Sometimes you just gotta burp!

This week has been a bit of a tough one emotionally for some reason. It's probably a mixture of saying bye to our friends who just visited, the weather that teases you here, and finding out that the future job we were most excited about pursued other applicants... Bleh! 

Needless to say, I haven't been as chipper as I would like, and that annoys me- haha! Today took me out of my funka funk pretty quickly when we spent the afternoon with some new friends.

Adam and Kirsty, a sweet couple who we met at church, picked us up and took us on an adventure to a cozy little pub with a "roaring fire", as Adam would say, and we immediately loved it, because our dinky little fake "fireplace" heater is one blow away from KAPUT (my inventive spelling). Lunch was great, and we enjoyed getting to know about their lives, but I think the best part of the afternoon happened after lunch... When they took us to Krispy Kreme!

Not only was the hot sign on, but by some miracle (shhh... It's a secret), we managed to get a dozen of those assorted heavenly gems for FREE! What?!? 

As Kirk and I began our fest of gluttony in the backseat, we were midway through a hilarious conversation about how I continually mispronounce Scottish street names, and it happened... From deep down below... It wasn't going to wait... It didn't care that we hardly know these people... The post-KK rumbly in my tumbly! A burp that could be heard and felt in the highlands! And it was all I needed to stop taking myself and my life too seriously. I couldn't stop laughing! Even now, I'm STILL cracking up at my "HORRENDOUS" (Adam word again) manners in the UK of all places. I sure hope the Queen didn't hear me! 

The fun carried on when Adam and Kirsty dropped us back at the cafe where our day started. I met another friend there (Rachel from church), and we were able to enjoy a very relaxed convo, because Kirsty offered to take Micah and play with her the whole time! What an amazing group of people we have met here! 

We love y'all!

Fun with the Freds

Last week, some very dear friends came all the way across the pond to see us, leaving their precious toddlers in the care of their grandparents. Meg and Eric came and experienced the joys of Edinburgh, along with its "four seasons in a day".

They braved haggis, whiskey, bought "wellies" (rain boots), and even bought a very European-looking hat (well done, Eric). 

We toured the castle, the palace, tried numerous cafés, and played many a card game in the evenings. They walked along Frederick street and the Royal Mile, and they saw a lot of Princes Street, because our welly search took awhile :).

They rode the bus and taxis, experiencing the strange feelings of being on the other side of the road, and they enjoyed our long morning commute through the park.

We had some wonderful chats and spent some good time together as a group of four, but my favorite moments of the trip were when Meg and I had time by ourselves to catch up and just "be". We ran through the park to end up at Starbucks and we walked to the beach to freeze while we dreamed together of celebrating our 30th birthdays (in 3.5 years) together at Disney World. 

I am so thankful for the lasting friendship that God has blessed me with in Meg. She has walked with me through so many seasons of life, and she is the most loyal person I know (aside from Kirk, obviously). She is, and will always be, my "Best Woman"! 

Thank you, Meg and Eric, for coming here and blessing us! Thanks for giving us the extra "push" we need to get to the end of this "being away from home-ness". We love you both and can't wait to have a Phase 10 rematch!

"Auntie Meg" giving mama a break

The Freds at Fredericks

View of Edinburgh from the castle

The haggis... Not a fan!

Micah approved the hat!

School playground+burial site?

On Thursday I was hanging out with my momma friend Brennen. We watched girly shows and played with our babies while eating junk food- a perfect afternoon, if you ask me! When it was time for her to pick up her 2 boys from school, I told her I would join. What I saw when I went with her is pretty exciting...

Human remains that date back to the prehistoric Bronze Age! I knew Edinburgh had a lot of history, but I didn't realize it had THAT kind of history! It doesn't even need to be said, but Brennen's boys think this is pretty much the best thing about going to school, and I have to say, I would too! 

The bone on the left is a femur. I'm not sure what the one on the right is.

"Sunny Dunny"

This weekend, our little family took a train to visit some friends in a nearby town called Dunbar. The most wonderful perk about this place is that it is the sunniest place in all of Scotland, and it was true to form on our visit!

A little back story on this family we went to visit- when we first moved to Scotland, we knew no one and had a steep cultural learning curve. I found it very difficult to be away from Kirk during the day, because I felt like a lost puppy leading an even smaller lost puppy around, so Micah and I found a little coffee shop next to Kirk's school to spend our time. The first time we visited this coffee shop, the manager made it a point to reach out to me, and each time after, she came to chat with me and give Micah a "cuddle". She even gave me a birthday card, because Kirk sneakily mentioned to her when my birthday was. This probably goes without saying, but I consider Sue to be my first friend in Edinburgh. She is such a gift!

Ever since I've known her, she has been trying to get our family out to "Sunny Dunny" for a weekend getaway. We finally made it happen this weekend, and it was a great change of pace. Sue and Paul, her culinary master of a husband, have a cute little ginger named Daniel, and he adores Kirk! I found him cuddled up beside him on more than one occasion. Daniel also loves Micah! It was adorable to watch him try and make her laugh with his 5-year-old tricks. 

Some of my favorite Daniel quotes from the weekend (imagine them spoken in a British accent):

"I'm done with all of this entertaining stuff!"

"Why doesn't Micah have a willy?"

"Johnny Tess has a dog and his name is Dukey". (Funny to us, bc of what dukey means in the states).

"This dog is stinking the whole place down and is making my nose blind!"

In an effort to try to get Kirk and me to stay longer and prevent his dad from driving us to the train station, he whispered in my ear, "Shelby, would you like me to kick my dad in the leg so you can stay the night?" 

And later that day, "Dad, don't forget that I am going to kick your butt before you get in the car!"

We had such a fun time with the Mitchells! I'm glad we finally got a chance to go visit them!

Lois to the Rescue!

I spent the morning with my friend Lois, who was nannying the cutest little 2-year-old boy decked out in converse shoes and an adorable jumper (sweater). We had coffee, basked in the sunshine, went into a few shops so she could buy thank you cards for all of her wedding gifts, and then we had to part ways. 

We were caught up in conversation, walking from street to street, and then it happened... I made what could have been a scary (American visiting the UK) mistake. I looked right when crossing the street when I should have looked left, and to my surprise, Lois grabbed my arm, yelled "STOP!" I looked and saw a bus coming straight for the stroller. 

All I could do in that moment was thank God I had Lois with me. I don't want to play the "what if" game, because it gives me the heebie jeebies. I'm just thankful. She says it was just the wheel of the stroller that was in the road, but wheel or entire thing, it shouldn't have been in the road, and I'm aware of that now. Thank you Jesus for protecting my sweet baby! And thank you Jesus for Lois, who thankfully knows the traffic patterns here!

Guess who's gonna look left from now on?

Father-Daughter Bonding

I love the way God takes us through different stages of our life and chooses to display a different characteristic of Himself to us throughout those various stages. He goes by so many names, but perhaps the most powerful, and all-encompassing name we can call Him is 'Father'. 

I have heard this name of God my whole life, and I have listened to countless teachers talk about this attribute of God, but it wasn't until very recently that I started to let it grab my heart.

One morning I was searching through a list of podcast subscriptions that I like, and I randomly chose to listen to the Keller sermon entitled "Our Father". I enjoyed this sermon so much, because it clearly demonstrates the difference between feeling like we have to prove ourselves as worthy of The Lord and simply being worthy because of Him. He explains that those who feel they must prove themselves see God as a landlord- we pay Him to stay here, and when we do well with our expectations as a tenant, He somehow owes us something. I have been in this situation more times than I care to count, and it makes for a very heartless relationship with the very Lover of my soul. 

Keller then goes on to describe that when we see God as Father, we joyfully understand that we are NOT worthy in and of ourselves, but that He loves us enough to call us His very own in the midst of our dysfunction. He describes the family of God as one that is full of dysfunction, but it is also full of children learning how to see themselves as God sees them- worthy. I love this! The fact that we are deemed 'worthy' brings so much freedom when we let it go beyond a business relationship with God and into one that is marked by grace.

This idea of having a familial relationship with God has been stuck in my mind since I heard that message, and it came up again when I was at church on Sunday. Our pastor spoke of how being worthy is both walking in the grace of God and letting that sense of worthiness drive us to live in such a way that aims to please Him. We want to please Him because we love Him. We want to please Him because we are grateful. We want to please Him because He's family.

It's a strange concept to think that we please Him because we are His kids (with our messy metaphoric life finger paintings), but we also please Him by honoring Him with our lives. I am still discovering who our Father is, but I can tell you confidently that seeing Him as such has caused a deep yearning within me to just 'be' with Him. I'm so tired of the parts of me that feel like I have to win Bible drills and get people 'saved' to prove my Christian-ness! I'm just me, God's daughter, making a mess, but learning how to laugh as He helps me clean it up. If God leads me to share with someone, I will, but it won't be a performance. It will be because my Father asked me to, and I love Him.

Thanks for being my Father, Lord. Thanks for seeing me as complete because of what Jesus has done. Help me remember what You are showing me, because it's my favorite! I am so grateful for Your compassion toward us in the midst of your perfect holiness. I am amazed!

Provision by the cute lady on her 60th birthday

Micah and I were walking by a cafe this afternoon, when a couple of sweet older ladies stopped in their tracks to look into the stroller. If the story stopped there, it wouldn't be that weird, but...

One of the women said, "Oh, just look at her beautiful wee eyes! It is my birthday today, and that is the best thing I have seen all day!" Then, she proceeded to put some £ in Micah's stroller.

Ha! My kid gets paid because she's cute. Kinda weird, but it ended up being such a God moment- when Kirk and I ran to catch the bus home, I found out that my bus pass had expired and I needed to pay for my ride. Thanks to this lady, we had what we needed (Micah rode too, so hopefully it's not like I stole from her- haha).

That's all for today! God provides in funny ways! He takes care of His kids. More on that next time...