Belfast Christmas and 2011 wrap-up

Christmas has come and gone over here in Belfast and we've certainly enjoyed every minute of it. As I reflect on the past few days, I'm reminded of the words in the Charlie Brown Christmas song "Christmas Time Is Here."

Christmas time is here
we'll be drawing near;
Oh that we could always see
such spirit through the year.

Keeping the family tradition of Christmas Eve oyster stew alive!

Such spirit through the year. Ah, that would be wonderful. But as this blog will show you, we've received the hospitality our whole time here in Belfast. Christmas wasn't anything especially new because people have been going above and beyond for us our whole time here so far. In light of that, THANK YOU! It's been a great first four months and that is due to all of the people we've been working with and in contact with at Woodvale Methodist, the 174 Trust, and Whitehouse Presbyterian. And thank you to Doug, Elaine, the staff at the YAV office back home, and all of the other YAVs in Belfast and around the world for the support that you've provided.

Ellison and I in the kitchen at YAV Christmas

Some of the highlights of the first four months have been mentioned on the blog already, i.e. the numerous lessons learned at the 174 parent/toddler group. But other memorable moments would include any time Pat (the do-it-all guy at the 174) has said something ridiculous and I've jotted it down in my notebook. For example, "He's about as useful as a one-legged man in an arse kicking competition." I'd also have to include the time with our newly formed young adult group at Woodvale. We've had many tough discussions that have brought us all closer together and have even made time to go bowling and do some outreach. Last week, on the 23rd, we took soup and bread over to the fold (a type of elderly housing) that is next to the church to share a meal with residents and sing carols and visit. It was an effort by the group to look beyond ourselves this Christmas season and give something that we normally wouldn't. I pray that we continue such a spirit of giving through the year.



Josh visiting and sharing a cup of tea

One of the not-so-scared kids at the party

At the Christmas party for the parent/toddler group at Woodvale I dressed up as Tigger. I'm not sure who decided this or why it was decided but someone thought the kids would like Tigger at the Christmas party. Well, the kids liked the idea of Tigger. They didn't like Tigger himself. As I held children for parents to take pictures, the majority of the kids cried. I scared more kids than I would like to admit but when Tigger left the party, many of them were asking where he went. Like I said, they liked the idea of Tigger but not the big orange guy himself. The experience made me quite glad I don't work at Disney World.

One of the yearly Christmas traditions at Woodvale is a Christmas ball. You put on your best attire and come for a wonderful three course meal and then get your dancing shoes on for a bit of fun. We had a wonderful time at the ball and, staying true to Wyoming form, even did the Cotton-Eyed Joe. That's right, the song was magically on the iPod that was being used to play the music and I found it on there. Thus, we taught Woodvale how to dance Wyoming style. I'll upload the video later as the try to so far as resulted in 12 hours of waiting.

Thanks again to everyone who made Christmas and the first four months over here so great. Now, may we strive to show the spirit of Christmas all year in 2012! Happy New Year!

twitter

I've joined that sensation that is twitter and will be tweeting about my YAV year each day. At least, I intend to. I always said I wouldn't join twitter but the string of good one-liners I heard this week made me second guess that decision. Now, when someone like 9 year-old Katie at Urban Magnets says to me "Karl, I can kick my own bum" and then proceeds to jump in the air and do just that, I can share it with you all much more quickly. So follow me there on twitter for further updates! My twitter name is karlheimbuck.

Merry Christmas!

His law is love and His gospel is peace

Last night, the evening service at Woodvale was a carol service. The church was dimly lit and candles sat on each window ledge. I'll admit that, up until this point, it didn't feel like Christmas here. Santa sat in store windows, mannequins wore snowflake covered scarves and jumpers, and the busyness of City Centre all pointed towards the holiday season, but I didn't feel it. There isn't snow on the ground. Some sits on Cave Hill, but it's not accumulating. It's not Wyoming/Colorado and that's about all I've ever known for Christmas.

But last night was perfect. And Christmas hit me when we started to sing "Silent Night." The ambiance that surrounded us was exactly that which is Christmas to me. It made me think of all the Christmas Eve services I've been to that have closed with the famous carol and each person holding a lit candle. It made me realize that Christmas comes to Belfast the same way it does Wyoming. And it made me so happy to be celebrating Christmas here with our new families: two new church families and a new family of friends in that lovely thing we call the YAV community.

As if the night couldn't have been more perfect, we followed "Silent Night" up with "O Holy Night." I think my favorite line from any Christmas song comes from this carol. By the title of the blog post, I'm sure you've guessed what that line is, but I'll still tell you because it's worth repeating over and over. His law is love and His gospel is peace. What wonderful things we find in Jesus Christ, love and peace, and what better time of year to celebrate those than right now as we celebrate His coming to teach us that love and peace.

Earlier this week, I witnessed a two year old abide perfectly by this law of love and seek peace for a friend. Now, before I tell you about that, note that you will likely hear me tell this story more than just once if we see you after this year. I think I will forever link my YAV year with this story.

Wednesday, at the 174 Trust parent/toddler group, Jacob (whom I've mentioned on here before) was having a tough day. He came with Patrick and Patrick's mother because his mother was away with Jacob's older siblings at a pantomime. And I think Jacob really missed her. He's not one to seek attention and I don't believe he likes others to feel sorry for him so he showed no outward signs of this distress aside from wandering around the hall not knowing what to do and seeming disengaged from anything or anyone. I tried to perk him up and get him over to the tricycle he likes to have me push him around on since his feet don't reach the pedals. When we got to the tricycle, Jacob put his arms on the seat and then buried his face in his hands. I picked him up to comfort him and see what was wrong and if there was anything that could be done. There didn't seem to be so we just stood there in the hall together trying to figure things out.

It's fair to mention, at this point, that Patrick was having a rough day as well. He continued to cry off and on, for some reason I didn't know and neither did his mother. As I'm standing in the middle of the hall holding Jacob and trying to comfort him, Patrick walks up to us crying. I look at Jacob and he isn't in tears so I put him down and pick up Patrick. I begin to walk with Patrick back over to his mother who was busy preparing the snacks for the kids so she gave me a look that said something like "You're good with him, you can handle this." It might not have said that, but if it didn't, I like to pretend it did.

Patrick and I sat down on the steps and I tried to calm him down and see what was wrong. He was starting to lighten up a little when Jacob walked back over to us with Lightning McQueen in hand. Now, the Lightning McQueen car is one of the most treasured toys at the 174 parent/toddler group. All of the boys love it. It's the only toy I've seen Jacob even get a little defensive over. Despite the popularity of the toy or maybe because of it, Jacob handed the toy to Patrick and sat down next to him. Patrick took the toy and began racing it all over the steps and the wall. He was happy again and because of this, Jacob was, too, as I could tell by the newly spread smile on his face.

I was floored by this whole scene. I couldn't do anything to really cheer these boys up and then one act of sacrificial love by one of them worked to make both of them happy. Talk about a great sermon illustration! What Jacob did was truly give Patrick the most sacrificial gift that his two-year-old self could have. In Jacob's world, I don't believe anything could top giving your favorite toy to a friend to help cheer them up. There is nothing more he could've done. Had Patrick not cheered up because of this gesture, I think Jacob would've been shocked. But it all worked, as it almost always seems to when we give sacrifical gifts.

This holiday season, let's strive to give the kind of gifts that make all the difference in the world while keeping in mind that we received the gift of love and a gospel of peace on that first Christmas.

Merry Christmas everyone! It really is and is going to be!

catching up part 2

The actual day that was Thanksgiving was very much a typical Thursday for the Belfast YAVs. There's nothing special about the fourth Thursday of November in Northern Ireland. I started my day out with Little Steps (the parent/toddler group at Woodvale). Then it was over to the 174 Trust for the after school program followed by time with the football boys. I then headed back over to Woodvale for Urban Magnets.

The Saturday that followed Thanksgiving told a much different story. First off, I slept in. I normally can't so this was especially wonderful. Then, after lunch, Team Skeg made their way over to Bathgate for a typical Thanksgiving football game. We headed down the Belmont Road to Belmont Park where we were greeted by a beautiful green park, lots of open space to play, and mud. Oh yes, it was muddy! But I can't imagine it would've been better if it hadn't been so slick on account of said mud.

the heimbuck faction of team Skeg

We set up a short field and played that each team got four downs to score. The field was long enough that punting would've been a good strategic move for some of the drives, but we're YAVs, we don't punt. In the end, Kendra led Team Skeg with two touchdowns passes. Christina made a boatload of "tackles" and I was on the receiving end of Kendra's touchdown throws. Team Bathgate featured Patrick with a touchdown reception and a pick six. I think Liz threw the touchdown pass and Ellison just about threw a touchdown pass to himself. On fourth and goal from about the 3, Ellison threw one up for Patrick, I got my hand on it to bat it down and did so but it went right back to Ellison. He caught it, ran, and Christina stopped him just short on the 1. It was a close game and the official score was 14-14 but we decided that we would say that the score was fun to fun and Jesus won.

After the football game, we made our way over to Doug and Elaine's for an incredibly delicious feast. The turkey was terrific and I can't begin to tell you how good the stuffing was. If the stuffing is great, then it's always a good Thanksgiving meal. Based on the Baker's stuffing, it was a GREAT Thanksgiving meal. The YAVs provided most of the desserts and I was quick to take a piece of Kendra's apple pie. It's certainly one of my favorite desserts. Fortunately for me, there was even some to take home. So I enjoyed it more than just once.

patrick on edge! literally.

Before the meal we watched Michigan and Ohio St battle it out. After the meal we were able to watch the Alabama vs. Auburn game. It might be more accurate to say that we watched Patrick reactions to the Alabama/Auburn game more than we did the game itself but it was a treat to have live football. In fact, the whole night was a real treat. Thank you to the Bakers for making the night possible for us. You spoiled us. You really did. And it means a lot to have people that will spoil you right when you're hitting the funk that apparently comes just as the Christmas season is starting and you've been away from home for coming up on 4 months. With that said, I hope you'll be inspired to take some time today to thank someone who has gone the extra mile for you at some point and it's made all the difference. Doug and Elaine, thank you!

a random pic of the group on the North Coast - seemed like a good one to add

catching up part 1

I'm going to try and catch people up with all that's been going over here in Belfast for me in a multi-part blog week. Lots has happened in the past few weeks. We had the 24 hour prayer at Woodvale (mentioned in the last post), I got a nasty bit of the flu, Urban Magnets is going with some sense of regularity, the Christmas market at City Hall opened, we had Thanksgiving at the Baker's house, we played American football before said Thanksgiving, Ellison ate my Secret Santa name so no one would ever find out who I had, Kendra and I went to see Hugo (first movie in about 4 months!), we had the Christmas Ball at Woodvale, we went and saw the Belfast Jazz Orchestra, and I've eaten more snowballs than I can count. But for this post, Part 1, we'll just focus on the 24 hour prayer.

About three and a half weeks ago a group of about ten of us courageously took the night shift for our 24 hours of prayer and stayed at the church overnight. We didn't just pray. We had some fellowship. We even snuck in a bit of sleep. So, to be fair, it was probably more like 20 hours of prayer.

my "pod" dealing with our service in the world for others

The church opened at 11 on Saturday for people to begin coming in. We set up various "pods" in the fellowship room at the front of the church and in the sanctuary for people to work their way around, praying at each place. The pods had different themes, giving people different things to pray about and different ways in which to pray: leaving written requests, meditating on specific trials that we have, or praying for others were a few of these ways.

The mood in the church was incredible. It was calming and peaceful. As darkness fell, the candlelight rose. For some reason candles seem to go well with prayer and this night was no exception. They added to the feeling that the Spirit was at work. At work providing a peaceful place in which we could be heard by each other and the Lord and allowing the space to be one in which it was easy to truly speak and listen.

After time in solo prayer, the group came together to pray for the church and the many requests that were written and left. It was about 2 in the morning at this point and some of us were really fighting to keep our eyes open (that wasn't me yet). But we persevered and spent some great time both praying and then reflecting on the prayers together. One prayer that was left and really stood out to me was "Lord, help me to serve all people, not just those I am comfortable serving." I really started thinking about this a lot over that next week. I think if I was to write out a request like this, I would add "Lord, please help me to serve when it is inconvenient as well." It's great when we serve, but we often do it because the opportunity to just about slaps us in the face and we almost don't have a choice not to serve. Or that the opportunity to serve comes at the right time and this time spent serving isn't going to burden us in some other way later. I, myself, am guilty of this. I even try to justify not serving in my mind when it's so obvious that I just missed the opportunity to. For example, two weeks ago I was headed up the Antrim Road, going back to our flat from the 174 Trust, when I noticed one of the restaurants along the way closing. This restaurant usually has tables and chairs set up just outside the door underneath the black awnings. As they were closing up, one of the workers was carrying in the tables and chairs. She appeared to be the last person left for the day, and the chairs and tables were difficult for her to carry. I could have helped her finish in no time but I walked right on past. A half a block later I knew I blew it, but I kept walking and tried to justify not helping her out. I failed at justifying this and am still wrestling with it weeks later. "Lord, help me serve when it's uncomfortable and inconvenient."

another one of my favorite prayers that was left - "help us to be real"

So thank you Woodvale for getting me involved in the 24 hour prayer. It's helped me remember the importance of prayer. Even if you're unsure of whether your prayers are being heard or not, it's important to work things through in your mind in the way that prayer allows us to. And maybe for you, like it does for me, it'll help you be more attentive throughout your day to all of the ways this world keeps ticking and how we're all a part of keeping the motion positive.

i did get some sleep. also had my camera stolen and found pictures like this one put on it.