two weeks

I had missed Jimmy John's so much

As well as the beauty of Target

And the wide roads

Where you don't really have to have fear of

Having a head-on collision when you're driving

America, thank you

About two weeks ago,

I had the privilege of being able to

Fly back to the states for 5 days

For my dear friend’s wedding

Amazing to see her again

And to be with her family

During this incredible time in their lives

Then even to see some of you at the wedding as well

Ah, so good to see you all

Thank you for a chance to be there

But I wasn’t prepared for the glimpse of

The culture shock that would happen

When I stepped foot into my home country again

Weird stuff like finding myself looking at Americans in a different way

Noticing the difference in ways of communicating

Not used to the food anymore

This is my home

But seeing how things have changed

And feeling out of place

Only after 8 months?

How?

But now back in Ireland

Then with one month left

But two weeks have come and gone

And now only two weeks left

Before I officially leave this place

Two weeks

How is it that it’s almost over

Soon to be taking a plane back

To the life in North America

Face to face with leaving here

Having to process

Needing to move forward

But in all honesty,

I'm not feeling ready

Not ready to say goodbye

Or to transition

Or to adjust

From a place that has somehow

Become like home

“One of the hardest things about missions is having to say goodbye”

But here we are

Time will continue

So needing to face this reality

That this is the time God has given

And to be thankful for it

So how to finish strong here

And look forward to what’s ahead

And trust God in the transition

But with this time left here

I want to ask for you to be praying

For strength to finish strong

With admin work in the office

With homework that’s due

For opportunities to connect with refugees

And the Irish woman I’ve been talking with

To have conversations that point to Christ

That these people will come to know Him personally

And that my heart would be in the right place

Eyes fixed on Him

As I need to process and transition

To a life back home

And back at college in BC

To be available and open for what God has

In these last two weeks

In the next two months

In the next year at school

A few days back I was talking with my housemate

About how crazy it all feels to be leaving so soon

But then she said something that struck me,

“Look how you’re not wanting to leave a place

that you didn’t want to come to in the first place.”

Taking a moment to let that sink in

I said not really looking for an answer, "How did that happen?”

But she replied, “God answered your prayers.”

Wow.

It’s hard to find words to all that’s happened this year

So I’ll try to find them and share them with you

When I’m writing to you when the internship is over

But for now

I know I can say that

I’m just incredibly thankful

So with that being said

Thank you for everything

Looking forward to seeing you

If you're up for some Jimmy's or a cup of Joe, I'll totally be down :)

All my love,

Ell

⇿⇿⇿

Oh hey there America.

Reunited.

Liv, I am so stinkin' happy for you.
Thank you for everything.

Back to morning devotions with the team.

749 years old.

Guess who came to visit? :)

And these lovely gems too!

A dream about to come true.

AND WE SURVIVED.

Well there were supposed to be cliffs.

But when we hiked down...

...it was still so worth it.

Jaesun's first time in a hammock 🙌
So cool to see how this hammock as become a conversation starter with strangers in town.
The other day an older gentleman asked if I could take a picture in the hammock
and proceeded to sing a folk song while swinging away.
Day made.

It's been record breaking heat these past few days.
Apparently Ireland hasn't had 3 hot days in a row in a hundred years.
The grass is definitely feeling it.