Scotland Pictures!

Pictures from England!

Ready to be home

Today has been very low key. We are now staying with the Rahaim family, who are MTW missionaries to Dundee. They are great and have offered so much insight. I am so glad we could spend some time with them this week. We slept in this morning, which was needed, but this afternoon Trace went to a soccer game in Dundee with local pastor, David Robertson. Today has been hard for me, my spirits are low. I am worn down from not seeing my kids and am counting the hours until I'm home. Its evident in my demeanor.

I'm not sure if its homesickness or stress or fatigue, but I'm struggling with my thoughts and decisions about moving. I have been introduced to some of the hard stuff of foreign ministry and the honeymoon is over. I am stressed because we aren't given any time to process this stuff when we get home and its impossible to do that here. One thing Trace and I would like to do is give all our info to our elders and let them pray about and decide what we should do, but I'm not sure that's possible. We have decided we are not coming to Scotland, so for me its Moody or Culcheth. My biggest concern of course is our children. I am struggling with the thought of making this huge decision for them that they will grow up away from family or close church family, that they will struggle to fit in or feel that they belong where ever they go, that their education and life experiences may be more difficult, etc... I don't have enough faith that God will take care of my family and protect my children from all the craziness they will encounter. Is there anywhere to turn that I don't feel like a failure? I heard a story of a Scottish Christian teen(almost unheard of) who visited America and went to a youth group in the South and they compared stories about life for teens in the two areas of the world. She said how there are drugs, alcohol and sex readily available and offered to kids at 11 or 12 and of course you may be the only Christian in your school. The Southern Americans were shocked and the Scottish girl came home depressed by the thought of what she was coming home to and how good she could have in it in the States. That made me think of what we have, as crummy as it seems to us, is better than anywhere else. If we're living in the best case scenario, why am I taking my kids away? Will they later regret living somewhere else when they could have stayed in America? How much am I willing to sacrifice? Am i overanalyzing? Can't God just give me a clear answer?

St Andrews, Scotland

WOW! Trace and I took a bus to St Andrews and that has been my favorite "sight-seeing" part of our trip! I was excited to go because I knew it had a castle and some ruins and shopping, but it was so much more than we expected! First of all, its a smaller town on the North Sea-Trace calls it Fairhope, AL on crack. Prince William went to University of St Andrews-I'm a BIG royal buff, by the way. And, for those interested, its where the game of golf began. We went to the castle which was awesome, too. It was in ruins, but still cool. What we learned that was the sight of the first Protestant congregation! John Knox was at this castle and there was a lot about him in St Andrews. Then we went to the cathedral, also in ruins, but it was incredible. We also saw the Martyr's Monument-I'll let Trace give you the history lesson-I wasn't paying a lot of attention to all that, just snapping pictures in awe. Anyway, fabulous!

We have seen alot and learned alot about the area-please be in prayer for us, for clarity & discernment. Right now, homesickness for my children is really clouding my view. I absolutely can't wait to hold my babies!

I have so much in my brain I want to just write about, but I am also so tired! Its 11:30 pm here and need to go to bed. Hopefully in the morning I can blog again and share more things, thoughts and feelings. Night night...

Chester, England

Yesterday The Kunars took us to Chester, which is an old Roman city from about 200 AD. You know Trace was drooling all over himself at all the history! It was beautiful!! We got to walk on the roman wall that surrounds the city, which was unbelievable and walked to the tower where King Charles stood and watched his army get defeated. We also went in the cathedral where Handel wrote and practiced 'Messiah'. Just craziness! We also shopped and ate lunch at a great cafe', then bought lots of yummy chocolate. I tried Turkish Delight there, too, and it was good, but I wouldn't betray my family for it! (Narnia) On the way home we stopped at a store like WalMart and got to compare grocery prices, which is comparable to the States on most things. Next to it was a old church that was converted into a wall climbing facility! There are others that have been converted to liquor stores!

I knew ahead of time that Western Europe was in desperate need of the Gospel of Grace, but I have learned some more things about the culture that just shocked me! The break down of the family unit is tremendous! The children just walk the streets at night because their parents kick them out after supper. They are not allowed to discipline their children, so there is no sense of respect for anyone or even themselves really. Britain has the highest teen pregnancy rate in Europe,as you can imagine. Economically, its better for a couple not to get married and both parents work (if there are even two parents in the home) and work longer evening hours (typical workday is 9-6 or 7). So, with no way to discipline the kids, you can kind of see why parents tell them to go and not come back until bedtime! The gangs of kids are causing most of the violent crimes lately. Not long ago, a gang of kids were vandalizing a man's home and he came out to run them off and they beat him to death! That is a glimpse of a culture with no discipline. The common thought here is not just 'I don't want to go to church', but 'Church is bad for you'. I'd say that's one step away from persecution.

Tonight, we are meeting with a couple from the church-Paul and Anne-Marie Burchall. They can be a great resource for us because she worked in the school system for a long time, so we have a lot of questions for her! Also, they are members of the local Sports Club, which is apparently hard to get into to unless you know a member who will get you in. If we move here, we'd definitely want in to that club to meet lots of people. Also, Alan (the other missionary)coaches 2 American Football teams, so he'll need help with that!

Tomorrow, we take the train to Dundee to see another team. This site visit has been very helpful! We can't wait to get home and see you guys! Thank you all for your support and prayers! More later...

First Full Day

It has been a great couple of days! Where do I begin? After resting yesterday, we went to a wonderful Italian restaurant for supper! Everything in Culcheth is within walking distance and most people do walk around. Gas here is about $8.00/gallon, which probably has something to do with it, but I think its just part of their culture as well. I liked it!
We had a great time of worship at Grace this morning. We met some sweet people and it was nice. Then, we went to the Waldeckers' house in Manchester and ate lunch. They are the American missionaries here and they have a large family, it was fun! The kids are really sweet with good personalities. Then we watched Manchester United play Manchester City in soccer on tv, which was HUGE today, since we were in Manchester! It was an upset because Man City won, they are the underdog. After coffee, we went to the Trafford Centre. This is the largest mall in Europe! No kidding, its a mile long from end to end. Wow! It was beautiful and we got to shop for a while and eat scones. Fun times!

We are back in Culcheth now and about to go to bed. Jet lag is wearing off slowly. I wanted to put pics on, but I forgot to bring my camera cord. Anyway, I'll do a slide show when I get home. We miss you guys! More tomorrow...

We made it across the big pond! We are really tired, but very excited to be here! What little we've seen so far is beautiful! Very green and lush from all the rain-its raining now! Too bad we can't channel some of it towards Alabama! I can't wait to go out and see more and everyone is so nice! We will keep updating while we're here. More later...