We have had a bit of illness this week.  Katie and Logan have already had it.  Nelson and Kay Lee are currently running significant fevers.  Please pray for wisdom, grace and healing.  We start tomorrow and don't stop (kind of) until next Friday. We'd really like to have no need to have anyone stay at home.  So, do pray please.

We also viewed a home today that would work very well. We are interested if the Lord works out all of the details.  We appreciate your prayers.

The Lord gave me a divine appointment this morning as I fueled up at ASDA (Walmart.) The attendant stood and chatted with me as I was filling up.  It is a gorgeous day *(PRAISE THE LORD) and that started our conversation. Please pray that God will do a good work in Mark's heart.  

(Below is a photo of the home that we are currently considering and praying about. Thanks for your prayers.)

Well we are getting close to the beginning of our HBT.  The Lord gave us a lovely day today and our family put out flyers all morning. The kids did a great job and most of Loanhead has received the flyer.  I had one very good witnessing opportunity.  Please pray that Bill will visit the church.  He asked good questions and shows a sincere desire for truth.  

The Hikins, Christine and her boys, and our family were present for church this evening. We studied Psalm 28 in the adult class and the kids studied the 10 commandments.

We are having a bit of illness again.  Please pray that everyone is better by HBT time. 

Well, we are not surprised, but the landlord believes the home to be too small for our family. So, we continue to wait on the Lord. God's good. We know that He will provide at just the right time and just the right way and just the right place. Our current home is about 1000 square feet spread over 3 floors. We hope to find something a bit larger with a yard.  Currently we have a 15 by 12 foot deck and no yard.  So, we'd appreciate your continued prayers for God's provision.

Thanks for taking this need to the Lord.

I just saw on the BBC that the jet stream may finally be returning to where it normally is in the summer.  We have experienced the wettest April - June on record. That means it has also been the cloudiest. Here is an article if you are interested. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18868494

This morning Kay Lee and Benson helped me put out a few hundred flyers.  We have covered most of the village now with invitations to our HBT (VBS.)

I put out HBT flyers for close to two hours this morning.  The Lord allowed me to see Graeme and Jordan.  I also said hello to two individuals to whom I have witnessed. I had a very good divine appointment.  Please pray that God will do a good work in Daniel's heart.  I spoke to him for about 15 minutes.

Please pray for our Holiday Bible Time next week.  The Weaver family (missionaries in Livingston) will be helping us for some of the week.  Katie's brother, Kirk, and his wife, Carrie, will be assisting us on Wednesday and Thursday. The Dever's (missionaries in Cardenden) will be assisting us on Friday.

Please also pray for our preparation of lessons, schedule, crafts, etc.  It is all coming together.  Katie has been working very hard on organizing much of this. Thanks for upholding that week in prayer.

We haven't heard back about the house yet.  The realtor is showing the home again tomorrow and then turning in "Letters of interest" to the landlord. She was supposed to have turned them in last Friday.  For some reason, she didn't. Lord willing, we'll find out on Wednesday.  Please pray for the Lord to show us His perfect will whether with this home or another.

We had a good morning.  Our attendance was down.  Some of the Hikin's kids have a case of pink eye, so they thought it best to stay home. Other's were out of town.  So, Alec and Timothy joined us for the morning service.

I preached on, "How to Stay Lost" from John 12:37-50.  The Lord gave a good spirit in the service and the Lord was working in our hearts. Thanks for praying!

Praise the Lord we have had those brief moments of sunlight today.  We had not seen the sun in over a week.  It's amazing how much you miss the sun.  I know that there are some reading this who would love to trade weather with us to get out of your drought.  Please mail us some of your sunshine.

We had a good service tonight.  Two neighbor girls were present.  Alec popped over.  And, Christine's husband, Mark, brought their two boys.  We really enjoyed our time together.

We viewed a home this morning that would work well for our family. There are others applying at the same time. The owners will chose who they want to rent there. Please pray for an open or closed door. We want the Lord's will. Thanks.

That was the second question Logan asked.  The first was, "What are they going to do with their dogs?"  He is a little perplexed how people with dogs could come to the church.  And if they all came, he's not sure where they would park.  Katie told him, "They can leave their dogs at home and they aren't all going to come." Then he asked, "Then why are we giving them these?" (Don't you love the logic of kids?)

 We were putting out HBT invitations again today. We had good weather to get out. We saw blue sky (mind you it was only a very small spot in the sky) but it was the first time since last Wednesday. We are actually under a flood warning today.  

The Hikins are moving today and it is a blessing that the rain has held off. They will be much closer to the church and in a very nice area.  So, we are thanking the Lord for His provision.

I had a witnessing opportunity this morning as I went to the Dr.'s office. I met with a medical student first.  Since the Dr. was not ready, we had a good chat about why we believe in God. He didn't say much but he is a good listener.  I hope he'll take what was shared to heart.

We tried it for the first time and it went very well.  We've never ALL gone to do flyers. I took one side of the street with Kay Lee and Parker.  And Katie took the other side with Logan and Benson.  She pushed Nelson in his stroller.  We were able to cover a lot of ground and the kids did a great job. I had one witnessing opportunity.  Lee's mum passed away this past year.  I told him that God never intended death but that it was the tragic result of man's sin. I also shared with him that God loved us so much he punished his Son for our sin so that we could be saved. We were standing in the rain and chatting.  It held off until we were nearly done with flyers and then came down pretty steadily.  

I'm smiling as I write this; But, we have had the most unbelievably "bad" weather this summer.  We briefly saw the sun this past Wednesday.  Other than that, it was out briefly last Sunday night.  You probably picture Scotland as cloudy and rainy - and it is.  But, usually you get some sunshine at some point every day.  This had not been the case lately.  Our visibility has been 1-3 miles the last 3 days.  Thankfully that has changed this afternoon! (No the sun isn't out, but you can see a good ways.) The river we cross on our way to church flooded yesterday and there has been a lot of flooding in the UK. Now you'll understand my excitement when in the future you read that we are having a beautiful day. God is good to encourage us through the "gloom." And praise the Lord we live on high ground!

God gave us a good morning.  The Hikins and Adelle were with us for Sunday School.  Alec and Connie joined us for the morning service.  I preached on "Absolute Surrender" from Esther 4:10-16. Esther's surrender was complete as she said, "If I perish, I perish." 

Tonight we are looking briefly at 3 topics in God's Word as we continue our topical study.