Thursday Scotland Update

Today has been amazing at the park! This morning in our mission meeting Perry shared with us that he was struggling with not allowing the children to paint their park due to safety issues. He shared scripture from Mark 9:33-37 and Mark 10:13-16 and his thoughts on how important receiving children is to Him. He felt led to have us each partner with a child to allow them to paint their own park so that they will take ownership in this park and protect it. Wow! This was powerful! We not only got a ton of painting done this afternoon but relationships were built between children/teenagers and the mission team and lives are being changed. Please pray for the 2 children that are partnered with me, Patty Sue and Charlene. Patty Sue is a beautiful blonde/red haired 6 year old who came to Christ with Miss Dixie this week and is quick to tell others that she has heard about Jesus. Charlene is a beautiful 10 year old girl who has never heard about God or Jesus and heard the story today and is thinking about what she has heard. My prayer is that she will start to ask questions as we paint together. Several teenagers that have been very harsh since we started in the park are having very honest conversations with Perry who was right at their age when he first learned about Christ. This community is catching on to what we are doing and asking questions. We have had amazing weather for the Scotland area with very little rain and great sunny, warm days. We pray that this weather pattern continues b/c we are down to the last 24 hours of painting. We have gala celebration day planned for all day Saturday where we will have bouncy thing, hot dogs, face painting, etc.

We also decided on the spot this morning in mission team meeting to have a huge celebration at the church Sunday centered around this community that we are working with . We will be going in vans to pick them up and they will be with us during worship music time, then we will show slide show of pictures from our week at the park, and then the children from the park will be singing 2 songs being led by Miss Dixie. The church has a special program planned and then we are providing pizza hut lunch for everyone afterwards. This is going to be huge! Please pray!

Scotland Update

We have stepped up our work hours at the park area so that we are sure to have it finished in time for the Gala Fair on Saturday. So we are working 1-4pm and 6:30-9pm each evening through Friday. Pray that God will sustain our team and the others from the local church that we are working with. We are a bit exhausted today from the increase in hours in the park. We are continuing to see people accept Christ and others asking questions and seeking information. We will start painting tonight. Please pray for the community we are serving and pray for the softening of their hearts. The children have been very open to us and to hearing about God. There are a couple older troubled boys that have a lot of anger issues that we are dealing with. There is such a need for Christ over here. It is a beautiful city with so many lost people. You can just see it in there faces as you pass them on the streets.

I enjoy in the mornings getting up early enough to have quiet time and then doing some sightseeing on foot around the city. I take a different route each morning so I can see different areas of the city. This is a very safe city despite the heavy drinking/bar population. I can't wait to share the many pictures that I have taken while here!

Time to get ready for dinner!

Scotland Mission Trip Update

We are settling into a daily routine now. We have mission meetings in the morning and late afternoons to recap the previous days work and plan for the days outreach. We spend time in prayer as a group in the am meeting thanking him for the opportunities and asking him to lead us in His direction that day. We work at the community park at Cable Wynd every evening with the local tenants and children. We have been amazed by how quickly the area residents joined in with us to help. Many of the residents come out each time to help. Miss Dixie has led several people to Christ and has been the story teller for the children. She has such a gift! We have been able to clean up much of the park and God has protected it at night so our work has not been destroyed. We are almost ready to paint the playground equipment and have made headway with the overgrown hedges. We have seen many scenic sites in the midst of the days and this has provided us the opportunity to be among the locals and have an impact on them as well.

I will leave you today with a humorous story.....last night while one of the girls in our flat was showering I turned on the oven to warm a bagel and proceeded to blow a breaker because the water is on an electrical system. Stephanie who was in the shower was left soaking wet with shampoo in her hair in a dark flat! Thankfully, she was able to finish her shower in the guys' flat and the guys were able to reset the breaker in a timely manner!

Many blessings! Please continue to pray for our team, the work we are doing and now specifically for the protection of the park.

Scotland- The first 48 hours!

We arrived safe but exhausted in Edinburgh, Scotland on Saturday morning at 10am (5am NC time). Our first day they put us into a tour van and took us to Linlithgow Palace for the day to keep us awake. This area outside of Edinburgh is extremely relaxed and calm. We sat out by the "Loch" (lake) and ate lunch together. That evening we met for a mission team meeting and learned about the Scotland customs and about our mission project. We will be working in a dilapidated park near a government housing development mainly populated by single moms and their children. No one will take ownership for the upkeep of this park and is in such disrepair. We walked the park area before dinner on Saturday and many of us prayed as we walked to prepare for the project. These children were out on this sunny afternoon running and playing and laughing in this sad park. Many were bare foot and there was trash and glass everywhere.

I can't wait to share more later, but others are waiting to use this computer so I will close for now and pick up next available time!

Love to you all and thank you for all of the prayers. Know that they are all felt. Excuse the typos as I am exhausted tonight!

We're having a baby!!!

Well, not exactly.....Mark's daughter, Heather, is having her first child. Sorry for the excitement/scare I caused! Unfortunately, they are planning on inducing her while I am in Scotland. So my first sight of my first grandchild will be over the internet. Thankfully, our son-in-law (the soon to be new daddy!) is very much a techy, so he has promised me some amazing first pictures! I didn't expect to be so excited about this baby but I am thrilled! It really sunk in when we went to visit Heather and JR a couple of weeks ago and saw the nursery and talked to Heather at length about her pregnancy. I can't wait! Enjoy this picture of Mark and Heather taken at our visit to there house a couple of weeks ago.

Edinburgh, Scotland Mission Trip

This Friday I will be flying to Edinburgh, Scotland with 5 others from our church for my first overseas mission trip. Actually, it is my first out of state mission trip! We will be partnering with other churches to work on outreaches with a church that we support in Edinburgh. You can learn more about the church we will be working with at: http://www.centrepointchurch.org/
Scotland is very different from other areas where missionaries visit. Scotland is a post Christian country, meaning they know about God but chose to turn away. Many we will have contact with will have very hardened hearts. We will be involved in community outreaches in downtown Edinburgh sharing information about Centre Point Church and about the Christian faith. Many have been asking this week if I am nervous or afraid and honestly now that it is time to leave, I am excited and know that God will watch over us, protect us and lead us to touch many lives. I often feel inadequate for the work we will be doing over there but then I remember one of my favorite passages:

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

Please be in prayer for our group who is going, for our safe travel, the families we are leaving behind for 10 days, the other churches who are joining us there, and those who we will be in contact with while we are there.

I hope to update our blog while over there so keep an eye out for updates.

Dog Days

I was never a dog person growing up. I was bitten as a child so that gave me reason enough to fear dogs well into adulthood. Then about 9 years ago I accepted a position at Gaston Hospice as a home nurse. I have never worked somewhere where dogs are a regular part of your week as they are at Gaston Hospice. Of course being in home care for the first time there were dogs everywhere I went and I started to warm up to being around dogs and let down my guard a little......still held a strong respect for dogs though and kept my distance when I felt they were not too happy that I was in their home. I learned to not show my fear even if I was scared to death b/c dogs can read your fear and act on it. Then I started to notice that co workers brought their dogs to work occasionally and I started to spend time around dogs in the office as part of the day. One day I came to the realization that I actually had become fond of dogs. Next thing I knew about 4 years ago we adopted "Princess Ashley" from one of our friends' son and daughter in law. Then a couple years later we purchased Cody Boy from a breeder and our lives have never been so complete. Coming home to these two adorable dogs with their tails wagging as they run to you can brighten any day no matter how difficult!

The Birth of our BLOG!

Who would have ever thought that I would have enough to say to warrant starting a blog???? Well most anyone who knows me would assure you that I am never short on words! With that said, Mark and I thought this would be a fun way for family and friends and maybe a few people who just happen upon our blog to keep up with all of the adventures that we enjoy! You will be taken from the local drag strips with Mark, to camping adventures in the NC mountains and even to Edinburgh, Scotland with Stacey. We will share pictures and stories with you and look forward to having you leave comments so that we know you stopped by! This picture of Mark and I was taken last July when we took a camping trip by ourselves to Hickory Nut Falls Family Campground in Chimney Rock. We took a day and went hiking to the top of Hickory Nut Falls.