Eventful few weeks… robbery, wicklow mountains, Spain

Sorry I haven't updated in so long! I've been pretty busy the past few weeks… I'm approaching the end of my internship! My last day is Thursday. Can't believe it's almost over! I've really enjoyed the work I've done this summer. I feel like I've gotten some great work experience along with some great credentials. My résumé is gonna be staaaacked. My boss is going to write me a general recommendation letter for me to use for future job applications. Think about how legit it will be for me to have a letter of recommendation from the CEO of an Irish company which I interned for. Awesome! God is so good. This has been an amazing opportunity for me.

So anyway, a lot has happened since I updated last! I'm sure most of you know our house was robbed 2 weeks ago this Thursday. It was actually pretty awesome to see how God took care of us through the whole thing. I had stayed home sick from work the day before, but I was feeling better that morning, so I went to work. Think about how terrible things could've been if I had been home by myself when a whole group of robbers broke into our house! God's hand was totally in that… I started feeling sick again that night and ended up having to go to the doctor later the next week. It was totally a miracle! Things could have been so much worse than they were. They stole 4 laptops, 2 cameras, a backpack, and about €600 in cash; but they didn't steal any of our clothes, trash our house, or break any windows or anything to get in… and none of us were hurt! We confronted our landlord about the lack of security on our house (we think they simply picked the lock on our front door). We're getting our security deposit back, but we're pushing to get part of our rent back to cover damages. We'll see though. There have been a lot of other really bad things wrong with our house (smoke detectors with no batteries, etc.), so we brought those up in the letter we sent to our landlords. It's a scary situation, but I know God is looking out for us. He's proven himself time and again, so it hasn't been difficult to trust Him in this situation.

We didn't have a trip planned for the weekend after the robbery, which turned out to be a really good thing. We hung out around Dublin on Friday and Saturday and were able to get things sorted out with the Garda (Irish police). We went to see X-Men one day which rocked. We also walked around some parts of Dublin we hadn't really been to before. On Sunday my roommates, Matt and Ben, and I went on a bus tour of the Wicklow Mountains. It

was absolutely breathtaking. The Wicklow mountains have been used a lot for filming movies (including Braveheart, Saving

Private Ryan, and P.S. I Love You), which is very understandable after seeing it. It was some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen in my entire life (comparable to the Cliffs of Moher). Ireland is seriously one of the most gorgeous places on Earth. Being in the Wicklow Mountains was an incredibly spiritual experience. It's awe inspiring being surrounded by God's epic

creation like that! That tour also took us to an old monastery called Glendalough. It was beautiful! It was situated perfectly in the mountains. We also went to this adorable little mountain village for a pub lunch. It was definitely a worthwhile day :)

This past week we went to an event hosted by our study abroad program which included a 3-course meal, live Irish music, and traditional Irish dancing. It was awesome! I had bangers and mash. Ohhh yea. It was nice to have a night out with our whole program group and experience Irish culture a little bit.

This past weekend my roommates and I went to ESPAÑA! Spain was absolutely incredible. We started out in Barcelona, which was unlike any city I had EVER seen. Every single building was gorgeous! I couldn't believe how unique the architecture was there. I think my favorite thing

that we saw in Barcelona was la Sagrada Família (pictured to the left). They've been building la Sagrada Família since 1882. The famous architect, Gaudí took over in 1883 and worked on it until he died in 1926 with less than 1/4 of the church finished. They just passed the 1/2 way point last year and expect to have it finished in 2026 (100 years after Gaudí's death). It was the most intricate building I've ever seen. It had the crucifixion scene on one side and the birth of Christ on the other with all kinds of other Biblical images all over it. The detail work and hidden symbolism was awesome! The interior was indescribable. The pictures I took don't even do it justice. The food in Spain was absolutely fabulous too. Tapas and Paella. Can't go wrong. I wish I had gotten more time in Barcelona, though. I'll definitely have to go back sometime. I got a chance to swim in the Mediterranean! That was a neat experience. On Sunday we went to the Fib music festival in Benicàssim, Spain to see Mumford & Sons. We rode a train along the coast to get there… we had the mountains on one side and the Mediterranean on the other. It was gorgeous. Mumford was AWESOME live! They gave a great show, and they sounded just as good as they do on the album. For those of you who have never heard of them, here's a link to their most famous song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL_Ye0h5xEI

and my favorite song of theirs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl-VCHzS1So

The festival itself was nuts. Everyone was crammed together at the concert and everyone was super sweaty. It was pretty disgusting and definitely an experience, but one I can live without

ever having again haha. I'm pretty sure this festival was the most uncivilized event I've ever been to… I don't even feel comfortable describing it here. Ask me if you're interested in more details haha. The festival started at 6:00PM and lasted until 7:00 Am and went for 4 days. We only went for one of the days, bust most people there went for all 4 days. We stayed up the whole night and listened to other bands such as Arctic Monkeys and Primal Scream. After we left the festival we walked to the beach to nap until we had to leave for the airport. I stayed up and watched the sunrise over the Mediterranean. It was incredible :)… We had to take a few trains to get back to the airport and we had a few hours in between trains so we were able to go to the beach in Taragonna, Spain. People in Spain just walk around naked on the beach… pretty shocking haha. We made it back to Dublin at about 10:30 on Sunday night having not slept or showered since Friday. Epic weekend :)

I've still been studying the Psalms, and they've totally been sustaining me in my time away from home. I've been so aware of God's presence here with me in Dublin-- especially after the robbery. Knowing that God is with me makes being away from everyone easier. God has also been totally been convicting me about how much I marginalize my sin. Psalm 51 definitely made me aware of that. God hates every single sin, even ones that don't seem like that big of a deal. Every "small" sin nailed Jesus to that cross. God's been using this realization to make me appreciate the epic sacrifice that Christ made to save me from my sin. Psalm 51:1 says "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions." God's unfailing love and great compassion are the basis for which we receive His forgiveness. Awesome :) Thank the Lord for grace. I'll be trying to let God humble me in regard to my sin and give me a heart of repentance. "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." Psalm 51:10

Thanks for reading :) Continued prayer for witnessing opportunities and boldness would be much appreciated. I only have 11 days left!