Our free playground!

This is what we did today...

This is Arthur's Seat-the highest point in Edinburgh.  From here, you can see the whole city and into Norway in the distance.  For all you golf fans, you can also see where the British Open was held this year, too!  It was a great way to spend the afternoon after a very busy (and honestly stressful) morning running errands all over the place!

Edinburgh, it's nice to meet you!

It as been an exciting adventure thus far, and we have only been here for three days!  As mentioned previously, we prayed hard that Micah would sleep on the flight, and she far exceeded our hopes-way to go, MG!

Here are some differences about Scotland that we are getting used to:

• People value rest here, and will even go as far as leaving for a random 2-week "holiday" while working alongside someone through a project.
• Communication here is...well... tricky, I'd say.  When given directions to our "flat" the other day, a kind Scottish woman told us to go "down this alley, by the gate, but ignore the second gate, and it should be the building on your right." WHAT???!!!  No street names? No numbers?  What in the world?  We eventually found it after a couple of tries- haha!  Also, when we got in our cab, the window clearly stated that the driver accepted VISA, but when we tried to pay him with our card, he explained, "Me swiper doesn't work, so ye have to give me pounds.  Aye, sorry 'bout that."  WHAT???!!! You mean we have to walk a mile and half to get to the closest bank?  Funny stuff (well, it's funny now).
• If they make fun of you here, it means "you're in".  Scots tend to be very sarcastic, and they like to joke around all the time.  For example, when trying to explain where we are currently staying (and not realizing that it is a large area of town with a huge park), a man at church said, "So yur living under a bush somewhere in the park, are ye?"
• The weather is like a hormonal teenager.  It's difficult to plan what to wear-especially for Micah, so we just have to prepare for everything.  It could be bright and sunny for five minutes and then start pouring out of nowhere.  Apparently it rains "360 days a year"-wowzah!
• Although they are sarcastic and straight-forward (somewhat like New Englanders, wink wink), the Scots we have met have truly gone out of their way to help us find what we need, even though we don't always understand them.

Highlights of our trip so far:

• We have found some friends!  Our taxi driver, James was our first God-send.  We may never see him again, but he was helpful and kind and went above and beyond his job description.  We went to a local church and were sought out by the members within seconds of walking into the door-wow!  When Kirk was at orientation this morning, I sat at a coffee shop with Micah, and the shop owner was very kind and accommodating, and even told me that she'd help out if we needed anything.  There are also some couples studying here who we either have met before or are meeting because we have mutual friends-praise God for that!
• WE FOUND AN APARTMENT!  Apparently "flats" are hard to come by here, especially because of the start of the school year, and God totally opened the door WIDE open for us to get this place.  The cool thing is that it is located right next to a beautiful, family-friendly park that I can't wait to check out with Micah while Kirk is studying.  We celebrated with some ice cream.
• We are adjusting well, in spite of the funny cultural differences mentioned previously, but we know God is giving us this time to make us more culturally sensitive and bond us closer with Him.

We are thankful that God is at work in our lives here-even more so than we expected.  In the quietness of the night, when all of the excitement settles down, I have found myself feeling a little depressed, because I miss home, my friends in Massachusetts, and the "familiar", but I sense that God is saying, "You're home with Me.  You're not alone, and I have you here for a purpose."  So, here we are... for one year... learning, growing, and enjoying this adventure!

Onto the Next Chapter

Welcome to our fantastic, action-packed, high-charged blog!

So I'll work to kick start this blog by giving a brief description of where Shelby and I are headed next.

We are finishing up a fantastic chapter of life and turning the page to begin another. I am just finishing my Masters of Divinity degree at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and Shelby is completing her last year of teaching at least for a while.

The next chapter begins around the middle of July as we welcome a beautiful baby girl (beautiful because her mom is beautiful) to come rock our Patterson family world. She will be our first child, and we're so excited to be parents. Of course as everyone says, 'parenting's tough,' 'get sleep while you can,' and 'get ready.' All existing parents are firmly on a mission to put the fear of God in us. How can someone so small and helpless be so terrifying?! But of course, we're taking in the wisdom we can get because there will be challenges without a doubt.

Then our riveting novel continues as we move to Edinburgh, Scotland around the beginning of September. I've received a scholarship through the preaching department at Gordon-Conwell to study preaching in working toward a Masters of Theology at the University of Edinburgh during the next academic year. So yes, we'll be taking a nearly 2-month old to Scotland. We'll figure it out together - talk about good family bonding!

Before we can jump in full force, we will need to raise funds in addition to the scholarship money in order to cover our living expenses. I'll admit that fundraising is never fun because money is a sensitive topic for some people, but this is where we get to trust God and lean on our brothers and sisters in Christ. But here is the plot line! How will God meet our needs? Will we be anxious in the midst of all? How will God use all of this for His great pleasure?! As my dad always says, "The plot thickens..."