D.L.

Café la Casa is temporarily closed!
I hope it is a short-term closure, and I hope I will be open this coming week!
Since arriving in Dunfanaghy, I have been getting my coffee and writing this blog every Sunday before Church.

So, I am out of my comfort zone this morning. I miss the coffee shop’s business, but I cannot complain. I am in my study looking at a very cloudy Head Horn, and the rain has not stopped since last night.

I am not alone; my daughters and son, plus his friends, are here for the weekend! For the boys, it is the Donegal Rally, and they were so excited that they got to experience some of the action!
Today is my fourth Sunday as Minister of Dunfanaghy and Carrigart. I also have the responsibility of leading the work of the Bewglas Centre, but I will talk about it later.

“Have you settling in?” I have been asked this question many times, and it does not bother me at all. In fact, it shows that people care, and my answers have been consistent: I’m still settling…
The word “setting” has a beginning and an end; it is like a journey. You start in the process of settling when you move to a place that is not familiar, and that is the point: We are familiarising ourselves, getting to know how it all works and the rhythms of life in a new setting.

I think it is a great concept to become familiar with something, yet it also has its warnings, and one of them is very complex: once you are familiar with something, you stop settling in, or when you think you have arrived, the sense of wonder, mystery, and adventure is lost.

So, I want to settle in and have the Manse ready for family and friends and to work from, but I do not want to settle in so that I lose the wonder and mystery that are ready to be discovered. I long to get to know these two places and explore their secrets, to know their people and history, and, above all, to be open to the adventure of what God wants us to do, unfolding his plans for us.
Unfolding is a process, and today, this Sunday, his purposes are unfolding, his mysteries are revealed, and I pray his presence is felt.

Today, I am sharing about my favourite member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, and how he relates to the Kingdom of God. I wonder how much you and I know of the Holy Spirit. According to 2 Corinthians 13, we are meant to have fellowship with him.

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
(2 Corinthians 13:13 CSB17)

It is raining outside, and the rain comes and goes; I can see birds landing on the lawn and picking up worms. There is a place that looks like a landing pad; it is a bit elevated, and the births are like gathering there as if they are meeting, all this under the soft rain falling down. My prayer today, on my fourth Sunday, is that we will feel and experience the soft rain from heaven, the Spirit descending on us, refreshing us and empowering us as we gather.

Have a great Sunday!