For everything there is a season,
and a time
for every matter under heaven:
a time to be
born, and a time to die;
a time to
plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to
kill, and time to heal;
a time to
break down, and a time to build up;
a time to
weep, and time to dance;
a time to
cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to
embrace, and time to refrain from embraces;
a time to
seek, and a time to lose;
a time to
keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to
rend, and a time to sew;
a time to
keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to
love, and a time to hate;
a time for
war, and a time for peace.
This has always been one of my favorite passages in the Bible,
no matter how cliché it may be! Ever
since High School this idea of different seasons in our lives has spoken to my
heart. I know my life has gone through
various stages and has probably included pretty much all of the seasons
mentioned above (although I don’t remember ever killing anyone). Life is anything but stagnant and like the
four seasons we experience from fall to summer we experience different seasons
in our own lives. We experience times of
extreme joy to times of true pain and
loss and everything in between. Even in eight months here on NET I have
experienced many seasons of life, including a time for renewal in the mountains
of Wicklow.
The weekend after our team went to Cork we received an
invitation to attend a weekend long retreat at Avoca Manor retreat center
located in the heart of the Wicklow Mountains. This two day retreat was based
on the book The Essential Jesus. This
book contains 100 readings from the Bible that go through Jesus’ life and
teaching to help us discover who Jesus is in a deeper way. We were blessed to receive this invitation because
the director is friends with Fr. Seamus, our parish priest, and wanted us to
experience the ministry they do at Avoca Manor.
Avoca Manor has been around for many years and is doing great work with
the youth of Ireland. We had met Jim, the
director, and another member of their staff when they came to our parish to see
how they might be able to help the Delvin youth when there is not a NET team
here. After this they invited to come
experience their ministry so that we might be able to see how our ministries
could work together.
It was refreshing to spend time with another ministry
focused on helping the youth of Ireland.
Some days it feels like we are on our own and it can be very daunting so
to see others devoting time and energy into youth ministry is so reassuring. To know there are others out there
encouraging youth in their faith encourages me in my faith and ministry. It gives me hope and zeal to continue this
work God has tasked me with.
The retreat itself was also a real time of renewal. When doing ministry full time it can be
really nice to go on retreat and just be ministered to for a weekend. It was absolutely amazing to sit in small
group and just share my thoughts without the pressure of trying to remember all
the youth’s names and favorite candy bars while trying to come up with thought
provoking questions for discussion. It
helped that I had an amazing small group that was open to sharing and hearing
ideas. I also enjoyed going through
Jesus’ life in the Bible and developing a greater love for scripture. A greater love for scripture is something I’ve
always wanted in my life but just haven’t been able to foster on my own. This weekend was a good start in that. I still don’t pick up the Bible as often as I
should I am getting better.
The retreat was great and I was really renewed through that
time but I have to say the greatest moment for me came before we actually got
to the retreat site. Since we were
already heading to Co. Wicklow and didn’t have to be at the retreat site until
late Friday night we decided to head out early and spend Friday afternoon exploring
Wickow Mountains National Park. The
Wicklow Mountains are home to Glendalough, an abandoned monastic city built in
the 5th and 6th Centuries. This place is home to tons of ruins and
beautiful scenery. There are many
walking trails around the area that allow you to take in the beauty of God’s
creation in these amazing mountains.
I don’t know if I can adequately describe how excited I was
to spend some time hiking in the mountains.
See, as a Wyoming girl, used to mountains everywhere, coming to Ireland,
a very flat country, I have been missing the mountains…a lot! It’s funny how much we take for granted those
things we are surrounded with every day, like mountains. I’ve always loved the mountains. When I see a mountain I see a billboard from
God exclaiming I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!
Mountains are just so majestic and beautiful and are one the best ways
God shows his love for me. So, as we reached
the mountains my heart began to fill. I
can’t describe the joy I felt getting out of the car and standing at the foot a
beautiful mountain. 
For our afternoon of exploring our team chose a path to hike
that went up and around a beautiful waterfall.
As we hiked around all tiredness and stress was washed away by the healing
powers of the mountains. I felt so much joy during that hike and was
really renewed. I hadn’t realized how
much I missed the mountains and being out in nature until I was there and was filled
once again in a way I hadn’t been in months.
Nature, particularly the beauty found in the mountains, truly refreshes
my soul and fills me until I’m overflowing with God’s love. I could have spent months exploring the
mountains and various paths in Wicklow.
They were so different from the Rocky Mountains and Tetons I grew up
around but held their own breathtaking beauty with the trees, plant life, wildlife
and random ruins that were nothing like anything I experience in Wyoming or
Colorado. I am so grateful our team was given that chance to be in the mountains
and be renewed in that way. It was
amazing gift from God.
God Bless,
Amy
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