A couple of things that have been on my mind in the last few days.

When I was in Northern Ireland things were much slower. OK, they were really, really slow. But at the same time I was able to really sit around and think through things. The freedom of time [boredom] allowed me the freedom to rest in my thoughts. It allowed me to hear God in the silence of my day. Long morning walks were like fresh air to my “near burnout.” [Kind of like being “kind of pregnant.”]

Then it all crashed down in the corridor of Detroit’s airport. Reality hit me in the face like a slab of meat. Busyness came back. Hectic schedules and overworked job responsibilities came swirling back. Ministry became a job again instead of a joy. family became something 24/7 and not something I miss. Contacts needed to be made. Houses had to be looked at. Bills to be paid. Appointments to be rescheduled. Lessons to prepare.

As my first “post 5mile” week comes to a close I am left spinning. OK, I am realing from the load of stuff piled on me. And I want out. I am sick of ministry being a job. I want it to be like it used to be for me… something I looked forward to. It’s not that I hate what I do… but at the same time it is depressing that ministry is what I do. It sounds kind of weird, but it comes from the reality that being a professional minister is hard and sometimes… especially when you are tired… you want out.

Those who have read this rant before know that I always resolve it with a simple statement: Satan has a special “ministry” just for those in ministry.

Here is what I am resting on during this period of stupidity in my life:
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

I just heard from our agent. The other party sent in all the paperwork to release the contract. We have ourselves a house!

Of course, there is still loads to do. But I am very excited.

I did something at Light Force that I never ever do. I checked my voice mail. Something just told me that between water games last night that I needed to check it… so I did.

On my phone was a message from our realtor letting us know that everything was now clear for us on the house on Bailey. [YES!] The other people who had a contract on it backed out since their house hadn’t yet sold. So we know that our good news is their bad news. Since we’ve had our house dreams crushed before we know how hard that is to swallow… ugh. I feel for them.

We are supposed to sign the final paperwork today and get an inspection done over the weekend. If that goes well, we are 100% done. We’ll just need the bank to do their thing and start the long waiting period. [Since the seller sold the house so quickly, 13 days, they haven’t even found a new house yet. We may not move until mid-November!]

Here are some pics…

Some good news from the realtor. The seller has agreed to our offer and we are just waiting for the final documents now. The only bad news is that the house is still under contract with another party. If they don’t come up with the money in 24 hours… the deal is sealed!

So… please pray for us that we might get our slice of the dream. I am so excited and so scared at the same time. YIKES!

So, I remember something during the breif debreifing time about not making any quick decisions after our trip to Northern Ireland.

I threw that out the window! We made an offer on the most coolest house in the world today. We are so excited!

We should find out Wednesday afternoon if we get it or not. In the meantime… we’re biting our fingernails.

It seems like a cliche` but it is so true. I can’t believe how fast kids grow up. Has it really been two years since this baby boy was welcomed into our arms? It doesn’t seem possible.

Yesterday, in a family tradition, we took Paul and Megan to the Detroit Zoo. I was [still am] pretty tired from the last 3 weeks but I was determined to do something special for his birthday. So about 11:00 AM we climbed into the car and headed down towards Royal Oak. It was well worth it.

We went to our two normal stops, the Artic Circle and the Butterfly House. Even though they have been there about 20 times… my kids still get juiced about seeing all of the animals. We also made some stops at the Reptile House and a few other places… but Megan and Paul wanted to spend the most time at the playground. They love the playground and could spend all day there. And when I am fully rested I like to spend a long time there too.

After playing for a while we decided it was time to head for Romeo. We got home, put Paul down for a nap, and all rested a little bit more.

When naptime was over the time had finally come for Paul to open his presents. He got a lot! [Yes, he had opened most of his gifts before but I brought him some from Northern Ireland and my mom’s box had just arrived.] He got lots of clothes and plenty of toys. He seemed mostly please with the “Little People” toys that my mom and Kristen got for him.

Two years old. So long, yet SO FAR TO GO. I remember the day and moment that he was born like it was yesterday. There was laughter and joy in the delivery room that day. I’m not kidding, we laughed a lot during the labor and delivery of my boy. We marveled at how big he was when he was born. We stared into his big beautiful eyes. And we proudly shared with our family the name Kristen and I had picked out for him years before. Paul Garrett. Paul was my paternal grandfather. Garrett was Kristen’s maternal grandfather. I long to see my son grow up to be the man Kristen’s grandfather was. A humble man who worked hard and loved the Lord like crazy. He is my sturdy oak tree.

Thank you to everyone who prayed for me and my team as we traveled to Northern Ireland these past 3 weeks. We arrived safely home last night after a long, but uneventful trip. As the last leg of the journey wore on I got pretty emotional about the whole thing… It was sad how we all kept getting split up.

Saturday night we said goodbye to our Northern Irish teammates and Slada from Serbia after he BBQ.

Sunday morning at 4:15 AM we said goodbye to Joy and the Northern Irish who came to our all-night vigil. (As well as our NI leadership… Mad props to Allan Grier… That man in “class.”)

Sunday afternoon as we arrived in New York we bid farewell to most of our American teammates. I don’t know what it was, but I had a hard time saying goodbye to Casey and Allysa as they went towards their ticket counter and I split off with my team and Mary Beth to go to Detroit.

By 2:00 PM it was just the 9 of us. We were an emotional wreck. Tired, but couldn’t stop talking about all that had happened.

As we left JFK for Detroit we gathered in a little circle (which just hours ago had been 150!) and prayed for Mary Beth’s trip. We then boarded the last plane ride for the Romeo crew… Knowing that a large group of people awaited us in Detroit.

As the plane arrived at DTW 30 minutes late our parents and friends were quite anxious to see us. But can I share a secret? I don’t think any of the 8 of us were quite ready. We still wanted to hold onto Northern Ireland. So, we kind of stalled a little bit. The girls went potty, we checked on Mary Beth’s flight and prayed with her one more time… Then we boarded to “wee train” for the main terminal. Finally, after 21 days were were split up all the way down to 8 again.

We stalled a little as we rounded the last corner for the escalators to baggage claim. Deep breath… I could see Megan at the bottom of the escalator! With that, one of the most memorable times of my life came to a close.

Someone asked me… “How does it feel to be home?” I told them the truth… I have mixed emotions. I was ready to be home. But I miss my little team. They truly were my family for 2 weeks. Real World: 5mile was officially over.

We were whittled down again as LisaB took off as soon as her baggage arrived. Then Katie was gone. Then the last 6 of us jumped into the awaiting vans with all of our family. Again, I was struck by how quickly the team was cut down. There were only 2 of us in my van. Dawn and I.

It took an hour or so to get to Romeo from the airport. As my head pounded from a sleep deprivation headache… I was anxious and not anxious to get home. Still holding on to the trip we got there. 7800 West 32 Mile Road.

We were narrowed down to 1 as my family piled into the Camry and drove home. Now I am home… Starting to sort out in my mind all that took place… Trying to make sense of it all… Trying to hold onto an experience that will last a lifetime.

Dear Lord, don’t let that be my last trip to Northern Ireland or Fivemiletown. Amen.

Last night was a good last night of drop-in. We spent some time hanging out and also had a bit of programing as well. I think we really saw that there could have been much, much more programing throughout the two weeks. We sang some praise songs, played some LF classic games, and I did a quic talk and challenge. They sat and participated and really listened as I answered their questions from the question box and shared the gospel.

For the 2 weeks, 9 students have given their lives to Christ and many, many more were willing to take my challenge to “give Jesus their Friday nights.” [This is when the drop-in/youth group will meet.]

As my mind starts to shift from what has happened in 5mile to what will happen in 5mile I am also reminded of the aims of this trip. Our work doesn’t stop when we leave Northern Ireland. For the people here, the work begins. And for the team coming home, the work has just begun. I know I have learned many things that I can do better in brining students closer to a relationship with Jesus… let’s pray that I am not alone in that.

I’ve also just realized something about myself. For a lot of the 2 weeks I have been very antsy. I’ve felt like I wasn’t giving anything to the team but just happily stayed in the background. In a lot of ways I’ve had to learn a new role… that of a backdoor supporter. I have been around to pick people up, challenge them, correct them, and just plain serve them. But it wasn’t until I got up to speak last night that I realized that I hadn’t gotten to do “this” the entire time I was there. Speaking to young people is something I like to do and am comfortable with. But since I wasn’t allowed to do it I had to learn a new role. Frankly, it stunk to be out of my “strong role” and it wasn’t until I got back into that role last night that I even noticed that. I really hope I have learned something from that. More on that in the future.

Camera problems… I don’t know what the deal is but I am taking pictures but not able to view them later. It’s pretty annoying. I took some videos last night that I’d like to have… but they seem to be gone. That stinks!

Clean-up My team will be busy all day trying to clean the hall. It is very, very bad. We have a few more hours, but I suspect it will take an all out effort to get it done.

Troubles in North Belfast Derek Tang asked me if these latest problems have anything to do with our teams. In looking at the map it is several miles from any of our teams. LisaB is closest in Monkstown… but still a long way away from any of that. While I don’t understand a lot of the history of “the troubles” it is clear that this is a case of two paramilitaries [gangs to us in the States] that are fighting over drug turf. Both parties technically fight against the IRA… but from what I can understand since it is so quiet right now the paramilitaries care mostly about drug turf. We are going to Hillsboro later today and that is a good distance from Belfast. [An hour or more… in NI that’s a long way!]

Just about 36 hours until we are home. Praise God for His abundant provisions. Thank you for praying for us!

Here is a post I made on my LF blog.

Yesterday was an all in all good day in 5mile. The afternoon club was slammed with kids while the drop-in was nearly silent. That was the opposite of the other days but a welcome little change of pace.

The finish line is just beyond the hill…. we can see the finish line and we are now running downhill again. I had a good talk with Maime and what they could change for 2006. My biggest conviction is that they should have a clear plan for the drop-ins. What will they teach or communicate on each day. In some ways God moved powerfully, but I am also overcome with what could have been. I feel like a better plan may have materialized a better result. The leadership issues are plain to see… not even worth mentioning as a solution as it can’t be the same again. In my eyes all problems we’ve seen have gone through those two problems.
There’s a ton of drama going on with my team about who likes who and what are they going to do about it. Apparently the leaders weren’t listening when they told us that we needed to leave all of the relationships alone for these 2 weeks. Oh well.

With only 24 hours left I am concentrating on finishing strong and buying things. I have picked up a fair amount of stuff for the kids and a couple of things for Kristen, the main thing I’ve been waiting to buy until the end… a nice sweater for Kristen.

It’s been a couple of days since I’ve heard from any of the other teams. I’m guessing they are all doing great and struggling with the mixed emotions of coming home. While we are all excited to see our families and move on with life, we will all miss our time in our locations. I look forward to the BBQ Saturday and all the good stories. More than that, I can’t wait to tell all the good things that God has done to our friends back in Romeo.

News from Autumn in Killilea:

hello all. so, here is my story for today. so, last night, Chris and I
took JT (Carols4 year old son) to get a snack. On the way back, we ran
into Broghna,who asked me if I wanted to go to the drop in with her, I
didn’treally want to go, but I did anyway. So there was this drunk
guystanding on the corner,staring at us. We were having troubles
openingthe lock and it took us about 5 minutes. He kept on moving closer
andstaring at us. So we finally got it unlocked and we got inside andlocked it.
As soon as we were inside, he walked up and was staringright in the window
at us. He didnt go away, so we phoned Laura, andshe sent Clements over to come
pick us up,so we didnt have to leavewith a scary drunk guy standing right
outside the door. So then theguy left. We were all safe and OK, and I feel kinda
stupid, but it wasreally scary.today was our first day of kids club. about 40
kids showed up,whichwas awesome.It went really well. Adam came to visit
for a littlewhile, and we saw Beth on saturday too, so that was cool.I can’t
believe that we’ve been here for 14 days! its monday and wewill be home on
sunday! I swear like yesterday I was excited becauseit was a month til we
left. its already august! thats crazy!well goodbye all, love you and miss you

For those who haven’t heard from their kids in a while… Eveyone is fine. I know for a fact that Andrea doesn’t have e-mail access and Katie is chosing to obey the “leave home @ home rule.” So if you aren’t hearing from someone… know that they are fine. There is so much “back channel” talk between leaders and even to me that if something was up I’d know within a matter of hours. As David Schultz told me, there is nothing to worry about because even if something goes wrong there isn’t anything you can do about it. You’ll still have to trust us!
On that note… I’d be happy to answer any questions if someone has one. Just leave comments 🙂

From 5mile: This morning at our team meeting we were really dragging tail. I can’t include myself in that since I slept great last night and feel ready to take on the world. But everyone else looked tired, very tired. This was a chance for me to put my “Pastor Adam” cap on and encourage the troops. I shared with them 3 passages of scripture to spur them on for these last 3 days. This is what YFC jokingly calls a “coming to Jesus moment” where everyone gets back on task.

1
Corinthians 9:24-26 24Do you not know that in a race all the runners
run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to
get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last
forever. 26Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight
like a man beating the air.

Ephesians
2:10 10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

2 Timothy
2:14-15 14Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God
against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who
listen. 15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who
does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

The message from those verses is simple. Finish strong. Show self-control. These have been our biggest weaknesses as a team. As I shared with them, it isn’t too late to show some self-control and to still finish strong. Let’s leave here with no regrets.

A funny note: I’ve made another one of my Adam moments that has everyone talking. While at lunch yesterday I joked with the wait staff about their dumb waiter. Apparently the term “mexicans” is a term for any immigrant to NI and especially those from the Republic of Ireland. They asked me what a difference was betweent their resteraunt and one in the States I just said that there would likely be more Mexicans. This sent them into a roar of laughter and it wasn’t until later that I learned about the connection. Another oops.

Another funny note: Apparently there isn’t much to do here for the police. 3 unmarked police cars took us around on our day off. The car were pretty normal except for the guns in the trunk, the sirens, and all the radios. I will say that is was my first trip in the FRONT SEAT of a police car. :0 The guys were a lot of fun and we may be getting a tour of the jail later this week. Another team got to get dressed up in full riot gear… I hope I get to do that!

Grace and peace,

PA