Since I last posted, we enjoyed a great weekend of fellowship in Ayr (about an hour south of Glasgow) with our dear friends the Beers and the Mackays.  David had the opportunity to spend the day in Northern Ireland attending a minister's conference, which was a very uplifting experience.  Meanwhile, I visited with Allison and Liz and we talked homeschooling and pregnancy for a couple of hours.  :-) 

This week has been quiet but busy (it's always busy).  David had a presbytery exam on Tuesday (an exam on half of the Westminster Confession of Faith).  I have had an unexpected employment opportunity come my way. My friend Mirjam, who has three small children and is homeschooling, had been cleaning once a week for friends of hers, an elderly Baptist couple who live on my street.  The wife died of cancer last year so now the 83-yr-old man, Arthur, lives all alone and Mirjam has been continuing to clean for him.  However, Mirjam now lives on the south side of Glasgow and it takes her an hour to commute by train (bringing her nursing baby with her) to do this two hour cleaning job.  So she asked me if I'd be willing to take over the job since I only live 6 doors down from Arthur!  This will be a low-key, flexible job (only two hours a week) which will pay a welcome few pounds every week (every little bit counts!).  And it's basic housecleaning, which I'm rather experienced in if I do say so myself.  :-p  Amazing how the Lord provides!  I wasn't looking for work, but I don't mind serving in this way and earning a little bit on the side!

I've watched snippets of the Olympics this week.  The first time in my life that I've lived somewhere that had access to watching it!  We can watch it (recorded) on the BBC iplayer or live on the BBC website.  I'm not much interested in anything besides the figure skating, which is amazing!

David is busy working on his three dissertations which are required for final-year students in the seminary.

I need to finish preparing for the Lord's Day tomorrow. . . and we are having two couples from church over for dinner, so I need to get that ready to go into the slow-cooker.  :-)  Plus the usual preparations for teaching Sunday school in the morning, and teaching the lesson at the children's Bible club on Monday. . .

friends

Yesterday morning we were invited over to spend some time with our dear friends, the Haram family.  They have been such an encouragement and blessing to us since we moved here, and I think it's been mutual, because they have six children and are homeschooling, and so my background and David's have been encouraging testimonies to them. 

During our visit I had an opportunity to not only spend time with Shael, but also her sister-in-law and another family friend who have three children each and are homeschooling their own children as well.  Homeschooling here in the UK is not as popular. . . or as common. . . or as understood. . . or as accepted. . . as it has become in the USA.  It is still in the "pioneering" stage in many ways, and the families who have chosen to teach their own children at home are constantly swimming upstream against the social norm (even in the church).  In so many ways the very small homeschooling community here is in the same place that the USA homeschooling community was when David's family began homeschooling decades ago.  These homeschooling moms were asking me all sorts of questions about my homeschooling experience, and I think it is encouraging to them to hear that homeschooling in the USA was once where they are today. . . and look at how the Lord has blessed since then!

These ladies have been such a blessing to me because they are constantly donating baby clothes and maternity clothes that they don't need anymore. . . plus whatever else is hanging around their house that we might be blessed with.  So kind of them!  This week we were given a lovely comfortable rocking chair.  This has given me a very comfortable place besides my bed to sit!  :-)

I've been working really hard on a Sunday school lesson for tomorrow morning. . . and a Bible lesson for children's club on Monday afternoon. . . and lots of grading and working up assignment sheets for my brother Ezra's literature curriculum. . . so it's made for a busy end of a busy week!

Well, we've been out of town again. . .   I know, what a surprise!  :-p  It was just for a couple of days this time.  On Monday David traveled by bus to Inverness for his monthly seminary courses.  Usually I would go with him, but this month I had the opportunity to visit my friend Angela and her three kids in Dunfermline, whom I've not seen since just after I moved here in September.  Angela's husband James is one of the other seminary students and was also in Inverness for classes.  So on Monday I had a short bus ride (an hour and fifteen minutes instead of four hours) and enjoyed a really fun visit with Angela and co.  :-)  Angela just had her third child, Elizabeth Anne, in November.  So glad they were willing to have me come hang out!

Yesterday (Wednesday) I was very proud of myself for finding my bus home to Glasgow, finding my way from the bus station to the train station after I reached Glasgow, and catching the right train home -- all on my own!  David got home from Inverness an hour or two after me.

We got home in the midst of a lovely heavy snowfall.  We got an inch or two of snow here within a few hours but it is melting pretty quickly today (even though there is no sunshine).

Now, back to the busy-ness. . . David just completed two exams (systematics and OT) and submitted a paper, but now he has to really work on his three dissertations (a requirement for final-year students), drafts of which have to be completed by the next class period.  He also has some preaching engagements in the next couple of weeks.  I'm going to be kept busy with teaching Sabbath school and helping with the children's club, as well as my usual work around the house.


I've ordered myself a new slow cooker!!  After a lot of research, we decided to use the John Lewis gift cards we were given for our wedding to purchase a slow cooker, which I really need for hospitality and especially preparing meals for the Lord's Day.  I prefer to do my food preparation on Saturday to enable the Lord's Day to be a day of rest, and I haven't been able to do that since I moved here - I've had to cook dinner after getting home from morning worship.  So - those of you who very kindly and thoughtfully purchased John Lewis gift vouchers for us -- thank you!!  This will be such a blessing for me and I will be able to feed a crowd with my new 5-liter slow cooker.  :-)

sunset

Last night, very late, as David and I were crawling into bed after a long day, I received the news that my grandmother, Page Tillett, died very suddenly yesterday.  She was feeling unwell and went to the doctor's office, and while in the office she went into cardiac arrest.  They tried for hours to revive her, but she was gone.  My dad flew up to Baltimore immediately and is there making arrangements.  Please be in prayer for my aunt and uncle, my dad and the rest of my family, my cousins and extended family who have all been really shaken by my grandmother's very sudden and unexpected death.  And pray for those who do not know Christ, that they would be driven to seek Him during this time of grief and pain.

 This was the view out of our bedroom window two evenings ago.

 

Heidelberg Catechism Question 1. What is thy only comfort in life and death?

Answer: That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.

life

Blueberries were on sale at Aldi the other day, so I very happily picked up some and planned to make blueberry muffins - yum.  I found a great recipe online which turned out great - except that I burned them a bit!  :-(  The muffins turned out so big and puffy that I had to bake them a few minutes longer to get the centers fully cooked, but in the meantime I didn't realize that the bottoms and the edges were browning.  So, next time I will need to modify a couple of things.  I'm still not used to using this gas oven!

Last night I went to the birthday party of a friend from church, Martin, our minister's youngest son.  It was a special gathering for Martin's 21st at an Italian restaurant in the city centre.  There were slightly more than 25 people there, friends from our congregation and sister congregations in the area.  I had a great time hanging out and chatting with folks over a lovely meal.  Sadly, David wasn't able to make it because he is studying, studying, STUDYING for two big exams and a major paper next week.  After the meal, we went over to the manse for birthday cake and more visiting until the late hours of the night.  The fellowship and fun made for a great night out!

We were blessed with the gift of a large chest freezer this week!  Our friends the Harams have friends who had a chest freezer that they were wanting to give away, so they phoned us and asked if we could use it (knowing that we've been making do with a tiny little icebox in the top corner of our tiny fridge).  Of course we said YES!  So now we have a new freezer. . . twice as big as our refrigerator!. . . which allows us to buy meats and other foods on sale - in bulk - and save money!  Since we have the room to store the food, I am now looking into getting deliveries from Asda or another local supermarket which will allow me to buy more at once AND not have to haul it home in a backpack!  (yay!!)

Speaking of which, I'm having to be careful how much I try to carry home when I go shopping.   The other day I stopped by the supermarket to pick up a prescription and decided to do a little bit of shopping while I was there even though I knew I would need to carry home whatever I bought.  I didn't get very much, but I did buy some meat and juice which was heavy, and ended up having to phone David (who was home studying) when I was halfway home and ask him to meet me and carry the groceries home!  Thankfully my knight in shining armour was happy to have a brief walk in the fresh air before he went back to his studies, and was willing to rescue his stranded wife who didn't have the strength to carry the food any further.  *sigh*  Pregnancy sure does change things. . .

just a couple more :)

Here's a couple of photos that were taken on the day of the blizzard in Inverness!  We very nearly got stranded because the snow was so deep the car almost didn't make it down the drive.

Left to right: me, David, Davide Ratti (Italian student), and Matthew Fraser (Canadian student)

Left to right: me, David, Davide and Parthee (Sri Lankan student)

. . .and even more photos (see previous posts)

The vacant manse where we stayed while in Leverburgh.  (The two-story brown house on the right.)

Another evening sky over the Sound of Harris.

Looking across the Sound.

 

On the bus on the way home to Glasgow!

Taken out of the bus window.

Again, a dramatic photo at the end of the day as we headed home on the bus.

That's all for now, folks!  If I find more photos that are worthy of being posted, I will put them up. Also I will be posting these (and maybe a few others) on Facebook soon, so you can view them there if you like.

more photos (see previous post)

These are photos I took during a lovely walk on one of the beaches in West Harris (about five miles from where we were staying) with my friend MJ.  Gorgeous white sand beaches that bring to mind tropical climes. . . until you feel the water and remember that this is the North Atlantic you're looking at!

 

 

 

 

 

This is one of my favorites!

 

The white sand beaches were covered with a dazzling layer of snow which made it very easy to walk on the surface of the sand!  This photo shows the "snow line" higher up on the beach than the water line.

More photos to come. . . :-)

more photos (see previous post)

Here's some photos from our trip from Inverness to Leverburgh on the Isle of Harris.  First, we took the bus -- through a winter wonderland that seriously looked like Narnia!

These didn't turn out badly at all for being taken through the windshield of a moving bus!

At one section of the road, we saw quite a few deer who had come down to look for food.  Here's one of the stags we saw!

The Eileen Donan castle, in b&w.

Fishing boat in Uig Harbour, where we met the ferry.

The view ahead of the snow-covered mountains of the Isle of Harris, whence we were headed.

Views of the evening sky and sunset from the ferry deck.

 

More photos to come. . . :-)

map and photos!

Here is a map of our most recent trip!!

Now, PHOTOS!!

To start, here's a photo of our back garden after the heavy snowfall and freeze in Glasgow:

And our front gate:

Now, once we arrived in Beauly (Inverness-shire) for David's classes, we realized they had even more snow than Glasgow!  Here are a few photos from a walk David and I took in the snow with James, one of the other students.

Looking out over the Inverness countryside.

Looking back down the path we walked up.

 

Walking across the snowy shinty field. Shinty is a traditional Highland sport.

Trying to give an idea how deep the snow was.  You can see where my knees are bent slightly to give perspective.  It was to my upper shins.  The snow was so icy that you had to break through the top crust to walk, and while obviously the snow was deep enough that you can't see my boots, you couldn't break through the bottom frozen layer of snow to the ground.

Walking back up the drive to the Beauly manse where we stay during our trips to Inverness for classes.

Icicles hanging from the manse roof!

More photos to come. . . :-)

January travels

After two weeks away, David and I just returned home this evening!  And boy, does it feel good to be relaxing at home again!

We left on Monday the 4th of January and traveled the usual four hours by bus to Inverness, for David's classes.  I have already posted about a couple of our adventures in blizzard conditions there! 

We then left Inverness on Thursday morning the 7th and traveled by bus to Uig, on the Isle of Skye, where we caught the ferry to Tarbert on the Isle of Harris.  We were then picked up by Dr. Naylor (the GP in the village of Leverburgh who is also one of the elders in the local Continuing congregation) and driven the remaining distance to Leverburgh, a small village of about 150-200 people.  I previously posted photos from our last trip to Leverburgh which was in October.  That trip was much shorter (Thursday night-Monday morning) whereas this time we stayed in Leverburgh for 10 days!  David had been asked to preach on two consecutive Lord's Days (the Leverburgh congregation is currently without a minister and thus they ask various ministers and students to provide pulpit supply). 

We stayed in the vacant manse there, which overlooks the beautiful Sound of Harris, where you can watch the Leverburgh ferry crossing back and forth to the Isles of Uist (North and South), and the fishing boats, and amazing sunsets.  During our time in Leverburgh, David was kept VERY busy with sermon preparations and also a heavy load of studies.  We also had opportunity to go out with the two elders and do some visitation among a couple of housebound members of the congregation, as well as some non-members who have been attending regularly or only semi-regularly.  It was really good to have the chance to get to know people better this time -- one of the discouragements of our previous visit had been the lack of opportunity to really connect with anyone in the congregation, because it was such a short stay and we didn't really get to know anyone very well!  This time we had plenty of time to visit and enjoy much fellowship.  I especially appreciated the chance to spend some time in encouraging conversation with a couple of the women in the church!  In my spare time I worked on one of my cross-stitch projects, which I had previously barely touched, and caught up on some correspondence!

This morning we were out the door by 6:30am to catch the early ferry from Tarbert back to Uig.  Unfortunately though the crossing was not really any rougher than previous crossings we had experienced, I didn't handle it very well and got seasick for the first time in my life (very unpleasant, but I did feel better afterwards, honestly!).  I think it may have been a combination of hormones and the intense rocking sensations of the boat (rocking can be just as bad as pitching!).  That was a rough way to start my day, but the Lord preserved us through the rest of our weary travels.  When we arrived in Uig we caught the bus to Glasgow which we then sat on for the next 8 hours!  It's a long drive from the Isle of Skye to Glasgow! 

And now we are home safely, and thankful that the roads and pavements in Glasgow are clear of ice and nicely gritted! 

I am in the midst of editing photos from our trip -- we took over 200 -- so have patience and I will post lots of photos in the next day or two!  :-)

blizzard!

We are in Inverness for David's seminary classes.  The weather here is absolutely incredible.  It's the closest to a blizzard that I've ever experienced!  We are staying in the Beauly manse which is about 30 minutes drive outside of Inverness, and although there is a good 18 inches of snow on the ground and the car has gotten stuck repeatedly going in and out of the driveway, the weather hasn't been quite as remarkable as in Inverness itself.  We drove into Inverness this morning -- I got a lift with the boys to spend time with my friend Esther who lives just down the street from the seminary while the guys were in class -- and it was snowing, but the roads weren't too terrible, and the driveway to the church/seminary building had been mostly plowed and was accessible.  However, that was at 9am -- and we had to leave at 3pm and get back to Beauly -- and it was practically blizzard conditions during those six hours!!  I was in Esther's kitchen watching the snow blowing like crazy outside and thinking, "Hm, I wonder if we can get back?"  So it ended up that the guys had to shovel the car out twice because the drifts on the seminary driveway were over two feet deep and the car got totally jammed!!  There was a bitter wind blowing the heavy snow every which way!  So that made the first part of our journey back to the manse quite exciting.  Thankfully most of the way back the roads weren't too bad (outside of Inverness the snow wasn't falling as heavily).  However, classes have now been canceled for tomorrow (because there are blizzard warnings for the Inverness area), and those who are needing to travel back to Glasgow are having trouble figuring out how they are going to travel back because the buses aren't running, the motorway is closed because of heavy snow, and the trains aren't running because there have been derailments (thankfully only freight trains).  We are supposed to travel to Leverburgh on the Isle of Harris on Thursday morning and not sure that we are going to be able to leave Inverness - will have to wait and see!  In the meantime, we have a nice cozy warm house, fun fellowship, and huge snowdrifts outside -- we've started building snow forts in the back garden and plan to have a massive snow fight tomorrow!  :-)

Happy New Year! :)

Right, so I haven't updated for a couple of weeks.  Honestly, there hasn't been much thrilling news to report of late... life's just been quiet, and normal.

The most thrilling thing is that when I posted last, it had begun snowing and hadn't stopped.  That snow is STILL on the ground here!  It snowed off and on for a week, with some ice and rain and such loveliness mixed in, yet we've still not lost the original 3" layer of snow in the back garden.  The weather has been quite bitterly cold at times, with a few days where it got above freezing -- which had the result of melting things on the pavements (sidewalks) and the roads, only to re-freeze them into treacherous sheets of ice overnight.  That's been happening repeatedly over the past week, too.  The pavements are the messiest things in Glasgow -- though you do have to be careful on the roads in some areas (but they are mostly clear).  That's the not-thrilling thing: having to walk to do my shopping on pavements that are so slippery I'm terrified of a fall.  But such is life! 

So things have been pretty quiet.  David traveled briefly up to Snizort for two nights away while I stayed with a friend, and then he came back, and we've been home since.  Done a little bit of entertaining -- having friends over for dinner, and such. . . and had a delicious curry with Parthee last week. . . and enjoyed a festive New Year's Eve with good friends last night.  Lots of yummy nibbles, and good laughs and stories, and psalm singing, and a Bible trivia game which was very competive (the couples all split up so it was husbands against wives!). 

My back has been bothering me quite a bit of late and I've been trying to find ways to relieve the pain.  I purchased a body pillow which is hopefully helping me sleep in a better position, and borrowed a hot water bottle, too.

My parents very kindly shipped me a birthday package, which was exciting!!  They thoughtfully bought me some lovely maternity clothes which have expanded my wardrobe wonderfully with nice warm tops and maternity outfits.  Yay!

Well, we have folks coming over for a cuppa tea after dinner tonight, and I have a pile of dishes to work through before they get here, so this is just a wee catch-up on the blog!

snow! :)

I'm all cozy tucked into bed, which is the most comfortable (and warmest) place in the house to sit.  I'm watching the Puissance 2009 in London (world cup show jumping) and at the same time watching snow falling steadily outside our window.  The Puissance is high-jumping for horses!

This weather is so weird.  When I woke up this morning and looked out the window, it was sunny and frigid -- a very thick frost coating everything and ice all over the pavements.  Then I went for a long walk with my friend Naomi down the canal path, and there was ice on the canal and really thick layers of ice on the path in some spots (really treacherous).  The sun was still shining until we were ready to turn around and walk back, and then it started pouring rain, and it poured all the way back.  Just after I got inside the house, the wind suddenly picked up and started gusting against the house, and WHOOSH!  just like that, the rain turned to thick snow and it looked like a nor'easter outside!  Within five minutes enough snow had fallen to cover the pavements and the roads.  It has been snowing for about 45 minutes now, and is begininng to slacken off, but who knows what will happen next!

David is on the bus on his way to Snizort, where he will be preaching during both services tomorrow.   We decided that I would stay home for this trip because it is such a long, exhausting bus ride up and back and I don't do very well with the windy roads.  We were just up and back to Inverness at the beginning of the week and I need to start cutting back on the amount of time spent traveling now that I'm pregnant.  Especially with the amount of exhaustion I've been battling.  So poor David is on his way to spend the weekend alone in a huge empty manse.  I'm going to be spending a couple nights with my friend Naomi while he's away.

We had a good time in Inverness with the other students, as always.   And good curry, and good fellowship. . . Tiring, though.  It's always a rather intense couple of days.

I had my first prenatal appointment on Monday and that went really well.  Had a scan done and David and I both saw our wee Lachman Ness Monster for the first time!  That was exciting and rather overwhelming!!  When I have a chance to get a digital copy of the scan, I'll post it.  :-)

"pains and diligence"

I have been attending a weekly Bible study with some other young women who are friends of mine.  We are going through the Gospel of Luke.  It's a very informal Bible study layout -- basically we read whatever chapter we are studying that week, and then we break out the commentaries and go through verse by verse, sharing tidbits from the commentaries or whatever we find interesting and worthy of discussing as we go along.

This week we were looking at Luke 5, particularly the passage in verses 17-26 where a paralysed man is let down through the roof by his friends to be healed by Jesus.  I was thinking about what an effort these friends put forth to see their unfortunate comrade made whole by the Great Physician.  They were determined and innovative thinkers and they found a way to get to Jesus in spite of the crowd!  I happened to be looking at a copy of J.C. Ryle's Exposition of Luke during the Bible study and found these words of application which were very convicting:

Let us mark, firstly, in this passage, what pains men will take about an object when they are in earnest. The friends of a man, sick with the palsy, desired to bring him to Jesus that he might be cured. At first they were unable to do it, because of the crowd by which our Lord was surrounded. What, then, did they do? "They went upon the house-top, and let him down through the tiling, with his couch, into the midst before Jesus." At once their object was gained. Our Lord's attention was drawn to their sick friend, and he was healed. By pains, and labor, and perseverance, his friends succeeded in obtaining for him the mighty blessing of a complete cure.

The importance of pains and diligence, is a truth that meets our eyes on every side. In every calling, and vocation, and trade, we see that great effort is one prominent secret of success. It is not by luck or accident that men prosper, but by hard working. Fortunes are not made without trouble and attention, by bankers and merchants. Practice is not secured without diligence and study, by lawyers and physicians. The principle is one with which the children of this world are perfectly familiar. It is one of their favorite maxims, that there are "no gains without pains."

Let us thoroughly understand that pains and diligence are just as essential to the well-being and prosperity of our souls as of our bodies. In all our endeavors to draw near to God, in all our approaches to Christ, there ought to be the same determined earnestness which was shown by this sick man's friends. We must allow no difficulties to check us, and no obstacle to keep us back from anything which is really for our spiritual good. Specially must we bear this in mind in the matter of regularly reading the Bible, hearing the Gospel, keeping the Sabbath holy, and private prayer. On all these points we must beware of laziness and an excuse-making spirit. (emphasis mine!)  Necessity must be the mother of invention. If we cannot find means of keeping up these habits in one way, we must in another. But we must settle in our minds, that the thing shall be done. The health of our soul is at stake. Let the crowd of difficulties be what it may, we must get through it. If the children of this world take so much pains about a corruptible crown, we ought to take far more pains about one that is incorruptible.

Why is it that so many people take no pains in religion? How is it that they can never find time for praying, Bible reading and hearing the Gospel? What is the secret of their continual string of excuses for neglecting means of grace? How is it that the very same men who are full of zeal about money, business, pleasure, or politics, will take no trouble about their souls? The answer to these questions is short and simple. These men are not in earnest about salvation. They have no sense of spiritual disease. They have no consciousness of requiring a Spiritual Physician. They do not feel that their souls are in danger of dying eternally. They see no use in taking trouble about religion. In darkness like this thousands live and die. Happy indeed are they who have found out their peril, and count all things loss if they may only win Christ, and be found in Him!"

Knowing that I myself am not as faithful, determined or committed to seeking Christ as I ought, this was a very humbling passage to read. . . and I wanted to share it with my friends so they, too, could be thinking about the benefits of spiritual pains and diligence.

in sickness and in health. . .

Well, David and I have experienced quite a bit of the "in sickness" part of our marriage vows recently.  David has now been sick for a full 4 weeks and his chest cough is still lingering on.  He went to the dr. this week and was told that he most likely has been fighting either a nasty cold or the flu.  Thankfully the dr. found nothing alarming (no pneumonia, chest infection, bronchitis, or anything like that).  He has been a bit improved in the last couple of days, with the exception of not sleeping well at at all because of lingering coughing, but we will be very happy to see him kick this thing for GOOD!

In the midst of this drama, I have been struggling with my own health.  On Monday I helped out at the weekly Shettleston children's Bible club, where I taught the lesson and was heavily involved in the games and other "wild" activities. . . . and completely overdid it (need to really be more careful now that I'm pregnant!).  I could hardly crawl out of bed on Tuesday as a result, so David put me on bed rest for the day.  Then around 2am on Thursday morning I woke up in a lot of pain and shaking uncontrollably (though I didn't have a fever).  This continued for the rest of the night and then around 8am I felt faint and nauseous and called David (who was in the other room) and by the time he came in I was passed out face-first on the bedroom floor.  The next couple of hours I spent vomiting repeatedly and passing out repeatedly.  This was poor David's initiation into "having Katie as a sick wife" (I faint whenever I vomit).  He was so good, and it was reassuring to have him there holding me (I have hit my head more times than I can count fainting - this time I always had David there to make sure I didn't!).  My mom's reaction was, "Katie, did you scare David out of his wits?"  I said, "No, Mom, he did a great job handling it - he only asked me twice if I was still breathing!"  We called the dr. because I was terribly ill and we were not sure what to do.  I got an emergency appointment and the dr. told me that I had picked up a virus that was going around.  She gave me an injection to stop the vomiting, which then stopped the rest of the "vicious cycle" that I was experiencing and enabled me to get some good rest during the remainder of the afternoon.  Thankfully there is nothing wrong with the pregnancy, this was just an unrelated virus that I caught!  But I am still recovering from it after three days of almost total bed rest.  Definitely not back to 100% yet, but we are praying for renewed strength and a full recovery.

I am so grateful to our friends the Harams who were kind enough to pick us up and take us to the dr. for my emergency appointment, and to our friend Parthee who came over yesterday and cleaned my whole kitchen and cooked dinner for us!

We are ready for the drama to be over now and to be healthy again!

exciting news! :-)

*drum roll please!*

As most of you who read my blog probably already know, from reading my Facebook status, David and I are expecting our first child.  I am due at the end of June, Lord willing!!  This is very exciting for us, as you can probably guess. . .  :-D  We have known for a couple of months now, but were waiting to make it public until I was a bit further along.

Thankfully I have been blessed with a very dear friend, Shael, who has been an encouragement and a support to me in so many ways.  She has 6 children of her own and is very familiar with the NHS and local midwife services.  The Lord has been so good to me in so many ways!

So far, I have had no morning sickness and I do not take that for granted!!  My stomach is quite unsettled and uncomfortable at times, and it can be a challenge to find something that sounds good to eat, but so far that has been the extent of my morning sickness drama.  I posted previously about a bizarre food craving (tuna) which the Lord was gracious and answered in an amazing way!  :-)

On the other hand, I have really been struggling with very low energy levels and a LOT of major back pain.  The exhaustion  has made it nearly impossible for me to keep up with the housework, which has been a source of major discouragement for me in the past few weeks (especially when I walk into my kitchen and see the mountain of dirty dishes).  But David is very helpful and supportive, and is always encouraging me to rest a lot, and to take things slowly and in small chunks, so that I can get things done bit by bit without wearing myself out.

The Lord is good to us and we are praying for His continued protection and blessing throughout this pregnancy.  :-)

graciousness

Have you ever had a day when you realize that the Lord not only answers prayer, He also knows the desire of our hearts -- even if it's something small and mundane that we haven't even bothered to pray about?

Today was one of those days for me.

In my last post I was indulging in a wee mope about the difficulties of getting used to some things related to the food that is available over here.  I have been craving tuna for weeks.  I'm used to having canned tuna around the house and using it for sandwiches, etc., but canned tuna is too expensive here for our budget! 

Well, the Lord provided for this desire of my heart unexpectedly.  Firstly, David and I found canned wild salmon on sale in the supermarket earlier this week -- at a stunningly low price.  Normally a product like that would be wayyyy out of sight for us.  So we bought some and I was gleeful!  Tuna is great, but salmon is a rare treat! 

But then, out of the blue, my friend Shael who has already been such a blessing to my heart in so many ways, phoned me and said that their minister had been donated a random collection of canned foods and wanted to give them to us if we were interested.  She brought over three grocery bags chock-full of all sorts of canned items plus other kitchen cupboard staples and a few treats as well!  And guess what was in the bottom of the last bag. . .  SEVEN large cans of tuna!!  Not only was the general collection of food a real blessing to us, but the appearance of the tuna just made my day.  :-)  Isn't is amazing how the Lord provides in the little ways and the massive ways?

We had a fun Thanksgiving dinner with a few friends.  We had turkey legs, cranberry sauce, broccoli casserole, lots of mashed potatoes and gravy, and carrots. . . and strawberry rhubarb pie for dessert.  It was a hit.  :-)  Next year I am hoping to plan ahead and find a pumpkin!!

food woes

Apparently there is no such thing as canned pumpkin to be found in all the United Kingdom!!  Well, rumours exist that fresh pumpkins are to be found, if you have specially trained hounds to sniff it down in some remote supermarket or teeny produce shop. . . but I am sure it would be very elusive AND very expensive.  So, we are not having pumpkin pie tomorrow at our Thanksgiving dinner.  :-(  We are having strawberry and rhubarb pie instead (David is happy with that substitution!). 

There are also no pre-made pie crusts to be found.

Pickles do not taste like American pickles!!! 

I am used to having canned tuna available cheaply, and having it as a sandwich staple.  . . . But canned tuna is really expensive over here.

Turkeys don't go on sale over here until Christmas, and even when they are on sale they are quite expensive (compared to the U.S., where you can get a turkey for about 40 cents a pound!).  So instead of buying a whole turkey, we bought turkey legs which were cheaper.

It gets a bit tiring trying to find particular foods that are familiar.  Sometimes I spend a long time walking in circles around the supermarket (like today when I was looking everywhere for cranberry sauce to go with our turkey!).  Sometimes I get really frustrated at the inconvenience of not having available things that I am used to having.  "Comfort food" has become any food that is familiar or that I can make successfully using unfamiliar ingredients. . .

Okay, I feel better for having moped and whined a little bit. . . :-p

birthdayness

Since I last posted, David and I traveled back up to Inverness last Monday for his classes.  On Tuesday he had a systematic theology exam in the morning and a dreadfully long committee meeting for the remainder of the day, and then we came home on Wednesday evening.  Thursday we were so exhausted and David was still struggling health-wise. . . so we were very lazy! 

On Sunday David preached at a local Glasgow congregation in the morning and we were both thankful that his voice held out long enough for him to get through the sermon.  David is just now beginning to feel like he might be "kicking" this nasty cold and lingering chest cough that has gripped him for more than two weeks now.

My birthday was yesterday.  I was awakened by several felicitous birthday texts on my mobile phone!  :-)  Around noon I left for Shettleston as usual to help with the children's Bible club.  When I arrived at church, I found that our minister and his wife had left a beautiful bouquet for me.  :-)  After the Bible club finished I got the bus home.  David had done the dishes for me while I was out, and bought pizza for dinner so that I didn't have to cook!  And he bought a delicious Bavarian chocolate torte for dessert - yum, yum!  I am spoiled to have such a wonderful husband!  Sometime in the next week or so when the weather is clear we are planning to enjoy a day trip to Edinburgh, too.

I am planning our Thanksgiving dinner. . . I think I am going to fix turkey legs (not a whole turkey - partly because of my small oven, and partly because in the UK turkeys are not so affordable at this time of year!) and mashed potatoes, and broccoli casserole, and pumpkin pie (of course!).  We are just having a few friends over, wanting to keep it a small and simple gathering.

Thankfully we will not be traveling anywhere for a couple weeks at least.  It's a welcome chance to rest, and David needs time to thoroughly focus on his studies and the dissertations he has to write this term.  Our schedule has been so unpredictable since we moved here due to preaching obligations and frequent travels.