Rain, Rain Go Away

We would love to say the last two days have been JAM PACKED with fun, exciting travel-type things. Seeing amazing sites, taking incredible tours and just generally doing the things that one is supposed to do on trips like this. Well, things haven't quite gone our way the last couple of days. Ireland has, unfortunately, had the rainiest summer in 50 years...and its continuing. Almost every morning we have woken up to pouring rain, cloudy skies and general dreariness. We have pretty much maintained our high spirits and positive attitudes, donning our rain gear and slopping through the slippery cobblestone roads. However, this morning we hit a wall. Whitney called into me from the bathroom saying 'is someone vacuuming outside our room?' I replied, 'No, that's just the wind and horizontal rain hitting the side of our hotel (I use that word loosely). It should let up...next week sometime.' So all that to say, we are pretty much running from dry spot to dry spot, attempting to keep our newly cleaned clothes (we did laundry a couple of days ag0), clean for as long as possible.

While we are (apparently) sitting amidst one of the most beautiful landscapes in Ireland, we have not been able to get quite as many picturesque views as we were hoping for. The sun set, last night, over Dingle Bay and it was a stunning sight. The rain had cleared and the clouds were drifting away from the sleepy town. We sat and watched it disappear over the horizon from our little bay window view. However, we think we may have had enough of the weather and from what we have heard, it doesn't look like it will change any time soon. So, we are planning to change the itinerary a bit and seek the sunnier and warmer spots of Portugal and Spain. We will be doing the Waterford Crystal Factory here in Ireland tomorrow, but then venturing to Dublin to return the car and fly out.

As I posted in my original post, I never want to appear as though this trip is drudgery or painful, but with that said, life continues. We have our ups and downs each day. Whether it be hiding from the weather, or trying to make it to our train on time, or munching bread and meat from the market rather than sitting down to a three course hot meal, this trip brings with it trials like any other day. Let me explain. When we began planning this trip many, many months ago, I (Michael) felt as though all my worries and cares would disappear if I put an ocean between myself and my previous life. Instead, worries, trials and annoyances seem as frequent here as ever. I have come to a more clear understanding that my goal should not be to seek a place where the worries are less, but rather seek the best way to deal with those worries. I think I am on the cusp of learning an incredible lesson, one of the many (hopefully) that I learn abroad. Dealing with worry is not the same as eliminating it. I have stopped praying as much for God to remove my worries, as to help me see Him through them. Knowing that my end goal is to be shaped by these experiences, I realize that coasting through an incident free six months will do little for that goal. With that in mind, we are trying to embrace, rather than avoid, the annoyances, the worries and the problems we face. We hope then, that God will work in our lives, grooming us for better things.