Tallyho for Tollymore!

Sum up from Friday:

• Made friends with two guys from Malta, two Swedes named Attila (yes, like the hun) and Sanna
• Went to a "ceila", which is a very lively Irish folk dance...thing. 
• Other technically "Jamie trying to become a legal student" nonsense. 

Now for Sunday! Sunday, instead of going to my normal church, I went with the students to Ballynahich Baptist. It was a lovely church, followed by, of course, tea. Then, a few ladies of the church had prepared lunch for us, so we supped together on--get prepared all you who ask me constantly about the Irish food--rice and curry chicken! hahaha. You actually thought I was going to say something Irish like roasted lamb intestine or something. 

There were potatoes, though, don't get me wrong. When in cooking doubt, eat potatoes and wash 'em down with tea. 

We washed it down with tea but also with some lovely desserts like this: 

I still have no idea what it was. There's some spun sugar Styrofoam type thing in the middle and a different for the crust and some kind of honeyed comb but not honeycomb and whipped cream. Not. A. Clue. But it was good! 

After lunch, we headed on toward Tolleymore Forest, the location used as the basis for C.S. Lewis' Narnia as well as JRR Tolkein's backdrop for the LOTR series. 

The last time I was in this lovely forest a year ago, I somehow ended up in a restricted section about a half mile away from the forest (and non-restricted zone) on someone's farm, turning around when I saw the "Trespassers will be shot" sign. What? How? Very good questions. Thank you for asking them. Moving on!

Maybe it's the forest and maybe it's me (and maybe it's Maybeline *cue Relient K) but I have some issues with farms and lostness. It happened again. I found some very lovely bridges, though, as well as this rock...thing. Both of which I never would have seen (no picture of the cool forbidden bridge). 

It reads: 

STOP 

Look around and Praise the Name of Him 

Who Made It All

When I was in the leadership program at New Life Ranch and we would go on hikes, they would always tell us, "Look up!" And we'd look up and see the way the light played with the different hues in the green and yellow leaves, but we never would have seen them if we hadn't been reminded. Instead, we would have been so focused on the ground right below and in front of us (and all the roots we were trying to avoid tripping on) that we would have kept on trudging with the beauty above unappreciated. 

I didn't see this stone. A girl I was with, Abbi, saw it. I passed straight by staring at the path, totally focused on trying to figure out way out of the forest. I didn't stop; I didn't look up. 

I'm always trying to find my way out, to seek out solutions, to stay on top of things, to maintain consciousness (again, cue Relient K) that I often get so completely enwrapped in my own head that I don't look around and see the beauty of God nor praise his name for it all. If I would, I'd probably get lost in far fewer forests, for I'd see the signposts just outside my lane of vision.