First Row Seats at Riverdance = AMAZINGNESS!

"Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive - it's such an interesting world." -Lacy Mead Montgomery

The last few days have been utterly incredible. I don't even really know where to start, I'm really behind on journaling and updating this blog because we have done SO MUCH the past 2 days...though I briefly wrote about Monday already, so I guess I'll do Tuesday. We got up early and went into the City Centre to go on the Dublin Hop on Hop off Bus Tour. Best thing we could have done to see the highlights of the entire city! You just buy a ticket and there are 23 stops, a bus comes every 10 minutes so you can get off whenever and for however long you wish, then just hop on the next one. It's brilliant, really. Oh and did I mention the weather was sunny and in the 70's?!??!? It couldn't have been a better, more perfect day! We visited so many places, such as the St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Dublin Castle, Guinness Storehouse, Trinity College, etc. It took us about 4 hours and we didn't even get off at every stop...but we did some shopping along the way so that took up some time. We were wanting to be on the train back home at 4...but it ended up being 5. It takes about 45-60 minutes to get from the City Centre to my house on the train, then walking...and we were already running late so we hailed a taxi and made up some time that way. We came home, ate really fast, changed, did our hair/makeup, and then had a taxi take us back down to the train to go back into town to the Gaiety Theatre to see Riverdance.

We ended up getting there about 30 minutes early, so that was nice. Our seats were okay...on the first balcony, the Dress Circle, in the last row. We were just so happy to be there. The Gaiety is not very big so we were able to see alright. The show was awesome! During the show we spotted some open seats in the first row of our section, so the seats were overlooking the ground floor seats. Right after intermission, we jumped up to snatch them but 2 other people go there first. We were kinda sad and contemplating what to do...Kristin said she had seen some open seats in the front, on the 2nd row...so we walked downstairs. I thought to myself..."this is crazy, there is NO WAY that there will be open seats in the 2nd row from the front, but whatever, I'll ask anyways". Kristin and I got separated midway through, and she motioned for me to ask the guy beside what we thought were 2 open seats. When I asked him, he said, "well these are taken but I don't think those are"...he was pointing to 2 OPEN SEATS IN THE VERY FIRST ROW. I was like...seriously?! So I asked the lady beside them and she said they were open!! So Kristin and I got first row seats for the 2nd half of the show! It...was...brilliant, so incredible! At one point, I realized I had my hands clasped to my chest with a gaping smile on my face just gazing at the performers. They smiled at us many times, so that was fun!

There were so many different parts to the show, so many stories were told through commentary and dancing. One of my favorite parts was where they had 2 African American guys who were tap dancers "from Brooklyn" and they met up with 3 of the Riverdance guys and they had sort of a dance off...they were mocking each other and going back and forth with their dancing...it was incredible and also really funny! We were both sitting there just awestruck during the whole show. Brilliant.

**Side Note: What happened tonight at the theatre with our seats reminded me of how God works in our lives. This may sound like a silly analogy, but stick with me here...When we spotted the seats in the first row of the balcony, we thought that was going to be so awesome and we rushed to try to get them. When they were taken and we didn't get them, we were both disappointed because those seats would have been so good and so much better than our original ones. However...soon we realized that there were incredible seats in the first row! Who would have ever thought that we would be lucky enough to get the best seats in the house?! So our original disappointment was replaced with something so much better than we could have ever hoped for. God works in the same way in life...I often think I know the best thing for me and when it doesn't work out, I sometimes get sad and wonder how it could get any better...but then God reminds me to trust Him...and He shows me His plan, which is beyond anything I could ever imagine...His plan is always perfect for our lives, even when it doesn't make sense at the time. So yes, kind of strange relationship there, but it made sense in my head :)**

Afterward, we met up with Luca and Filippo in the Trinity College area, then headed home on the bus. There was a man sitting behind us, he was deaf and also drunk...but he ended up communicating to Kristin and I for a good while about himself and how he has prayed for healing for his deaf ears, how he has been in fights and gotten shot, etc. It was really sad and the thought of him has been heavy on both of our hearts. Neither of us had a Bible with us, but Kristin gave one to Filippo to give to him, because they ride the same bus at the same time. It was just a reminder of how much hurt and sadness is in the world...

Anyways, that is a very brief overview of our day yesterday...Kristin left this morning, and I am back to the real world now...or I guess my version of the real world, being that I'm still in Ireland. :) It has been an unbelievable trip thus far...I have met so many people, experienced so many things...and I still have 2 weeks left!

"God is wise in heart and mighty in strength...He does great things past finding out, yes, wonders without numbers." -Job 9:4,10