One Year in Ireland

I can hardly believe it, but exactly one year ago today our family arrived in Ireland!

And what a year it has been…

We settled in to a new home and had to learn things like how to get hot water and turn on the oven. We’ve adjusted from a hot, dry climate to a cool, wet climate. We’ve navigated through round-a-bouts and gotten used to driving on the left. We’ve drank more tea in the last year than in the previous 30 years combined.

We’ve seen our oldest child start school – and welcomed our youngest child into the world. We celebrated 10 years of marriage together. We’ve had a few visitors from home (and would love to see more). We’ve made lots of new friends and missed lots of old friends.

We’ve been challenged in our faith and forced to examine what we believe and why. We’ve been disappointed at what seems like a lack of results. At times, we’ve questioned if what we are doing is making any difference at all. We’ve prayed a lot. We’ve cried a lot. We’ve grown closer to God.

We’ve shared our faith with dozens of people. We’ve walked in a St. Patrick’s Day parade. We’ve walked 75 miles with a wooden cross. We’ve reached out to the community that we live in and helped meet needs. We’ve seen God speak into the lives of people here in amazing ways.

We’ve watched God provide for us time and time again. We’ve learned that being totally dependent on God is the best place to be.

Through it all, we’ve thanked God for using you, His people, to allow us to be here – striving, sharing, and serving. It is truly such a privilege – and we are both humbled and grateful for your partnership.

We have now reached the half-way point of our initial 2-year commitment to OM Ireland. Please continue to pray for our family as we begin to seek God’s direction for our next steps. That could be here in Ireland or perhaps somewhere else – we don’t know yet.

One thing we that we do know for sure is that we will follow wherever He leads.

Every Blessing,

The Bryant Family

May Quarterly Newsletter

Some updates from our ministry in Ireland.

Bryant Bulletin May 10

Support OM Ireland! Click here to purchase a new song for St. Patrick's Day!

This is very cool! An original song put together by an all-Irish band, inspired by the writing on St. Patrick's breastplate.

Not only is the song inspiring, but the band (Mr. JAG) has given OM Ireland the rights to the single - which means that 100% of the proceeds go to support the ministry of OM Ireland.

Just in time to celebrate St. Patrick's Day! Please purchase this (only 89 cents U.S) and tell all your friends about it.

Click here to learn more about St. Patrick's Breastplate.

Here is the heart of the song, taken from the words on the breastplate:

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

Bryant Family Newsletter - February 2010

Bryant Bulletin Feb 10

Can You Hear Me Now?

Greetings & Happy New Year from Ireland!

Recently Colm, one of our good Irish friends, went to an area hospital for a long-scheduled doctor appointment. He has a family history involving stomach cancer and was headed in for his annual procedure to check on that.

With the Irish healthcare system being what it is, just getting in to see the doctor is quite an ordeal in itself. Not every town has a hospital, and just because there is a hospital doesn’t mean that all services are available there. So to see his “local” doctor, our friend had to take a 1 ½ hour bus ride, and then waited at the hospital for another 1 ½ hours before his name was called. So before the appointment had even started, the exasperation and frustration were already reaching high levels! Imagine then what happened next…

Nurse: Right, then. Colm, we are ready for your hearing test.

Colm: What?!

Nurse: I said – WE ARE READY FOR YOUR HEARING TEST.

Colm: What?!?!

Nurse: I SAID-

Colm: I heard what you said, but I don’t understand what you mean. I’m not here for a hearing test!

After following her back to the waiting room, he was able to look at his chart and see that the hearing test was one that had been requested 2 years earlier as part of his bus driving certification (among other things, Colm drives OM Ireland’s Big Red Bus). So, since he was already there and the doctor wasn’t prepared for the other procedure that Colm had been expecting, he had his hearing tested. As it turns out, the testing they were able to do indicated that he wasn’t able to hear sounds at very high and very low frequencies and they recommended him for further testing. Interestingly, by having a test done that he wasn’t even expecting, a potential problem was identified and now Colm will be able to prepare for the next steps regarding that problem.

After laughing at this story (which you probably really have to hear Colm tell in his Irish accent to appreciate), I realized that sometimes God calls us in for unscheduled hearing tests too. A “spiritual” hearing test, if you will. Often, these tests can come at the end of long journey and/or a lot of waiting – just like when Colm went to the hospital.

Has that ever happened to you before? I know it has happened to me – when I am expecting something to happen, or asking Him for direction, or asking Him to intervene – and then God does something that is not at all what I want. He takes me in a totally different direction than what I was hoping for. In fact, sometimes it seems to me like the situation is made way more complicated, troublesome, tragic, etc. than it needs to be.

But then (usually after the situation has passed) you realize that if God hadn’t brought you through those circumstances in just exactly the way that He chose to, you would have missed the opportunity to learn something important about yourself and your relationship with Him.

It’s God’s way of saying, “I know you were expecting a different procedure, but my chart indicates you are overdue for a hearing test. Now concentrate and pay attention. Can you hear me? Are you listening to me?”

If you haven’t had your hearing checked lately, it may be time to schedule an appointment with the Great Physician. His office is always open, there is no wait, and there’s not even a co-payment to make!

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” – Matthew 11:15