snow

Anyone that knows me knows that I love snow, always have since I was a kid. It is a love that I have passed on to my own kids.
So you can imagine my joy when we had our first snow fall of winter on Friday night - still November. But since then it has hardly stopped snowing and we now have something like 50cm of snow in our garden. I have never seen anything like it in the UK except up the mountains.
Normal life has ground to a halt. The schools have been closed for 3 days. There is no post or other deliveries, the local shops run out of basic items like milk. It is all a bit mad.
The first few snow days were fun, but now the reality of starting to miss out on planned activities is hitting home. Liam is supposed to be singing in his school choir on Sunday at the city's Usher Hall, one of the top concert venues. They were supposed to go there to practice today but the school is still closed. His German Market that they have worked hard towards for weeks will also almost certainly be cancelled.
We have a lot planned for the weekend and just hope the snow lets up so we can get out.
If you doubt the amount of snow we have - check out the pictures.




































Today Edinburgh airport is shut all day and there are some passengers that have been there since Sunday (it's now Weds). The Forth Road Bridge has also been shut all day so far due to a whiteout. Trees are starting to fall over from the weight of snow. I mean this is Edinburgh not the Cairngorm Mountains.

On the positive side, I've had some great walks with the dog through the trees alongside the river. It is stunningly beautiful there. Also given a good excuse to put the Christmas decorations up. But then when we went to get our artificial tree out of the loft, we found it had disappeared and been replaced by some strange "space saving" half tree that looks awful. So we ordered a new one online but of course nothing is getting delivered so who knows when we will get it.
I just hope I can fly out to Beirut next week.

However, all this discomfort and minor inconvenience is nothing compared to many very needy people who are really suffering, like the homeless, elderly and frail. It has been good to see a real sense of community spirit coming out around us as people look out for their neighbours. Lets hope it continues.

Heading to Beirut

Well winter has arrived here in the UK with many parts of the country already experiencing snow and Edinburgh expecting it this weekend.
It is a clear sign that Christmas will soon be here. We are very excited about the prospect of our first Christmas in our own home for 4 years.

Last week I was over in Northern Ireland again and was so encouraged by the meetings that I had with pastors, mission leaders and business men. I love going there as everyone is so friendly and there is so much potential. It's also great to get around so many people in a relatively close area.

Now I am gearing up for taking my first team to the ship. In 2 weeks I am flying out with a group of 6 others to Beirut, Lebanon. 2 men from Northern Ireland, a man from South England and a family of 3 from Essex. The idea of the trip is to give them an experience of the ship ministry and really see for themselves what God is doing there. Lebanon should be exciting as there are many opportunities for the ship to get involved in lots of different projects.
I am hoping to do a video blog and post daily updates of the trip.
I'll let you know how you can see those posts before I leave.

More travelling - spreading the word

For some reason, it seems to have got much harder to write this blog in the past few months.
No idea why I struggle more to put words on the screen, but it is frustrating and I need to be more intentional about it.

The last 2 weeks have involved more travel and meetings. It is exciting being able to meet lots of different people and share about the ministry of Logos Hope. Last week my travels took me to Cornwall, Devon and Dorset to meet up with pastors and leaders as well as long term supporters of the Ships Ministry. One of the highlights of this trip was to be able to spend a night with my uncle and aunt in Bournemouth. I haven't seen them for 8 years, since my nana's funeral, so it was great to be able to have a meal with them and my 2 cousins.
























I also had a full day of meetings at a Baptist church in Slough near Heathrow airport. It was a real privilege to be asked to speak in both morning services and the evening service. This is a church that has been financially supporting the ship ministry for many years, so it was great to be able to say thank you.























This past week we have struggled a bit as a family as both Liam and Kara have gone down with a nasty sickness bug. Thankfully it only last 24 hours but it's not nice. We are hoping that Heather and I don't get it.
Also this weekend, our dog, Jaz has injured his paw while out running after a ball, so we had to take him for an emergency vet appointment this morning.

This coming week, I'm back to Northern Ireland again for a number of meetings. After this week, the next trip away will be to Beirut, Lebanon to take a team out to visit the Logos Hope. I'm really looking forward to that trip.

Latvia, Lithuania, Essex?

Foreign travel resumed last week with a trip to Latvia to visit one of our church missionaries.
Having taken over responsibility for missions again at our church, Carrubbers, I went out to Latvia to spend time with Dave. Dave is working with the youth of Grobina, a small town some 2 1/2 hours away from the capital Riga, not far from the Lithuania border.
























It's funny how so many people here in Scotland use the expression "it's Baltic" to describe cold weather. Well when you have been to the Baltic countries, you understand better what that means.

Each day I was there, I put on another layer to try and stay warm, and that was in the flat where Dave lives above the church! The heating has been broken since the spring and the cold in the kitchen just seeps through. Thankfully Dave has a good heater in his room so he isn't perpetually cold but I have great respect for him living in difficult conditions and investing his whole life in trying to bring the Good News of Jesus' love to the young people, particularly through music which Dave is very gifted at. Dave is trying to help a young lad who is a new Christian, learn the drums.



















As the border with Lithuania was so close, it seemed like a good idea to do a road trip and go there for lunch. Another young lad from Carrubbers was also visiting Dave for the week so we all piled in Dave's old Golf and headed for the border. We had a great lunch (steak for £5) and then went to the beach and experienced the true Baltic effect, as the wind blowing off the sea meant it felt like -10c.



















The journey home was a bit of a trek as involved a 3 hour bus journey to Riga through snow, there were 5 cars in the ditch on the way there, then a bus journey to the airport, a 3 hour flight and then a 3 hour train journey back home. It was so great to see Heather, the kids and Jaz the dog coming to meet me across the field by the station.



















Earlier this month I had my first full day of meetings at a church that supports the ship ministry - Rayleigh Baptist in Essex. This involved over night stays on the Saturday and Sunday nights at the parents of Doulos friends that live nearby. It was a great day with the opportunity to speak for 30 mins in the morning and 45 mins in the evening and I spent the afternoon with a lovely old couple who support friends in the ship ministry.
I really enjoy taking these meetings and letting people know all about what is happening in the ship ministry, but it is a shame that it has to involve more time away from the family.

Home life is getting more frantic now that Heather is working 4 days a week and the kids have so many activities. There are also lots of challenges associated with the missions work at Carrubbers. Last Sunday night we had an update night with all our missionaries around the world. This was a great chance to speak to them by phone and find out what was happening in their work and then pray for them. It is such a blessing to be involved in a church that is so involved in missions.

The coming weeks are busy again with 2 days in Carlisle this week at a seminar, speaking at a church in Edinburgh Sunday night, 3 days in the South West of England next week meeting pastors and supporters and then another full day of meetings in Slough the following Sunday.
At least we don't get bored!!