Back South

Tonight we're back in Swords with our friends Rory and Mindy McDonald. Yeah, we were supposed to have stayed with the Gasons, but here's the funny thing...

Once we planned to stay with the Gasons, I called the landlord of a house that we were going to rent for the week to cancel our arrangements with him. He had mentioned to me that the house was available for the time we needed and then they were going to do some minor renovation work on the property. So I looked on my computer (I use Skype to call overseas) looking back through my call history for his phone number, calculating what time and how long I would have talked to him and dialed the number.

When he answered, (I was calling from our computer in the airport) he was on a busy street and we had a hard time hearing each other, but I was sure that he had understood that we wouldn't be staying with them after all. He seemed okay that we had pulled out. In fact he said that he could then have family who were going to help do the renovating come early and start. No worries.

So today I called the Gasons and left a voice mail to tell them when they should expect us. Alex called a short time later and said, "Now, I'm really confused. I got a call a few days ago from a guy who said he was Gary Hodges and that he and his wife wouldn't be staying with us as planned. I thought it was kind of strange how you acted like you didn't know me, but then..."

So, come to find out, I hadn't called the landlord, but instead had been talking to Alex. So they now have their house torn up doing renovations. Yes -- both the landlord and the Gasons were planning to have renovations done after our stay with them. What are the chances?

So we're back staying in Rory and Mindy's "prophet room". They have been more than gracious and have given us a key and the freedom to stay with them whenever we like or need while we're in Dublin. Gotta love these guys.

We took a scenic route back here to Dublin and had a nice day together recovering from a busy weekend. We did, though, have a wonderful Sunday afternoon with the Porters in Belfast, taking a walk around a nearby lake and exploring an old fort and church.

Our time in the North seems to have opened up a few potential churches to work with. We may, in fact, before we leave next month, take another jaunt up to Belfast to meet with our new contacts there. We also didn't meet with William Olphert in Ballymena this morning. He just returned from Hong Kong yesterday and we wouldn't have had a lot of time at our disposal, so we decided to try and meet up later in our trip.

The next few days will find us connecting with a lot of people, setting up meetings, going to meetings and finishing plans for our workshops.

Check back shortly for pictures...