Is there a God? If not, what are all these churches for? And who is Jesus' dad?

First of all I would like to mention that the title of this post once again proves that there is an Office quote for everything.

There's no pictures for this post it's just a little something about one of my favorite things in Galway, the CU (Christian Union). I started going to the CU I think the second week of school here, because I had been going to the Agape House at SDSU and liked it so much. I found out about the CU at the Society's Day on campus (I can't remember if that's what it was really called, but whatever). So every week we get together in the Chapel common room and sing some songs, pray and then have a lecture or group discussion about the bible (we are discussing Acts). Then we have tea and biscuits. Everyone there is so nice, and it is so nice to be able to take a break from the grind of the week and get out and go worship God.

This week, however, was different. It was RAG week at NUIG, which basically means an excuse for people to drink literally all day long. To give you an idea, I woke up one morning at 9 and people were already, or still, drunknely stumbling across the courtyard. It is insane. Also, I think 45 people have been arrested in relation to RAG week, to the point where the University has cancelled it next year. I don't understand how it connects to charity, but I hear that it does. Anyway, for the Wednesday night of RAG week the CU got a room in Eyre Square, which has a lot of activity, and set it up with different prayer areas. It was so cool. There was an area for personal reflection, repentance, new life, personal prayers, thanksgiving, prayers for churches, Ireland CU's, the world and other stations. It was so great. I spent a particularly long time praying in the "new life" area, as there are some things I am trying to change right now. It really couldn't have come at a better time for me, as I had kind of a rough day yesterday, and it was exactly what I needed.

Anyway, starting at 7 PM, we all gathered for singing and stuff downstairs. Declan brought his guitar, which I was later able to play which was so much fun. I didn't think it would be possible, but I was even worse than I was a few months ago, there goes all of Chris and JV's hard work at teaching me. Anyway, we sang a lot of songs, including Shout to the Lord (my favorite!). Then we had some pancakes and tea. Well, other people had pancakes, I don't like them so I didn't. So then people could wander up to the prayer room as they wished and take their time and pray. We had signed up for times to stay throughout the night, and I had signed up for 12-2 and 2-4 with Christina. So we were there pretty much all night.

At about 2:30 we went out into Eyre Square among the masses of drunken students, and handed out free hot choclate. It was really an awesome experience. It might sound a little ridiculous, but it wasn't. Some people were suspicious of what we may have put in it, but most people were really grateful for it, and happy to get it. It also started good conversations with people about why we were out there, and we got to answer the question, "Who are you?" many times. One particular drunk guy asked if I believed in dinosaurs, since I was a Christian and all. Before that I didn't really know dinosaurs were something people believed in. Overall, it was a really great experience and I am very glad that I stayed late to do it. I hope that from the people we talked to they at least think a bit more about God and what He is doing in their lives. I really wish I could articulate this experience better, but you'll have to take what you can get in this case.

So we went back into the prayer room at about 3:30 after running out of hot choclate, and we prayed and read the bible a bit more. Then at 4:30 Christian and I decided it was time to pack it in and head home. So we got home shortly after 4:30 after Kevin generously gave us a ride, otherwise it would've been about a half hour walk. I got home and Menlo was still raging with parties. Even though I had texted Emily earlier in the night and asked her to keep the door unlocked for me, it was unfortunately locked when I got home. So I called each of my roommates a few hundred times, rang the doorbell a few hundred more and never got let in. Around 5 AM, after unsuccessfully trying to break in a window, I saw Jaye and Jess' roommate Connor leave the party and asked if I could stay at their place, so I went up to Jess and Jaye's room and woke them up and asked them to take pity on my poor locked out soul. Thankfully, they thought the situation was hilarious and let me have some blankets and I "slept" on their floor. It was cold. I shivered and barely slept pretty much most of the night. I was also worried I'd sleep through the alarm I set on my phone, and miss the deadline to turn in my essay, so I didn't sleep much at all. Finally, at about 8 Emily texted me and asked where I was. She then unlocked the door for me and I crashed in my bed until 9, when I had to get up to go to college to print out my essay. So I am pretty tired about now. It was well worth it though. I really had a great time, it was a great experience and I am so happy that I am learning and growing in my relationship with the Lord.

Anyway, that's all a very long explanation of something I really like. So hopefully it wasn't too boring. Also, sorry about the lack of captions on the Paris pictures, I think the post is too big and it won't let me put any on.