The Family in Ireland, Wales and England

A day after Nathan, Joanna and Ayla flew back to France, my parents and my sister Sabrina arrived in Dublin. After church last Sunday, I drove up to meet them in Dublin. After an overnight flight and having toured Dublin and visited several of its attractions, they were pretty exhausted. Still, they were willing to meet James and Sandra, who were also in Dublin (coincidentally staying in the same hotel, preparing to fly to London for a funeral) for a dinner. The next day, we slept in and then headed for “the west of Ireland”. We saw Galway and the famous (and for good reason) Cliffs of Moher. The next day, we covered a lot of ground, driving from County Clare down to the Dingle Peninsula, Killarney and eating dinner in Cork. The Dingle Peninsula had to have been the most memorable spot. Within literally twenty minutes, we went from being in mountains to green sheep-raising pastures to a nice beach.

The next morning, we awoke early and made the morning ferry across to Wales. We travelled through Wales and much of England and stayed near London that night. The next day was packed with seeing London via the underground. Buckingham Palace, Westminster, Big Ben, etc. That evening, we saw the musical Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, and we all enjoyed ourselves. The next morning we drove to Stonehenge and checked out the area where some Harry Potter scenes were (allegedly) filmed. By that afternoon, we were back on the ferry to Ireland.

Though I was skeptical of the plan to take it easy on Saturday, it was definitely a good idea and arguably one of the most memorable days of the trip. We really didn’t do a lot on Saturday, but that night, Sabrina played praise songs on her guitar and James played his bowron. The next morning, I preached and Brina led the music at Grace Church. She did a phenomenal job and it was an extremely powerful service. If it lacked in any way, it was due to my scatterbrained teaching, though it’s not about me and I’m not beating myself up over it. My friend Abraham, originally from Ethiopia, came to the service for the first time, which was a blessing for me and for the church.

With the last day, we headed up to the Wicklow Mountains and Glendalough(second time for me) and stayed at a B&B there to be closer to Dublin. It was my parents’ first time traveling out of North America, my sister’s first time in Europe and my first time to Wales or England. It wasn’t completely free from its stressful moments, but I know it’s through moments like those that bring families together. Nathan was telling me the week before about a book in which the premise is that the family that travels together stays together. It’s beneficial to travel together, but to worship together and discuss the Bible and church planting was invaluable. Hopefully my parents and sister know how highly I esteem their ideas, and if not, hopefully they read this.