....just really busy. :) God has been very good to us this week with Katie back in the States. The kids have been a great help and some have helped with meals as well. So, praise the Lord, we are going to make it until she returns on Monday. She has had a great trip. The time with her family has been very special. Her grandparents attended a Dutch Reformed church. The pastor of their church had the funeral. All of our family was very thankful that he gave a very clear Gospel message. 

Please continue to pray for Katie as she travels back. Please pray that she will feel well. She struggled with some motion sickness on the way there. So, she isn't really looking forward to the flights back. She will be traveling for about 17 hours and 3 flights. I know she would appreciate your prayers.

One of the ways the Lord had us prepared for this week was our special speaker tomorrow, Pastor Stephen Nix. Brother Stephen is a youth pastor in North Carolina who is on vacation with his family. He kindly makes himself available to missionaries to fill pulpit for them and to give them a small break. We've had this scheduled for at least 6 months and it is perfect for us. Please pray for God's power in our services tomorrow. 

Thank you for keeping up with our family. I should be back to more regular updates next week.

We went into this morning knowing that Katie's grandfather was at the point of death. We found out near the end of our Sunday School hour that he had passed away. God has put on my heart to send my wife back for this funeral. So, please pray for her travels and for God to bless the family time at the funeral. Her grandpa was in his early nineties and was a saved man. So, there is much for which to thank the Lord.

The other wee trial was a bad cold that I have had since the middle of this past week. I didn't preach Thursday night or for Sunday School this morning. Instead we listened to some great messages preached by Evangelist John Goetch. I didn't know if I would be able to preach this morning because of a cough that takes my breath away. But, the Lord gave abundant grace and I preached the second part of my message from last week - When Righteous Men are Few (Part 2). The Lord kept me from having a coughing fit and challenged my heart, and I trust the hearts of our people on the subject of prayer.

This afternoon I get to skype with a supporting church. I'd appreciate your prayers that God would bless that time and help my voice to be strong for that as well. I'll probably show a film this evening.

Now, my 6 year old just asked me a good question, "Dad, how are we going to cook when mom is gone?" :) We'd appreciate your prayers for us as well as mom is away. Thanks for faithfully caring for our family and ministry. We appreciate your prayers.

The last two mornings I have been able to put flyers out in Loanhead. All of Loanhead has now received the new flyer. Today, Don and I enjoyed getting out of our area to the village of Biggar about 30 miles away. It was a good morning although we didn't have any notable divine appointments. Please pray for God to bless these flyers to the hearts of those who received them.

Friday was an annual outing for my boys, myself and Don Dillman to the Dunhill Links Golf Championship. It is a pro/am tournament that is free to attend. We go to Kingbarnes golf course. (It is also played consecutively at The Old Course and Carnoustie.) The boys always get a lot of autographs, golf balls, etc. There aren't huge crowds and you can get close to the players.

I'll put some pictures below. A couple of highlights.....Danny Willett's (who won the Master's in Augusta) caddy gave Danny's golf glove to Nelson and Danny signed it for him. Padraig Harrington kindly posed with the boys for a picture which you will see below. He is one of our favorites as he is always great with the kids. Logan was given Graeme McDowell's golf glove last year. This year he got it signed by him. I'm not sure how many autographs the kids got in total, but Nelson told me he had 16 on his hat. 

God gave us a great day. Enjoy the pics....

We are rejoicing in God's goodness today even though it wasn't the day we had planned. Mac has been ill for the last several days. So, I had the kids class on Thursday night and I had a combined SS class this morning. God gave extra grace this morning. Katie does a lot of our ministry. We feel it when she is absent. Mac is much better today and, Lord willing, Katie will be able to go tonight. She is going to go with us to the Trust service this afternoon. 

I preached this morning on Genesis 18, When Righteous Men are Few. It ended up being "part 1" and I plan on finishing it next Monday. It is the story of Abraham's intercession for Sodom.

Katie and I were able to door to door together this past Saturday. We haven't done that for probably over a decade. It's nice to have children old enough to watch the other kids. Pretty soon we'll even be able to get out on dates. :) The Lord gave us a couple very good conversations with those we met. It seems that people are generally very friendly and often open to conversation when we are knocking on doors. Thank you for praying for those open doors.

I put out flyers the last two mornings. This morning I had a great conversation with a man who fought in Afghanistan. Please pray that God would do a great work in His heart. 

Katie's ladies' meeting went very well last night. It wasn't our largest group but they enjoyed their time together. 

The next "extra" thing to pray about is our Assisted Living service this Sunday at THE TRUST property. Thanks for praying!

Autumn is here and the cooler sunny mornings are very refreshing. We enjoyed our morning service today. A young girl earned a Bible this morning for attending 5 services. It's great to have her faithfully in attendance on Sunday AM and Thursday PM services. One lady who has been ill for almost a month was able to be back in attendance today. Overall our attendance was good today. Praise the Lord.

I preached this morning on "Far Sighted Faith" from II Peter 1:5-8. It was a good study for me and I believe it was helpful to our church this morning as well.

Please pray for our monthly ladies' meeting which will be held tomorrow night. We have one on the first Monday of every month. God has given us a good group of ladies' that regularly attend that ministry. Thank you for your prayers. 

Katie's sister's family arrived back in the States yesterday. We really enjoyed our time with them and are thankful that God worked that out. We had 12 kids staying in our home, but it didn't seem like it. Everyone got along very well. The bus system here is very good and we were able to get out several times to local attractions. We also live close to the church meeting place and so walking to church was not a problem. God gave us incredible weather while they were here. Most days the kids were able to play outside. So, praise the Lord!

Now, we are getting back into the routine of life. I put out flyers for a little while this morning. The weather has been a bit dodgy this week with high winds. Those winds are coming back tonight into tomorrow with gales/severe gales blowing through Scotland. I'm glad I was able to get out for a little while today. We've put out around 1700 of the new flyers. Thank you for praying for God to work in the hearts of those who receive it.

We are enjoying some new things at church just now. A children's SS class in Schaumburg IL gave money for us to get a custom tablecloth for our back table. It is a lovely addition to our church decor. We appreciate their desire to help in a practical way with our ministry. We also purchased a wireless microphone which will helps with our PA system. Once we have everything going we will also have much better quality sermon audio. 

Our attendance has been good as of late. Katie is regularly collecting several children and a mother to bring them to church. The kid's class was very large this morning. The children also sang in our morning service and did a wonderful job. They faithfully come to choir practice a half hour before our evening service to practice. Their ministry was a blessing.

I preached this morning on being good stewards of "God's Goods" from Matthew 25, the parable of the stewards.

Thank you for praying for our church. We need God's enablement in our ministry and appreciate your participation through prayer. 

Those of you who have followed this for a while know about my F. D. T. (Flyer Distribution Tool.) Those untrained in the use of an F. D. T. would think that it was just a plain ordinary cheese board. An F. D. T. is important because it keeps dogs from ripping your hand through the mail slot. It also allows the flyer to be put through the mail slot without being wrinkled.

An example of the seriousness of using an F.D.T. took place today as a wee scotty dog jumped playfully on the other side of the mail slot. Hidden under that barking soft cuddly exterior was a lurking beast that would shred anything put through the mail slot. I mistimed it's bounces and pushed my flyer and F.D.T. through the mail slot when it's mouth was within striking range. Thankfully I had a relaxed grip on the handle of my F.D.T. which kept the dog from being pulled back through the mail slot but also meant I lost my cheese board. But, not to worry, since I always carry a back up in case of a situation such as this.

Will I get my cheese board back? I don't know. The owner wasn't home. The last time I followed up on a lost cheese board the owner of the home had binned it thinking some kids were teasing their dog. :( 

Thank you for praying for the new flyers! :) I was able to put it out yesterday morning as well and have put out over a 1,000 so far.