We had an interesting Sunday. Katie needed to stay home today to watch Parker. We'd appreciate your prayers for the little guy. He has had a high fever that won't go away since Thursday night. He's laid in bed for the last three days. Katie is our pianist. Today she recorded the hymns on our digital piano and I just had to hit the play button today. 

We had a good morning. We did a combined Sunday School and watched, "Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution." If you haven't seen it, it is possible to watch it online. It is a great film that shows the wonder of God's creation.  I preached on the temptation of Christ from Matthew 4 in the morning service.

It was good to have the young lady from Hong Kong visit with us today. She said the bus service worked well. She is in Edinburgh until June. 

Yesterday the Lord gave me a wonderful opportunity to speak to a young man about salvation. I had started to walk past him but felt like the Lord would have me give him a tract. We ended up talking for 20 plus minutes about salvation. God's hand was evident in our conversation and I'm glad that this young man had the kindness to hear a Biblical viewpoint. 

Today Katie is getting a well deserved break from her busy life. A friend from the States is here and they were able to get together. Katie's pregnancy is going well. However, she hasn't been sleeping well. She's been experiencing a bit of insomnia. Please pray for that to go away and for the Lord to help her get very needed rest. Homeschooling and church ministry are demanding enough of themselves. When you add pregnancy and lack of sleep, the load get's pretty heavy. I know she would appreciate your prayers.

The rest of us are doing well. We are all going to get out tomorrow afternoon to meet a Christian young lady from China. She is just starting at the University of Edinburgh. Please pray for God to direct her to where He wants her to go to church. We're looking forward to meeting her.

This morning is a gorgeous morning. There is loads of sunshine and very little breeze. I enjoyed putting out flyers for a couple of hours. I spoke with one lady but it wasn't a very long conversation. I enjoyed listening to three messages that Dr. Ed Nelson preached. They were each a blessing and a challenge. He finished preaching right when I finished my last house. I also only had about 5 flyers left in my bag. Please pray for the harvest that God has promised. We've sown much and reaped little. But, we are optimists and believe that the harvest is coming. Thanks for praying.

I'm not kidding, a 45 foot whale has washed up on the beach in Joppa. I'm smiling at the irony with Jonah as he was headed to Joppa. It's too bad that the whale had to die for everyone to get a chance to see it. This beach is about 6 miles from us. I would like to go over and see it but it is being towed to a port where the 20 ton creature will be lifted by a crane.

God gave us a great morning. We looked at II Corinthians 8, "Grace Giving." There was a sweet spirit in our service. Tonight we get to complete the first missionary journey with Paul and Barnabus. Thanks for your prayers for our ministry. God's good.

Have you ever tried to define normal? Whatever that elusive term means, we are seeking to get back to it after going through the holidays. We are getting back into the usual routine of life. The kids are in school and I am back to my full time ministry schedule. 

The weather has been pretty rough the last several weeks. Today is the sunniest day we have had for a long time. The winds were light today as well. So, although it was in the mid 30's, it wasn't a bad day to get out. (I know that some of you in the States would be sweltering if the temperature was a balmy 30 degrees after your recent cold snap.) I put out flyers the latter part of this morning. I didn't have any divine appointments but it felt good to be back at the work of evangelism.

Mark Hikin is doing better. The abscess on his appendix still causes him pain. The consultant he spoke with today said that she expects this to continue for a couple of months. The next scan is hopefully going to be the beginning of next month. He would appreciate your continued prayers for God to take this abscess away.

A young lady from China is coming to Edinburgh as an exchange student. Another missionary has gotten her in contact with us. Please pray for her as she arrives in Scotland this Saturday. Lord willing, she hopes to be in church the following Sunday.

The Lord gave us an encouraging start to the year. It wasn't high attendance or brilliant weather. It was just a refreshing day of ministry. A special blessing was having a young girl walk to church last night arriving about 20 minutes into the service. We haven't seen her family in attendance recently but it was a blessing to have her back with us. Please pray for her family to return as well. We miss seeing them in our services.

Katie and the kids are back in school today. I know she would appreciate your prayers as they start back up. Her pregnancy is going very well. She had some back pain this past week but that has subsided.

Our weather has been very soggy. In the last several weeks, the UK has been hit with the worst storms for over 20 years. Winds and rain have been the norm about every other day. Unfortunately the precipitation has been rain instead of snow. :( But, with the temperatures in the United States just now, I prefer rain.

Thanks for your part in our ministry. We are excited about what God is already doing in 2014.

Benson and I had a fun father/son outing yesterday. I've always enjoyed finding agates. I didn't realize until this past year that Scotland has agates. I thought some of the kids that visit our site would enjoy seeing some of these semi precious stones. I don't think I'll ever get over the glory of this aspect  of God's creation. The first two pictures are of the same agate. I broke it open.

The Lord gave us a very fun evening at our family film night. We showed the BJU Unusual Films, "The Printing." (Praise God for men and womene who continue to serve Him despite persecution.) We had good attendance and a fun time as we played some table games afterwards. Thanks for praying for our evening.

The Lord gave us a great evening. We used a different room which gave us a lot more space. It is the same room that we used for the evangelistic meeting. The kids did a great job with their carol. Everyone participated well and we had good attendance. I preached on  Isaiah 9:6 on the Names of Jesus. Twice it says in that verse "...unto us...."  Praise God that Jesus is a personal gift.

We wish you a very merry Christmas. Thanks for your prayers for our ministry.

We enjoyed seeing some wintry showers yesterday. Unfortunately the temps at our altitude are a bit too warm yet. The Pentland hills near us received a pretty coat of snow which I enjoyed seeing as I walked this morning.

God gave us a good day yesterday. It wasn't record attendance but there was a sweet spirit and it was good attendance. I'm very thankful for those God has brought into our ministry.

It was good to have Mark Hikin with us last night. They discharged him from the hospital yesterday. He has still got a complicated health need. Please pray for God's continued healing and protection.

The weather is going to get interesting again tomorrow. We've had one storm after another recently. They are calling for storm force winds tomorrow. So, we will see how that affects our service tomorrow night. How's that Christmas song go? "Outside the winds are blowing and friends are bawling, "boo hoo." ....something like that... :) I'd rather sing the other version.