Little Suzie---the Suzuki I drive

Richie asked if "anyone" has driven into the curb. I told him 'not on the driver side'. I had to 'fess up and told him it was only the first day I was driving. It took me a while to get used to how close I was. It seems that the curb side rear tire has a big "bubble" on it. He said it is a wonder it hasn't blown out. But God is good and we have been safe and I no longer am hitting the curbs!

This morning Bebe said she wanted a picture of herself in front of Murlough House and at the sea. We checked the time of high tide and then went for a walk armed with cameras! The sun was shining brightly...no rain in sight. I took pictures of her on her camera and she took pictures of me on my camera. We learned last year that we had more photos of one another than of ourselves so we're being intentional about getting ourselves in our own photos this year! Murlough House is at the end of a one mile tree lined drive.
The address is Keel Point and the house is at the end of a peninsula on the Dundrum Bay.

The sea was beautiful! It was just before noon and the sun was bright. Walking back we were able to see St. Donard's peak in the Mournes. Just a lovely day! Today we didn't meet anyone at the sea or on the boardwalk. That is unusual. Because the property around MH is a part of the National Trust, it is a public area. We often see folks with dogs or prams. They even take the babies for walks when it's raining! They simply put a rain shield around the pram. One afternoon we even saw a reclined wheelchair with an older woman all bundled up and her family taking her for a brisk walk.

You can see St. Donard's peak in the photo at the left. And isn't the green grass luscious looking? The brownish is the heath, I think!                       The CSI team from Georgiana UMC in Florida is here. Jon Clark accompanied them. Bebe and I helped Deirdre prepare lunch and tea (a light supper at 5). After lunch I was in the office with Sarah when Alan came in to ask if he could see her after he spoke with "the Americans". He met with the team for a devotional time. It seemed a bit odd to have him refer to them as "the Americans". Of course, it's what they/we are. It just made it obvious that we are the foreigners here.

I'm directionally challenged so I don't know if this is the "west wing" or not. But I'll explain the rooms on this end of the building. The top floor, extreme left is the sitting room in the flat. The second window is Deirdre's room, the third is the sewing room/w.c., the fourth and fifth the women's toilet and shower rooms. The main floor would be 1-2, Richard's room, 3-4, the room Bebe and I shared for 2 weeks and 5, the washup room/dishwasher room. The lower level is the craft room, the library and the larder (pantry). My room is on the back side of the house opposite the flat's sitting room.

The cat who typically spends a lot of time sleeping in the area outside the kitchen window made an appearance in front of the house. I petted him a bit and then he got cantankerous wanting to scratch me. Of course he tried to run off when he saw I was taking his photo.

Alisdair at Street Ministry

We ate a bit early so the team could get the kitchen chores finished and head to Belfast for street ministry. Bebe had plans to meet with the Kairos folks again. I boarded the mini-bus for Belfast. We first stopped at a church to get a few instructions from Leslie who has been doing this faithlfully for several years. He gave us a brief sketch of what to expect and we were off. We walked about 6 blocks and "set up shop" on a brick paved street that is limited to pedestrian traffic. Luis brought his guitar. He and Jennifer were singing. Then Alasdair used paint and a large sketch pad to illustrate his short talk. An attorney named Stephen gave another short message and used a type of flannelgraph board with pictures. Leslie asked me and Jon to be prepared to answer some questions about our own faithwalk. Our group made up the basic crowd but also made it easy for others to stop and join. There were several who did stop and we were able to share with them, give them a tract and pray with them. Most of the people were under 25. However, I had the opportunity to talk with a 75 year old man. He had lots of reasons why he didn't need church. It was an interesting conversation. I found that he is Scotch Presbyterian, raised in the church but almost a humanist now. I answered his reasons with scripture and he continued to talk. As we ended our time together, I asked him if I could pray for him. He was open to that. I would ask you to pray for James Hill as God brings him to your remembrance. Also pray for Leslie and Stephen who are faithful in this ministry. And pray for Alasdair, Sarah and Daniel who travel weekly from Dundrum to Belfast to share. The people are very open to this kind of ministry and as we debriefed, Leslie told us of many who have come to know the Lord through this work.

We stopped to visit another ministry, the Jesus Army. They do a similar type of work in Belfast. There are several who live in a communal setting. At the end of our visit there, the director had prayers for me and others laid hands on me. I'll share more about that another time.