Well, summer has officially arrived in the north of Scotland! We've had some glorious and hot weather; just enough to get into the garden and nearly get things sorted out there! It's been perfect weather for visitors, and we had the absolute privilege of hosting a family from Buckinghamshire. These are old friends of mine (Karyn), and we loved having a few lazy days of summer sun, the beach, the castle, and lounging by the river. A perfect week. One of the comments the adults made was that our home just feels like it has so much space. We loved that comment, as we have set it up in such a way as to have each room have a spot where someone can take a book and simply hide away.
We continue to grow in relationships in our new church as well - River Church in Banff, Aberdeenshire. What a lovely fellowship of warm, loving people! Currently we have a team that is running revival meetings in different towns all over Scotland throughout the summer. There are many overseas or visiting mission teams that are partnering with our team as well on different weeks. And in each location the local churches are deeply involved. It's wonderful to think of the unity of the church! Many, many souls saved (so far!), but also those new believers placed in fellowships and discipled moving forward. Daniel and I are thrilled to be heading to the last three locations to help with worship (me) and outreach (him). (For more information, please visit revivescotland.org.)
Work on the house has been slow. We want to put in a bathroom up on the floor where the guest rooms are, and finding a builder in Scotland is no joke! Apparently it's very common just now to have a lot of trouble finding someone to do the work. Daniel and I can do a lot of it, but we aren't comfortable with the amount of plumbing to be done, and don't want to touch the electrical and it's 230V (as opposed to a Canadian 120V)! We think we may have finally found someone, so we are praying that he's skilled and reliable, as our choices are rather slim. He seems an experienced and personable fellow, so for that we are grateful.
As I've been wrestling with the timeline on being ready to officially host retreat guests, the Lord has been reminding me that the 'one year to settle in to the house and then be up and running' was never something that He laid before us; it was my own estimate of what our timeline might be. The delay in having major work done in the house will probably delay our official start to this ministry. However, God reminded me the other day that every single day has opportunities for ministry, whether it's 'formal' ministry or informal. A kind word, a helping hand, an encouragement - all of these are ministry, Kingdom work. Daniel and I have both felt that the Lord has already placed people in our path with whom we can walk beside and hopefully lift up in the process. This is ministry. We don't feel the need to chase anything more formal or have some kind of 'official' ministry attached to ourselves. Opening our home to retreat guests is something the Lord has called us to do, yes, but in the meantime, we will walk into whatever He places in front of us.
For where we are, for what God has allowed us to put our hand to, and for the people he has placed in our lives, we are eternally grateful and so incredibly blessed.