Ten down!

I can't believe I've just been here ten days! So many things have happened and I've seen so much that it feels much longer! Thank you all again for your love and prayers, it really means a lot! I am overwhelmed every day by the greatness of this opportunity and God's provision through those of you who have support me financially. 
Where to START with this past week? I feel a bit like I'm ten years old again because I'm keeping a daily journal to aid my memory lapses when I sit down to write my posts. :) I'm still trying to figure out how to do this properly and not overwhelm with information...hopefully next week I'll get it down to a science and be able to cut things!

What my planning sessions look like...

  Last Friday the 14th was my first official day of "work" with Nathan: we talked out details for that Sunday's service and the rest of the summer's to-do list. He has been taking the church through a series called "What is the vision for our church?", outlining some core values for the church as we prepare for a "relaunch" in the autumn (I've had to adjust to saying that instead of "the fall"). Thus, I structured music around themes about the Church's foundation (In Christ Alone, The Solid Rock) and God's love and grace (The Power of the Cross, There is a Redeemer). I've found that I'm pretty scattered when it comes to planning...I jump from the Word to Nathan's sermon notes to hymnal to Scottish hymnal to chord book within the span of five minutes, but through prayer and His direction it all comes together! You can get a taste of my planning process in the picture below. Besides planning for Sunday, Friday was a day to walk around town and learn where important things are like the bank, post office, and coffee shop :)
  Saturday we headed to Aberdeen for a Costco adventure after Krystal and I finished a Bible study with Bonnie and Sharon. I should note that Sharon's home is BEAUTIFUL-I felt like I had stepped into Pride and Prejudice, which, as you know, is no problem here. Costco was a madhouse-apparently it's the place to be on a Saturday in Scotland? It was pretty funny to get a little piece of the States with a British twist. All the diverse dialects were great too. After meeting Rhona and Allan for afternoon tea at the Raemoir Garden Center, we headed home for dinner (tea) and crashed early to prepare for Sunday morning!

Costco in Aberdeen

  Sunday the 16th was SUCH a blessing. Since I hadn't had much time to prepare with Nathan coming in Thursday night-and me recovering from jet-lag-and since it was my first Sunday with the church, I wasn't sure what to expect and how it would go, etc. But-of course- the entire time in worship was beyond anything I could have put together in my own strength. The people were wonderful and the entire service was a huge encouragement to me! After the first song I had to turn the keyboard up because I almost couldn't hear myself above the congregation's singing- something I've never had to deal with in the States! I'm excited to see what the rest of the summer has to bring after such a start with worship. That evening we had a "jam sesh" for me and the guitarist, Gareth, to bounce some songs off of each other and for any other church members to input suggestions for worship music. It went very well and I'm looking forward to bringing back some of the UK's worship to the States. Underground YHC should especially be on the look out. :)
 Monday was a wonderfully slow but awesome day! Krystal took me biking up through Dunnottar Woods-amazing and GREEN. Pictures also attached. I caught up on writing postcards, etc. before we headed out to Dunnottar Castle! Unquestionably one of the greatest things I've ever experienced! The magnitude of the views from the castle and the castle itself absolutely blew me away. Nathan and Krystal are incredible and got us all season passes, so I can go back as much as possible while I'm here :) Pictures can be seen below, but there are about 150 others on Facebook :)
  Tuesday is order of worship and planning day, so I was at the office for a good bit getting things started for Sunday. Gill, an absolute angel from the church, came by for a good bit and it was lovely getting to know her. Think the Denise Murphy of Scotland, YHC-ers. Tuesday afternoon, Haley Bouma came by and got me for a hike up to the castle (about 1.7ish miles?). She is a beautiful Renaissance woman and I am super excited to have her around to hang, hike, and who knows what else! Haley's family is American, but she's lived in Scotland since she was 5 and just graduated from "uni" in England. It's been neat to hear how college life compares between the UK and the States among other things. We stopped by Auntie Betty's for ice cream on the waterfront on the way home, yum. Honeycomb ice cream is a Scottish delicacy, so of course I had to get it. It didn't disappoint. That evening, we had Allan, one of the church deacons, over for dinner (tea-I'll call it that eventually). He is a true Scottish gentleman and we all had some good laughs over a board game and tea. I've also been invited to lunch with him and Rhona this Sunday, woo!
  Wednesday the 19th was packed! Starting off, we popped down the road to Johnshaven for me to get my haircut! Krystal and the kiddos went down to the park while I had a good time with my stylist Jo. Like a lot of things in Scotland, they take their sweet time talking to you while they shampoo, condition, and cut your hair, so I got to know her well and we had a good time in the little shop. She liked the color of my hair and told me never to color it. I promised. After meeing up with Krystal and the kids, we headed up the road to Sheri (spelling questionable) and Andy's house for lunch! Sheri is actually from Holland (!!) and her husband is English. They met in Israel. Talk about a adventuresome life. I had a good long blether (definition below) with Sheri and have been so encouraged by her passion for the Lord. She truly has a heart for sharing His love with others and is bold in reaching out to those in her community. So inspiring. That evening we had a sort of game night for college-age kids because there are actually a good number of us (something I wasn't expecting)! We had Linzi, who attends the church with her family, Haley and her brother Chase, his girlfriend Anna and friend Jamie, and Anna's sister Rachel! We had a marvelous time and taught them the card game Scum, which turned into quite the competition as we lost track of how late it was. We're planning on getting this group together a lot this summer and hopefully adding people to it!
  Yesterday (Thursday the 20th) was a nice slow day! I worked mostly in the office: re-doing the power-point template for Sunday mornings and putting together this Sunday's slides. Besides that I spent a good bit of time practicing for Sunday-my fingers and vocal chords are slowly getting back in shape. Went to the church's Thursday night Bible study and was very much encouraged by the fellowship and truth found there. 
  Today was the first day I actually felt a raindrop since I've been here! The weather has been beautiful and sunny just about every day, which is quite un-Scottish I'm told. I'm not asking questions and being thankful that it's been so pretty out! I did some computer work for Nathan this morning and then went to lunch with Krystal, Bonnie, and the kids (happy birthday Bonnie!). We have a fun night ahead with meetings and birthday celebrations, but til then, more practice for me. 

SUMMARY:
I'm having a great time and have already learned so much! The church members have been so welcoming and encouraging and my first Sunday leading worship internationally was nothing less than Spirit-led; I am consistently reminded that nothing is more powerful than giving control over to God and letting Him do immeasurably more. OH, side-note: Nathan's benediction for his current series is Ephesians 3, the immeasurably more passage. Awesome. I've loved getting to know several church members and can't wait to have many more blethers with more of them :) I got to visit my first Scottish castle (once driving, once hiking so far), Dunnottar Castle. It's the one Merida's castle in Brave is modeled after, actually! I felt like I was in Lord of the Rings the whole time. I got my haircut in a lovely little shop in Johnshaven-not too short, promise! I'm also pretty sure I visited the Bennett estate...the Boumas' house is straight out of Jane Austen. I've met some great friends already and can't wait to develop these friendships over the summer and beyond. It is also note-worthy to mention that Krystal and I have gotten up every morning at 7 to run-wooo! I think today we are definitely starting to feel the wear of it, so we will probably take a well-deserved rest tomorrow. Back at it Monday! All in all, I am confident that this is where I was supposed to be this summer. I have already been able to use my musical training and gifts to serve the church, and I have no doubt that the people will continue to be an encouragement to me! I also know that they will continue to challenge my faith and boldness as we reach out to Stonehaven and the surrounding community this summer. Please keep me in your prayers: pray for energy, enthusiasm, and wisdom! Also keep in mind the mission team from the States that are coming over July 6th to lead our Holiday Zone Time (think VBS)!

Words learned:
Blether-used to describe either a person who regularly indulges in fairly inconsequential chatter OR the actual content of the conversation. "Ye cannae beat a cup o' tea and a guid wee blether."
Crabbit-jaggy, bad-tempered, sharp-tongued, and seriously grumpy. 
Scuppered- sunk, in for it. eg. If you don't take a jacket with you in Scotland, you'll be scuppered.
Dinnae and cannae substitute for don't and can't-I LOVE THESE.

A "casualty" can just be an injury here...not a death, Nathan and I found.

Foods tried:
Honeycomb ice cream
Cullen skink (think seafood chowder, yum)


xx,
Emily