It was wonderful to have a normal Sunday. We enjoyed every church we were in as we traveled, but to quote a famous line, "There is no place like home!"

God gave us a special blessing today with a visiting couple from the community. We hope that we were an encouragement to them. They certainly were an encouragement to us. It was fun to get to know them a bit.

We had another friend contact us on facebook to let us know that she would be bringing a couple of her children to our church today. Unfortunately one child was ill. Please pray for him to get better soon so that they can visit the church.

God's good. Thank you for praying for our ministry. There was a great spirit in our service today.

We are having fun getting settled back into our home. It has been wonderful to daily see friends in the community that we haven't seen for 6 months. Today a friend called our phone whom I haven't seen for over a year. We had visited with him many times in the past but then he had moved. He hopes to visit our church in the near future. Please pray for God to meet his needs.

Please also pray for Violet who attends our ladies Bible studies and visits our church. She is having surgery in a couple weeks for cancer. She has had a very sweet testimony of dependence on the Lord and her cancer is shrinking. Thank you for taking her need to the Lord.

God's good. We're excited about what He is doing.

It is wonderful to be back with our church family and to see everyone in our community. We enjoyed a great Sunday and sweet farewell service for the Crowders. Please pray for them as they depart at 12 AM EST your time tomorrow morning. They enjoyed their time here and they were a blessing to our people.

Thank you for your prayers as we get moved back in. We have to sort 750 pounds of luggage. We are getting there slowly but surely. We were able to do some shopping for groceries on Saturday and will get more of that done today. Thank you for your prayers. God is very good.

We made it safe and sound to Scotland. The flights went really well and we made our connecting flight despite being 45 minutes late. However, 9 pieces of luggage and a stroller still need to make an appearance. That is a blessing as long as they do arrive. Because, we were wondering how we were going to collect all of our bags to get out to the main terminal. If none of this makes sense it is because we are sleep deprived and jet lagged.

God's good. WE ARE THRILLED TO BE BACK HOME!!!!!. The Crowders did a great job in our absence. Please pray for them as they get ready to leave early next week for their furlough to the States. Thank you for your prayers.

Well.... It has finally arrived. We are all packed (14 checked bags weighing 50 ponds each....we hope.) and ready to head to the airport in a couple of hours. Temperatures near the single digits are only adding to our motivation to get back to Scotland. Please pray for our parade through airport check in, security, transfer, customs, etc. We have three friends coming to help collect us and our stuff at the airport in Scotland tomorrow morning. My next update will be from Scotland, Lord willing. Thanks for praying for our travels.

We are enjoying a few days more with family before our departure on Thursday. Yesterday we headed to the Mall of America. (I grew up just a half hour from the Mega Mall.) We enjoyed playing some miniature golf with my brother family and my mom and dad. The Lord gave me a great opportunity to speak with a young man in his 20's. The Lord was in our conversation and it was a 15 minute chat that seemed like 5 minutes. Please pray that God will open this young man's heart.

Today we are getting ready to head to Reedsburg, WI for our final meeting before our departure. We are very excited to be going home soon! God has given us a great furlough! We have had many opportunities to thank Him for His goodness to us in our travels. Thank you for your part in that.

Below is a picture from our time at the Lincoln Museum last week. We were able to visit there as we participated in a nearby missions conference.

We are enjoying a missions conference in Southern IL this week. We just missed the blizzard that hit Chicago this week as we traveled South a few hours before it's arrival. Yesterday we enjoyed touring the Lincoln museum in Springfield. While there The Lord gave a few brief opportunities to give out tracts.

The Lord gave me a great opportunity to share Christ with two young men this morning. They were walking past me and I asked them if I could give them something to read. Thank you for praying for divine appointments as we travel.

Please pray for Mac as he has a pretty good cold this morning. The poor guy is pretty congested. Thank you for praying for our family. 9 days and counting until our departure!

Amazing! We will soon be back in Scotland. We just enjoyed a missions conference where my brother-in-law (sister's husband) is the assistant pastor. It was a joy to get to fellowship with a supporting church and to participate in their ministry.

Two weeks from today we fly back to Scotland! Yes, we are counting the days! God and His people have been very good to us through this furlough. And, we are super excited to head back to our home (house, neighbors, friends, church family, etc.)

Please pray for our remaining meetings. We are in another missions conference in IL this coming Sunday through Wednesday. Please pray for me as I preach this Sunday AM. Then the following Sunday morning we have our last meeting up in WI.

As we get ready to go back to Scotland, please pray that we will go back strong spiritually, physically, emotionally, etc. We have a 6 hour time zone adjustment. We then have a five day overlap with the Crowders and then we are back into full time pastoral ministry. Please also pray for the logistics - packing, getting to the airport, going through security and customs with 6 kids/ baggage, seating assignments, getting picked up in Scotland, etc.

Please also pray for the Crowders as they head back to the States on furlough. They have seen the Lord provide a good schedule for them upon their return. Please pray for them as they do the same adjustments in reverse. They have been a blessing to our church in our absence and we look forward to catching up with them upon our return to Scotland.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS!

Wow! Three weeks from today we will have arrived back in Scotland. We get there at 11:15 AM GBT which is 6:15 AM EST. We have a full schedule before our departure and would appreciate your prayers. We have back-to-back missions conferences and then a final Sunday meeting. This week we are enjoying being with Katie's family in Michigan.

God has encouraged us with new supporting churches this week. We want to welcome Highland Baptist in PA and Grace Baptist in SC to our support team! Praise the Lord!

Please pray for our travel plans and our plans for our vehicle here. God has clearly directed in where this vehicle is to go, but we need Him to work out the details in getting it there. We also need wisdom in our packing as we have more going back than we had when we came. I don't know how that happened..... :)

Thank you for faithfully taking our needs to the Lord. God has been very good to us and we are excited to be finishing this part of what God has called us to do.

Thank you for praying for Mac's visa. It should have been straightforward but there was something that just slowed down the process. We received an email yesterday saying that it is on it's way. So, praise the Lord that is done.

We are on our way as well today. We are leaving my parents home and heading down to Bloomington, IL. It is about an 9 hour trip today. Please pray for our meeting this Sunday at Prairie Baptist Church. We are looking forward to heading South away from negative temperatures. :) It is -1 out right now as I type this. We have rarely hit temperatures above zero this week.  Thanks for praying for our family!