JEEPERS!

The past week has been very busy. It is getting to the end of the school term and this time of year is always an amazing time to minister in the schools. I have three schools who have invited me to take a part in their end of term services - Fantastic! I have numerous other events that I have been asked to support. I have to judge a talent show at one of the schools, I have been invited to a performance of "Oliver" at another and will be helping on trips at Central school. Although I am excited about all the opportunities ahead, I know by the end of next week we will all be on our knees! I have two trips organised for the kids who come to classes, one for the younger kids to the movies in Aberdeen and a second for the teens again into Aberdeen for some fun, supper and a movie. We have visitors coming from Norway over to spend time with Amy and Beth. We have Robert coming from East Kilbride for the same week to Shadow and help out with my work. JEEPERS!!!

This past weekend we had our Friday night class with the teens which was great for 90% of the time and some drama queens making some fuss which left me a little stressed for the last 30 minutes of the class - that's teenagers for you! The singing and lesson time was fine and the response to the lesson was good. A few of the group have started dating each other and we are now entering un-chartered waters with the group. This is great, but when there are break-ups, it has an effect on the balance of the group as a whole. Anyway, next Friday I will take some time to set things straight and set out some new boundaries!

I was responsible for this past Sunday night, which was our 3rd Sunday in the month. We had a good bunch there. I preached on "The Day of Atonement." I loved the preparation for this one. I went on a journey from initially thinking I would preach on the finality of Jesus "Sitting" at God's right hand against the Priest continually standing offering sacrifice for sin (Heb 10:11-12). However, once I got into the Leviticus 16 chapter my mind was captivated and the lesson then became Jesus as our "Atoning" sacrifice.

Well, a couple of days ago I found out that I have a fractured rib. I have had it for a couple of weeks, since jumping off sand dunes with the Harding Campaign group, but simply passed it of as a sore side. Everything change when I sneezed one morning and nearly passed out with the pain! I went straight to the doctor who did some checks compressing my rib cage, again causing me to nearly pass out, and confirmed the fractured rib. I gave Fenella a shock when I went through to the Physio Dept. to tell her the news. So, the end result is, yet again, I've been told to take things easy and slow down - I think I will start paying attention this time!

A couple of family things to finish with. Amy has been accepted to join the "Scottish Opera Connect!" This is a great starting point in her desire to becoming an opera singer. Amy went down to Glasgow to audition for the place and was informed she has been successful and will start the 7 month course in September! Beth is currently in Belgium with the school on a WW1 history trip! She is loving all the war sites and memorials they have seen and has been impacted by her time there. Beth has settled in amazingly well at her new school and loves it!

Well, enough for today - God bless!

Around the Campfire

For our Friday Night Teen Class we went out to John and Michelle's house. They have a good scelp of land around their house and it was the ideal setting for having a time around the campfire. At the beginning of the night the weather was beautiful, but it was not long after that the mist rolled in from the sea and the temperature dropped considerably. The night was fabulous and a good mixture of football, volleyball, good food and a fine time in worship around the campfire meant that everyone left with their cups running over.

During the campfire as I was teaching and looking for some responses to the question, "Why do you enjoy coming to God centred stuff?" One heart warming thing was that in the afternoon I had talked with the Harding group and filled them in on what I would be doing around the campfire and to be ready with some responses in the event that our teens are reluctant. However, when the time came for responses it was our teens who were stepping up and sharing why they enjoyed coming and being together in God focused ways. The responses ranged from knowing that the atmosphere was encouraging and you were accepted to wanting to know and believe more about God. The time was hugely encouraging for me to hear the teens share and express what they thought of church and the night gave us an insight into the fact that we are going in the right direction with the group and that their faith is deepening.

The night was also huge because our teens got to spend time and be around the Harding students who were a little older that they are and who are devoted to God's ways. The week before at our regular Friday night class we had the Harding group share some personal challenges and give testimony for why they have made the choice to follow Christ. All of this, I am confident, is helping to shape the way our "young" youth group are thinking about their commitment to following God and committing their lives to Christ. So many seeds have been planted and will continue to be watered waiting for God's timing to bring the increase!

Scavenger Hunt!

Every year it has become a tradition to hold a scavenger hunt for the kids during the Harding Campaign and this year was no different. We has six stations, five of which were in the town centre and one at a playing field. We had been praying for good weather and we were blessed with a gorgeous day! The hunt was themed "Food Fight" and based on the Fruit of the Spirit. Before arriving at the "Love" Station we gave the teams a huge bag of candy and asked them to make a choice. We had one team member from each team come out and the choice the team had to make was whether they would sacrifice their bag of candy to have their team mate back. In the end all teams made the choice to sacrifice their candy. After the Love station they were sent out to find the next four on their "Menu." At the "Kindness" station the team were given three big inflatable toys and were challenged to give them away. They had to give one to someone under the age of 10, one to someone between 20 - 40 and one to someone over 60. The team had to get the people sign as proof they had received their gift. At the "Self Control" station we had the team each hold on to a loop in a rope chain and their mission was to buy as many things with £1 as they could. They got every ones attention as they snaked in and out of shops! Next up was the "Gentleness" station. We had a big table with eight handles made and the kids had to keep as many balls from rolling off the top of the table as possible. They had to be gentle in their movements if they wanted to succeed! At the "Patience" station we had the kids run a relay race. They had to fill a sponge with water and get as much of the water into a bucket at the end. We finished up at the park for the last event "Faithfulness," which was a team race on special skis we had made to hold 5 people! This was such a laugh watching the team try to work together and move forward. The day was finished off back at the building and the kids each got something to take away that would remind them of the scavenger Hunt. Of the four teams the Chocolate, Pizza, Hot dogs and the Banana's - the Banana's were the winning team and each received a little trophy.

Again a great day and great memories!

Other Campaign Stuff - Scottish Night

This year we wanted to give our visitors a true taste of Scottish culture and so we organised a Scottish night! On the night we had some "Ceilidh Dancing" along with some games and singing and of course food! What was really neat this year was that John Campbell who put everything together for the night organised some practice classes leading up to the night. We had so much fun learning all the dances from "Strip the willows" to the "Highland barn dance," I think we learned eight in all. On the night we had a bunch of visitors and a great mix of all generations.

The real reason for holding the event was for the sole purpose of fellowship and getting all age together for some good clean fun. The evening was a huge success and those who were there are still talking about it yet. You can see from the photos that there are smiles and happiness everywhere. I think John said we had 63 come to the Scottish Night.

Great Memories!

Harding Campaign 2009

Within the mix of the past few weeks we had our campaign with Harding University - What a JOY! The group of seven were the right people at the right time to bless our community and support our ministry. Alex and I had pretty much got the school program worked out and we spent the first day getting the group familiar and excited about it. We decided to take a far more hands on and practical approach this year in the school assembly times. We wanted to illustrate and get the message across about three qualities, "Kindness, Faithfulness and Gentleness."

For "Gentleness" we made a table with four handles and had the kids work together to keep the ball from falling off. We taught about the importance of being gentle with our friends. How being harsh or aggressive won't keep the ball on the table, but gentleness does! The kids loved it and the variation in how they handled the task was everything from near perfect teamwork to total chaos!

For "Faithfulness" we made a pair of skis that were made for three. The three chosen kids have to work together in order to get moving in the same direction. We taught about the need to be in agreement with your friends and not to be selfish and want everything your own way. The result of the kids trying the skis was amazing! The whole school was anticipating what would happen next. Some times the kids would work well together, but there were other times when they just would not click and the result was hilarious.

To illustrate "Kindness" we had packages of healthy sweets as gifts which we gave to the teachers who were invited up to the front to receive their gift. In return the teachers were instructed to return the act of kindness by sharing the candy when they got back to class with the kids. As with the other two illustrations we got a huge response from the kids and we were in no doubt that they got message.

Throughout the assembly presentation we went with the theme of "Food Fight" and we had Alex dressed up in a Banana costume representing "Healthy food" and Tyler dressed up in a Hot dog costume representing "Junk Food." At the start of the program we had a tug of war with the Banana coming out on top. Throughout the presentation the Hot dog and Banana would also illustrate how NOT to do the Gentleness and Faithfulness object lessons and the Banana would take the Hot dog aside and help him understand how to be a better friend. Their interaction throughout the assembly was a huge hit with the kids and illustrated really well the message we wanted the kids to get. At the end of the assembly we would get one of the teachers to dress up in the Banana suit and take on the Hot dog in a tug of war. This always got a massive response from the staff and kids.

We had the opportunity to bless over 2000 children with our assembly program and I am confident the whole school community are talking about our time with them. At every school there was a scurry of teachers running to get camera's in order to get some photo's for their various school news letters etc...

The group took a while to adjust their mindset of being able to talk openly about their faith in God and to be able to share with the children some of the Fruit of the Spirit. When we would de-brief after the first couple of schools I would tell the group, "You are not mentioning God's name enough!" After the second or third time out they got the hang of it and were blessed in doing so.

Well that is enough for this one - I will post a few more about some of the other events and focal points we covered during this years great campaign.

God bless!

P.S. A huge thanks to this years group: Tyler, Andrea, Whitley, Katie, Laura and Melanie. Special thanks to Mike Wood for leading the group. You all made a big splash - especially Andrea!

Amy's new chapter

As you will see this has been quite a time for our family. Amy left school this past week, she finished the last of her exams and is now finished her high school education. There is no doubt that Amy has been an excellent student. Amy has been an amazing servant to the school and has given the school reason to be proud of their staff. I believe the school will miss Amy greatly. As the deputy head girl Amy served with a very conscientious and dedicated spirit. Her assistance and leadership was gentle, but with a determination to make things better. In everything Amy was a part of her gentle spirit made an impact for good.

Fenella and I are sooo proud of Amy. In spite of some circumstances that Amy deals with on a daily basis, she continues to challenge herself to be more and to strain for perfection in all she does. Amy has a very clear path ahead of her. Amy knows what she is passionate about and is making every effort to be an opera singer. Although the road Amy has chosen is not an easy one, it is an obvious one! Fenella and I love the way Amy is focused and driven toward her ambition. We are thankful that Amy has the right people to guide and develop her gift of singing.

Amy hopes to study at the "Royal Scottish Academy for Music and Drama." However, it will be at least another year before she can realistically, enter the Academy. There are a number of reasons for this, but God willing, Amy is on track for a place there. Until then Amy has applied for a place to study with the Scottish Opera and will hear, hopefully, later this week if she is successful with her application.

Amy passed her driving test last week and is now able to explore even more Independence. She passed first time, which is a first for our family. Fenella and I both passed on our second attempts. The timing is great as Amy can now nip through to Dyce and visit Beth.

Love you Amy xx

Beth's new chapter

This past week has been huge for our family. Last night we drove through to get Beth set up in her new school and had to say goodbye in a new way. We are still a bit shell-shocked at the speed of the past events which have led Beth to the Aberdeen Music School. As Beth's mum and dad we are soooo proud of her and her choices that have led to this opportunity. Of course we are struggling with the fact that Beth will be gone from Monday to Friday and we will be starved of her bounce and charisma, but we are settled knowing that she will be with us at the weekends and that she is pursuing something that she loves and is passionate about. Her ability for playing the oboe and her love for music make it easy for Fenella and I to know Beth has made a wise choice and for us to support her in this choice is easier as a result.

We all went through to drop Beth at Craibstone Halls. The sun was shining and the setting of where the accommodation block is could not be more beautiful. It is set in the country with green grass and huge trees everywhere. The accommodation is a two mile run from the new school. When we got to Beth's room Fenella and Amy helped to get everything put away and decorated the room with the gifts Beth got from her friends and a few posters, of which "Edward" took pride of place on her door. Amy and Fenella had put together a big photo collage with heaps of pictures of Beth with family and friends - it was lovely and made Beth cry. Holly and Hannah stuck pictures they had drawn on the wall just above Beth's bed. After a wee while it was time to say goodbye. Beth phoned this morning to say all is well and she had to run and get on the bus for school, which was leaving in 2 minutes!

And so as a family we enter into a new chapter and strange territory. Fenella and I were not quite ready for Beth to be moving out just yet, but we know even though we are not there in person to take care of Beth, she has her heavenly Father.

Love you Beth xx