Off The Beaten Path: "As the stag longs for running streams so do I long for thee, O God..."

I can’t believe it has been so long since I have posted an entry! Upon reflection it makes perfect sense and I should have seen it coming: I have been rather busy. Now to be sure it is a very different kind of busy than I experience in my life “back home” (more enriching, less taxing), but in the last 10 days or so I/we have simply been getting more entrenched in our life in Scotland. First an update and then a thought.
Since last writing our family has taken several day-trips: a train into the city of Edinburgh to see the castle and a few other sites; we took a rainy-day drive to an amazing children’s science center in Glasgow; and we drove through a picturesque country side on the way to tour a whisky distillery in Perthshire (turned out to be one of my favorites: Famous Grouse). We have also ventured out on our first over night trip, a 4- night trip “up north”. We spent the night in a youth hostel that is operated in a castle (way fun especially for a couple of little boys) and we spent 3 nights at a “beach house” in the tiny fishing village of Crovie on the north eastern coast. Crovie has a unique history and absolutely breath-taking location cut into the side of the cliffs. One of the things we enjoy about traveling around Scotland is the drives through the country and then coming upon all the quaint villages along the way. In addition, I had the once in a lifetime chance to go see a round of the British Open Golf tournament. That is a special enough tournament as it is, but this year it was even more so as it was the 150th anniversary of the Open Championship and was played at the home of golf: the old course at St. Andrews. What an amazing experience that was for me. (sorry no pictures, cameras are not allowed at the tournament, but I did sneak out some grass from the 6th fairway!)

Back on the “home front” (that’s Bridge of Allan for us) we are continuing to enjoy trips to the library, the “swing park”, as well as the “adventure” of just getting in the car and going to the market. For me, I am continuing to enjoy the challenge of preaching “in Scottish”. That does not mean I’m trying to speak with a Scottish brogue, I’m just trying to communicate as clearly as I can while trying to translate my American, southern slang and colloquialisms into something the parishoners can relate to and understand. This is proving an insightful experience and giving much for me to reflect upon about how I engage in the task of preaching. I am also meeting and visiting with other ministers and enjoyed getting an authentic taste of local politics, football talk, and Scottish folklore one evening as a guest at the local Rotary Club meeting last week.

And when I’m not engaged in any of the above, I’m spending time trying to take care of and keep up with a 7, 4, and almost 1 year-old. That is probably the most joyful (and draining) part of the whole trip. With the exception of my respite day at St. Andrews we have been with the children non-stop for 3 and a half weeks! This has led to the coining of a new phrase: “Children are a gift from God, as are babysitters.” But all in all, the children have done very well and this continues to be an amazing experience and memory-making trip that we will cherish and share as a family for a long, long time.

Upon reflection about my busyness which has led to me getting behind on blogging: I think we throw ourselves into the things we are passionate about. We put our whole selves into those things we care about. That is mostly good and helpful, but there can also be some unintended ill side effects (getting behind on blogging, frustration, hurt feelings, change, etc.). Therefore, before we throw ourselves into something we might do well to ask is this something I really want to throw myself into even if there are some lumps to take as I go? From there I skip to this question: do I have enough passion about my faith? Am I really interested in growing and going deeper in faith, knowing full well that if I am I might have to take some lumps? Or does fear of the lumps and simple inertia keep me from becoming passionate about my faith growth? Tough questions. I am trying to sort them out. I’m sure I’ll have them all figured out and tied up neatly and comfortably with a bow on top by the time the plane touches down in Charlotte in 12 days. We’ll see!

-MRB

I'm sure most are interested in seeing pictures, so here's a pile. Cheers!