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."