Never Once

This past Sunday I had one of those moments in church where God speaks so clearly to you through a worship song. Its as if you feel that song was chosen just for you because it was the exact message you needed to hear at the exact moment.

This Sunday it was God reminding me of his faithfulness to me through the song by Matt Redman "Never Once." The chorus goes like this

Never once did we ever walk alone, never once did you leave us on our own

You are faithful God, you are faithful

Although I wasn't feeling particularly anxious at that exact moment; I did come off of a week where stress and anxiety were slowly creeping in. Planning the Holiday Club and wondering how the decorations are going to get done and whether or not we will get any kids to come, or what happens if too many kids show up. And then there is labor. With only 6 weeks left until my due date and going through a labor class, worry started to creep in once again. Fears of going through labor and the pain and then the fact of having to raise a child and not knowing what to do with a new born started to cloud my mind. 

Quickly the words of that song reminded me that going through labor and taking care of a baby may be physical demanding and even emotionally challenging; it is not something I will ever have to do alone. God will not leave me on my own, God is faithful and he will be there the entire time. The truth in those words calmed my fears and gave me excitement for what God has in store. I just pray that all through my parenting I will remember that I'm not alone and that God is my strength. Instead of going to the hospital in anxiety I pray that I will go in calm, relaxed, and confident, because God is at my side. 

Every step we are breathing in your grace, Evermore we'll be breathing out your praise

You are faithful God, you are faithful

Each day we have is a gift of grace from God. I pray that I will have that attitude so that with every breath I can breathe out God's Praise! He is faithful!

"He who calls you is faithful, he will surely do it." I Thessalonians 5:24

Carrying The Heavy Load

Men are called to such a high standard in the Scriptures, especially when it comes to marriage. I think that I often times forget the gravity of the responsibility I have as a man, and as a married man. I think we can all too easily get sucked into our world of comfort and our lives can quickly turn to autopilot. How quickly do we often forget our responsibility to carry the heavy load in marriage?

I strive to be the man that God wants me to be by doing my best to serve, love, and lead Dani, but I often fail and fall short. I often disappoint and sometimes feel as if I my life should be the manual of what NOT to do. Then I get into this mentality of "just try harder" which in practicality looks like washing the dishes, making the bed, or potentially picking up my clothes off the floor. All good things! However, I can often fake myself into thinking I am "carrying the load" by fulfilling some tasks and not attending to the person of Dani. (Sometimes I treat God the same way...) Also to add into the mixing bowl are my motives for doing what I do.

You begin to realize your inadequacies very quickly in marriage, which I think can lead you in one of two directions. Fake adequacy, or practice dependence. There is one who is perfect at carrying the heavy load.  In fact He carried the heaviest load that there has ever been. Our Sin! If Jesus Christ can carry that load, then the gift of the Holy Spirit and my reliance on Him can equip me for anything!  A pregnant wife, a new baby, a new country, or maybe even the physical load of a million pounds of groceries...He is enough!

Weeks worth of groceries...CHECK

Truth be told, this sanctification process is hard. But when I look in the Bible I don't see comfortable.  I see taking risks for God's glory to make His name known. I see men stepping up, carrying the heavy load, all while relying on God's strength and power. My desire is to go where God leads, do what God wants, and be who God wants me to be. I want to carry the heavy load in His strength!

"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:26

YOU ARE LOVED!

A busy week and a little bit of Scottish culture

We've had a pretty busy week so I thought I would give you guys an overview of what has been keeping us so busy recently. 

This past Sunday Ben had the opportunity to preach for the first time while Pastor Scott was away on holiday with his family. He preached from 1 John 4:7-21. A pretty weighty chunk of scripture, but he did a great job. Most of his time the past couple weeks were spent studying the text, praying, and preparing for his sermon. If you are interested in hearing him the sermon is up on the Harvest Glasgow website.

What's All the Love About?

While Ben has been busy with sermon prep, I have been working on preparing for the Holiday Club our church is putting on in early August. Most of my time has been spent working on decorations, delegating tasks to volunteers, planning assemblies, setting schedules, getting materials, and all the other preparations that go into running a Holiday Club. Our theme this year is the SonWest Roundup. We are looking forward to this week and praying for many kids to show up.

On Friday we also had our first chance to volunteer at Glasgow City Mission. We were there during their Urban Program. Basically we got to hang out with some people feed them lunch, talk with them and get to know them little. Ben did some music recording with some of the guys. Its a tough group of people to work with, but we are praying that God works through this ministry and that these people will be saved.

This weekend I had a friend from college who is staying in Germany come visit. It was nice to see a familiar face and catch up with her. On Saturday we took a trip to Loch Lomond on the train to see the Highland Games. It was a gorgeous day and a great experience. We saw some highland dancing (we weren't allowed to take pictures of:(, a triathlon, caber tossing, pipe bands, races, cycling, tug o war, and lots of kilts! We even took a video of some of the pipe bands so you can have a listen. 

The beautiful Loch Lomond

The swimmers lining up to begin the triathlon. 

The first swimmers coming out of the water.

Tossing of the caber

Pipe Bands

Tug o War

Thanks for reading & praying,

You are loved!

A Day Away

Since things have been fairly busy for us over the past few weeks, and because we are somewhat limited with transportation, as well as the stage of Dani's pregnancy, we haven't been able to get out of Glasgow much until this past Thursday and Friday!  So I thought instead of telling you how nice it was, I would take you on a picture journey so you could see a little bit of INVERNESS! Enjoy!

The castle that's not a castle

Church from across the river

Another church in Inverness

Sporting a "Harris Tweed"

Thought I might apply to be a salesman for these hats!

The River Ness

Enjoying our walk along the river

Lots of cool looking churches

Faith, Hope, & Charity

"Castle" closer up

View from the castle over the city

Enjoying being in a new city!

The infamous Loch Ness

Tried to spot Nessie, but had no luck :(

The Sun was setting over the hills at Loch Ness, Beautiful!

It was rather windy!

Dani on the Nessie hunt

One of the deepest Lochs in the UK if not the deepest!

So romantic.... :)

God's creation captivates!

Couldn't get enough!

Looking in the other direction at Loch Ness

Artsy or dorky, not sure :)

Our fingers were a little numb at this point

Walked some of the Loch Ness trail!

The River Ness, where I skipped a stone for at least 12!

More beautiful Scottish scenery

Loves me some big trees!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

YOU ARE LOVED!

Thankfulness is Key

One thing I've been learning or shall I say an area I am trying to grow in is thankfulness. As most of you already know the transition here was not the easiest. It was and still is pretty easy to get frustrated or homesick at times and dwell on all the things that we are missing out on back home. However I was encouraged by a friend here who continually strives to be thankful and to grow in that area. So I too decided to strive for thankfulness and it makes a world of a difference. Instead of being frustrated about little things and being sad about missing out on things I try to remember everything I am thankful for.

A husband who loves and serves me endlessly

Friends who pursue us from across the country

A generous and loving church family in Scotland.

Technology to skype into friends weddings.

A loving and supporting church family back home.

More and more I've been realizing how blessed we are to be a part of Harvest Bible Chapel not only here in Glasgow, but back in Rochester as well. When I think back to the time we spent in Rochester I am so thankful for what God did there. I am so glad he allowed us to move from La Crosse to Rochester to meet Pastor Steve, Kimberly and their family, to be a part of the core team, and to grow so close with so many people. The more I look back on it, the more I know that God had a specific purpose for us in Rochester. He grew us up there in so many ways, he encouraged us, he gave us opportunities to serve like we never have before, we fell in love with God more, our marriage grew, and we had the privilege of being loved and served by so many godly people. This encourages me because I believe God has some of those same purposes for us while we are in Glasgow and so much more. I am so thankful for Harvest Bible Chapel and how God has used it in my life and so excited to see the ways God will continue to use his church to bring about his glory. 

You are loved!!