Outstanding!

I need to share some family news. Beth has been busy travelling up and down the length of the country from Glasgow to Manchester and down to London on two occasions. She has been auditioning for music Conservatoires. We are delighted to share that she has been offered places in Glasgow, Manchester and the Guildhall in London! Beth is an oboe player and going by the response from her auditions, she is outstanding! Beth has allowed the various audition boards a window into her musicality and infectious personality, qualities that Fenella and I have long admired. We are so very proud of Beth :) We will now begin the challenge of working things out to make the most of the opportunity she has been blessed with. I must confess, I am slightly overwhelmed, but I praise God for Beth's giftedness and pray for His constant hand to be with our daughter as she prepares to make big life choices.

There are so many positives from the past few weeks and there is so much evidence of the Spirit working in and around our church. I want to share what we have been up to with our ministry to teen and young adults. There is a real desire for teaching and for them to be inspired from God's Word. We have shared some effective lessons with the group. Our last couple focused on the need to follow in the footsteps of Christ even though it is HARD! We talked about a video clip I found from the movie, "Facing our Giants." I think, if I am honest, that I enjoyed the lesson more than the group did. The clip showed a coach encouraging his team captain to carry a team mate in a "Death Drawl" across the field. As the captain begins to tire the coaches encouragement gets louder and more determined, to the point that he is screaming to his captain not to give in and to keep on going! We all need people who care enough about us to keep us going in the right direction with the right encouragement and challenge. Is this not our purpose as fellow Christians, to know the goal and do everything in our power to encourage as many as possible to share the journey on the Way? I must mention something at this point that brought a lump to my throat. On my birthday (12th) Kirsty handed me a card and a gift. The gift was the movie, "Facing our Giants!" It was sooo thoughtful! As long as I'm being a bit sentimental, I must also mention my birthday cake at class on Monday night. Things have been a bit crazy lately and my birthday was filled with so many distractions and more important things to care for that when Wendy and the teens came through with the cake and candles etc... I was blown away - it was lovely! Anyway, back to the teens. On Wednesday night we went out to Aberdeen for the night with the group. There was a group of 28 of us! What a joy! Yes, my mind was in other places at times, but I was still able to observe and enjoy this group of young people who have the blessing of godly influence and example in their lives :) We went bowling first so that we could fellowship and have fun, next we went for food at Pizza Hut and finally went to a movie. We had the choice of either Happy Feet 2 or Puss in Boots. Both groups emerged having loved the feel good factor of the movies and there was a bit of healthy banter about which was better. I was kind of taken aback at how a group of 28 people were raving about a couple of cartoons. God is doing some great work in the lives of these kids and although we have our fair share of drama and over reacting at times, there is still plenty of evidence that God's Spirit is shaping some budding masterpieces :)
 

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.

His love endures forever."

Bruised, but not Broken

This is an entry that I have been both looking forward to posting, and putting off at the same time. We have some amazing news to share and some that has been hard to bear and therefore not so easy to share. I want to start off with the good news of Sam's choice to commit her life to Christ! Sam is great and since we first met her at Jordan's baptism she has impacted my life for good. I remember the first couple of classes Sam came to after Jordan's baptism and the way she just slotted into the youth group as if she had always been there. There was a real sense of belonging and acceptance when Sam came amongst us and now that her life is complete and her heart is in the right hands we anticipate good things :) It was only a couple of weeks before that Sam's sister Kirsty became a Christian and while studying with Sam we talked about the impact God has had on their family and how things must have been turned upside down. I have to say that I have loved Helen's attitude to all this. Helen is Sam and Kirsty's mum. Helen has been coming along for a while now and like the girls I am sure thinks of us at church as family. Helen has a good heart and the more I see of her the more I like. Anyway, back to Sam! Alex-John made a comment on Sunday morning that I liked. He mentioned about Sam being in the baptistery ripping off the old tiles as we were doing the prep work to get it re-done in Fibre-Glass. The next time he heard of Sam it was that she was the first to be immersed in the new baptistery :) Sam is not slow to help out and on many occasions if I need help to tidy the building, Sam is there. When we were getting her service sorted out and we were talking about her favourite songs, Sam mentioned that she wanted "I am a "C" for when she comes up out of the water. My first reaction was of surprise, but as we reflected on the song and that in fact that is what Sam will be at that point my initial thought were turned around to thinking it was a great choice! On the Sunday night the atmosphere was special. There was a bunch of the teens and young adults there along with some of the congregation. Thomas opened in prayer and Jordan read a passage of scripture before I went up to speak. However, one of the highlights was Donald presiding. Sam had asked if "Uncle Donald" could start the night, although Donald was thrown into the deep end, his faith and joy at being asked made sure he did a grand job. I had the joy on Sunday morning of welcoming Sam into fellowship and sharing her first Lord's Supper with her new family :)

I need to make some mention of our ministry to the Primary school age children. We had our night out to "Glitter and Glaze" on Monday 5th December. It was such a lovely time! I have to say a huge thank you to Wendy who instructed and led the kids so beautifully. Watching the group of 18 children paint their Christmas mugs and chat to the others at their table was rather therapeutic and a total joy to be a part of. There was calm the whole time and when the kids got their finished glazed mugs the following week there was a real sense of joy and wonder as they saw their finished work. It was a great night and there is no doubt we will be back at some future date to put their creative flair into action again. Last Monday night we had our Christmas party for the Primary school children. This marked the last of our classes for this age group. It was a fitting end to the term :) We had a special visit from Santa and Frosty the Snowman. It is such a joy to see Monday nights in action. The group of teens we have helping are wonderful and really see the joy of serving the younger kids and ensuring they are blessed while with us. We had the joy of Wendy, Donald and Nina there to help too. We played and ate too much - the time just flew in and before we knew it 8.00pm had come. I have no doubt that God's hand in instrumental on Monday nights in both the impact the class has on the lives of the children and also the development of Christ-likeness in the lives of the helpers. I am anticipating a great 2012 with this group. When I was talking with some of the teens we were excited at the thought of the bunch of P7's who will be moving up to Friday nights next summer. God truly has blessed us with a spread of ages - Excited!   

The title of this post mentioned being bruised. The reason for this is in regard to Fenella's mum Alexa. Anyone who has come in contact with Alexa will know how precious and truly lovely she is. Just over a month ago Alexa was given the news that she has cancer. I will not go into all the details, but I must mention how God is in the midst of everything. Alexa has undergone surgery and the affected tissue has been removed along with a sizable amount of surrounding tissue. Fenella has been there every step of the way and I am so touched by the way she cares for her mum and dad. Alexa has, by God's grace, come through the surgery extremely well and we are thankful that her spirits are high and she is her usual smiley and sparkly self. We are aware that this is the first stage in a journey that may take some time, but as for now we anticipate Alexa getting home soon and being surrounded by family and love. It is lovely that it's the Christmas season and all our girls will be home to share in some grandma pampering :) Faith is everything! We are well aware that our Father is over everything and we are leaning on His able arms throughout this journey. Strength is important, especially for Fenella and Jacky, so I would ask for your support and your prayers in their interests. I ask also for the prayers of the righteous in light of Alexa's need for her body to heal. Our God is able and we rest in His will.

God bless :)