It's late evening in N. Ireland--almost tomorrow, to be honest! My latest blog post is on our website. People have been asking how they can read the blog without joining FB.

First--you don't need to be a member to read the blog. It's free for you to do that.

Second--the posts may be too long to put in a FB post, so I am planning to put them on our website. I'm going to ask our Tech Angel for help with that, but for now, I've posted the blog under the Announcements on our page.

Planes, Buses, Rental Cars and Family Dinner—Belfast, NI          

We arrived today early in the morning, as usual when flying to Dublin. While the sun was visible above the cloud line as we landed, that was the only time we saw the sun all day. Grey, damp and rainy weather is not surprising here, but when you add to that exhaustion, dragging around ridiculously heavy suitcases (I won’t even go there), hailing cabs, walking long distances to get a rental car we did not know how to use (“Wait—is everything accessed through that giant screen on the dashboard? How can I turn down/turn off/change the temp settings of the A/C? How many apps are on that screen anyhow? Do we need them all? No! I don’t want to access my text messages in the rental car, thank you!”).....   

I kept falling asleep everywhere. On the bus from Dublin to Belfast, in the rental car, and then an additional nap this afternoon.

But the flavors of God’s goodness were everywhere. We met Alistair’s daughter for lunch and it was so good to see her in person—I have not been here for two years! Just to sit with her, eating chunky chips and a Coronation Chicken salad sandwich felt normal, good.

Then here to Pamela and Harvey’s beautiful home in the countryside. Their welcome warmed my whole cold self. I even had time to run after getting here, allowing all my pent-up muscles to stretch out, let me see the surrounding farmland, to snitch blackberries from the hedges that lined the road, full of ripened berries for the picking. This was God’s way of letting me go, of allowing me to breathe deeply, kind of like letting your dog run around the backyard after it’s been cooped up all day.

 Our dinner at home— mango chicken stew over rice—was filled with additional warmth and so much flavor—I will be fed in many ways, won’t I?  The four of us were able to sit, talk and eat together. Ok, and yes, there was some Boggle and some Banagrams after dinner.

This is sabbatical—a word derived from God’s call at the time of Creation for Sabbath, for holy rest— which reminded me of our Song of Solomon reading from this past Sunday “Come away with me,” the beloved invites, “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.” (2:13). How gracious of God to invite me. What a great blessing to be with my beloved.