Encouraging Sunday

Full house for church on Sunday

Sunday's service was encouraging on a few different fronts. Firstly, baby dedications are always a joy to experience. Seeing the mother and the father encourage and instruct their child from Scripture at such a young age is very special. This week in particular was especially cool because of the amount of visitors we had who came for the dedication. I was also blessed to lead worship for everyone as well!  Some were Christians and some were probably not and I was very thankful that the Gospel was clearly communicated and that God's Word does not return void. Please be in prayer that God would move in the city of Glasgow and that He would use us to bring people to His name and to fellowship in the local church to continue their growth in Christ.

Worship was also a great time of lifting high the name of Jesus. Even though most of the people didn't know one of the songs we sang, I was and still am encouraged by the lyrics of the song and praying that people come to a more full understanding of what it means to follow Christ. The song is called "I will follow" and it is off the new Vertical Church Band album! The song talks about following Jesus no matter what are circumstances are. That our circumstances should not dictate our affection for Jesus or our resolve to follow Him on a daily basis. Even if we are in a good season in our life we can tend to derail, thinking that we have everything figured out and in effect putting Jesus in a box.

C.S. Lewis said that if Christianity is true it is of utmost importance. If false, it is of no importance. The one thing we can be sure of, however, is that it can never be of moderate importance.

The question that keeps coming back into my mind as we are going through this series in Acts is, how important is living for and preaching Christ on a daily basis in my life? Maybe you need to answer the same question in your own life. Is Christ only of moderate importance, and how you will know will be found in your priorities!

YOU ARE LOVED!

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances

¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray continually, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

After the week I just had I feel like this needs to be my go to verse for awhile. This past week has definitely been a struggle for me and too often I found myself frustrated instead of looking to God, being thankful, and rejoicing in my circumstances. 

The week started off with a super unhelpful doctor's visit. Roman's 6 week check up. Many of you know from reading previous blogs that we have had quite the ride so far with Roman. Many sleepless nights with a very unsettled baby. I found myself asking the doctor and health visitor several questions, but not getting any answers. 

Then my computer crashed. The hard drive on my 7 month old MAC crashed.

Then we had a wedding on Saturday which Roman decided to scream through so I missed most of it.

That night continued down this path with Roman screaming from 2:30-5:30 in the morning and mom and dad getting about 2 hours of sleep from 6-8am.*Side note Roman has been waking up at 2:30 in the morning most nights screaming in pain. So for our friends in the states if you think about it at 8:30pm your time say a prayer for Roman and for Ben and I to have patience and strength to comfort him.

To top it all off Monday night we got on the wrong train and spent an hour both ways traveling to Kilwinning. Of course we would get on the train that's first stop is 30 minutes away.

Tuesday night I was finally going to be able to go to small group again, but Roman had is vaccinations and was frantic up until the point I had to leave.

So this blog may sound like just a lot of complaining, but what I wanted to highlight was that after this week of unfortunate events, God never once turned his back on me. Yea the week was hard, emotionally difficult more than anything, BUT God did not leave us. After this week we have had an outpouring of support from our Harvest Glasgow family from offers to watch Roman, to meals, and gift certificates for date nights. With all this said-God hears us when we cry out to him and has compassion on us according to his steadfast love. Through all the struggle we can have joy and give thanks because God is refining us to be more like his son. 

 God redeemed each of these situations.Not that he had to to be worthy of my praise, but he did because that's what kind of God he is. A compassionate God who deeply cares for his children even in regards to the small things. 

My computer is still under warranty so is being fixed for free. We had a great reminder that marriage is not about us, but about reflecting Christ's love, got to see my boys all dressed up in kilts, and got some great family pictures. A friend offered to take Roman all day Sunday so Ben and I could spend some time together and catch up on some sleep. We had an extra hour and a half of relaxation on the train while Roman was quiet and content-he loves the movement of the train. And instead of going to small group Roman slept and I got to spend some quality time with a friend reading the Word and encouraging one another. So these situations may not have gone exactly as I had planned, but God blessed me through each of them and I am thankful for these hidden roses amongst the thorns.

7110 Encouragements

Although as of late there have been a slough of challenges thrown our way as a family, (some of which I will probably let Dani tell you next week) God has been so faithful to us in so many ways since we have been here in Scotland.  One of those ways is all the people who have graciously given of their time talents and treasures to help us be here.  One specific way in all of that where I have been extremely blessed and encouraged is to look at our blog statistics and see how many people are actually reading our blogs. Sometimes blogs can feel mundane, you don't know what to write about all the time, and sometimes just don't want to do it. However, knowing that people who have supported us from the beginning who are still praying for, and interested in our journey are tracking with our blog is amazing! It really confirms on all fronts that we are not meant to do this Christian life alone and that all of us should either be involved in the going or the sending!

35 weeks with 7110 page views on our blog. We are so thankful for everyone who has taken their time to show care, concern, and a real interest in what we are doing for the Lord here in Scotland. Always feel free to comment on our blogs and let us know what you think, and if that's not an option we'd love to hear from you via email as well.

daniarant@gmail.com
benarant@gmail.com

*cool side notes*
- Dani and I took Roman to his first basketball game this past week! Starting him early of course.
- I've been invited to practice with the best amateur basketball team in Scotland for a potential spot on the team!

At Romans first basketball game

getting ready for my first practice

YOU ARE LOVED!

Smiles

This little cutie has not only stolen my heart, but also all my time,  energy, and sleep this week. So instead of writing a blog you can enjoy this beauty!!