[Written previously on August 12]
Wow, LOTS has happened these past couple of days... it's been a whirlwind of emotions and we are mentally and physically exhausted. However, we're holding up well feeling hopeful!
On the 11th, we were planning on taking the bus from Kinsale back to Cork, and then hitch-hiking from there. We got on the bus, but didn't feel right about it. The bus was delayed in Kinsale for about 30 minutes, during which time we prayed and tried to figure out what we were to do. We decided to get off the bus, feeling that we were NOT supposed to be on it at that point. As soon as we stepped off, it departed on its way, and we headed in the opposite direction. I had the name "Skibbereen" (must have seen it on a map, because that's a pretty random word!) in my head, and lo and behold, we ended up in the town of Skibbereen that very night. We were picked up by a couple of lovely Spanish women who took us about 70 km that day! We booked a back-up reservation at a hostel, but headed out to some of the nearby farms in hopes of finding shelter in exchange for work... we tried half a dozen or so farmhouses, but there was no work to be found. The economy is doing quite poorly out this way; apparently people are being let go left, right and center! We returned to our hostel and stayed there, discouraged and a confused. We spend the rest of the evening in prayer, in the Word, and worshipping via our ipod, trying to discern some sort of direction from the Lord.
Yesterday, we were picked up by 4 or 5 different cars, and we made it all the way into Kenmare. The weather's been a bit horrid (every Irish person we meet keeps apologizing! Apparently this is one their wettest summers ever.), but we usually see patches of warm sun every day. Again, we found a hostel and collapsed, feeling directionless and down.
Let's explain: we don't feel like this is just a vacation for us. We've no desire, on this excursion, to jump from hostel to hostel merely chasing after the sights with our camera. We feel like we're here for a reason, a deeper purpose than touristing. Up until Monday, we were feeling pretty good! We knew the Lord directed us to Dempsey's Hostel in Kinsale, and we feel that during our time there we were able to bless the warden, and receive blessings from him in return. But now... we just don't know what He has up His sleeves. We've been praying our hearts out, laying out fleeces, and struggling to hear just the teensiest thing. From the very beginning of our travel plans, we told ourselves that we did not want to go if the Lord wasn't going with us--sort of that cloud by day and fire by night thing that Moses and his gang had going on in the desert :). We DO know that the Lord is here with us, but we're not sure where He wants us next, or if even perhaps our time here is done!
We've contacted quite a few people and churches that we know through contacts, and haven't had a response from any. Our goal now is to get to the Causeway Coast Vineyard Church in Northern Ireland, for we were advised by a friend from our home church to do so. Kenmare (where we are) is still in the southwest region of Ireland, and we're needing to get as far north in Northern Ireland as we can, so these next couple of days will continue to be full of travel.
To be honest, it stinks. These past two days have been so utterly decimating. We truly feel so confused and lost because we LOVE being out here, and because God was guiding us so obviously for the first week, but now it seems so completely different. We certainly can use every little prayer! We're not sure if we're under a major spiritual attack, or if our work here is finished, or if we're just supposed to move on faith despite not hearing the voice of the Lord. We've been doing the latter since Monday, and the journey to the Northern Ireland is definitely a huge faith step too, as we will be skipping by most of the sights we had wanted to see in Ireland; but God is good, and we'd rather be where HE wants us to be than for us to be ambling off doing our own thing. Having the goal of getting to the CCVC has been our beacon of hope :). We'll perhaps be on the road for the next little while, but we'll be sure to do our best to keep you updated with everything.
We LOVE all the comments and emails and facebook messages you've been sending--thank you! Hearing from our loved ones at home is a huge source of inspiration and encouragement, and we are forever grateful :).
Our love, our gratitute, our blessings,JKH