopped to see some relatives who still live in that area - and by chance got to meet 2 of Keith's cousins who were there visiting, and get this, they live in Cork!

We had a great time seeing that part of Ireland and actually got as far west as Kerry county. I can't wait to go exploring there in the spring, it was so beautiful. The mountain roads were more than a little scary though, very curvy and narrow, with random sheep jumping about and the speed limit was
100 km (that's 60mph)!

                                                                     Kinsale Bay

                                                                      Bantry Bay

                                                                      
                                                 ....and somewhere in the mountains.

This is going to be a busy and exciting week for us. The opening for our new church, "The Potter's House Cork" will be this weekend. Please pray for us and I'm sure I'll be writing about it soon!
                   

Updates

I realized that I hadn't written for a while, but that's because we've been BUSY!

                                                     
                                                                      We got a car!  

                                  
                         Keith preached in both of the churches in Dublin. 

                                                         
and we found a building where we can start services!!!

                                                                    

                                                                            
                                                So, we'll be opening November 3rd and 4th!

Uh-oh!

Right after we moved into our house we took a walk down to the nearby village of Douglas and we saw a long line of people on the sidewalk. It looked like someone must be giving something away. So we asked what the big deal was and we were told that KC's had re-opened. Apparently KC's is (and I quote) "the best chipper in all of Ireland!"

So, we finally went to check it out on a recent Friday night, to see if it lived up to its reputation.

                                                                          

 It totally does - I'm going to have to do a LOT more running! This place has their own web-site, and even a web-cam that shows you how long the line is outside the door! http://www.kcandco.ie/

 

http://www.thejournal.ie/flooding-ireland-cork-rain-502550-Jun2012/

Like many establishments in Douglas village, KC's was hit hard by the flooding back in June and had to close while remodeling. Everyone here is so glad they're back in business. We met people in line that night that said they only come to this part of the city for KC's.

So, if - when - you're coming to visit we'll probably be taking you there! :)
                                                                             

Oh yeah, the cabinets....

Someone just reminded me that I never did put up photos of my mother-in-laws kitchen...so here they are. We stripped the cabinets, sanded, primed and painted them, and put in a new floor (with help from CB - thanks!)

It was a lot of work, but we really had a sense of accomplishment when we saw the final product.
Please excuse the poor quality of the photos - I didn't remember to take any until the last minute.