Living It

Well I have had an interesting weekend. I have been to our annual staff weekend that we have in YWAM Scotland . What did we talk about - Crabgrass . It is not something I know terribly much about....infact I am not sure I have heard of it before. Crabgrass however is a weed that spreads everywhere. One of the interesting things about Crabgrass is that it will suck up the the nutrients it can get in one area and if that section has enough to sustain it, then the crabgrass will pass the excess nutrients along the roots to an area that needs more. Isn't that a wonderful image for a national mission agency/ church? (not the weed aspect the sharing resources aspect.) Within our organisations we have several locations that work independently yet we are still organically linked as we are one charity. So we have this dichotomous aspect as we are one unit YWAM Scotland, yet we are also location based as well throughout the nation. I have never been big on promoting our YWAM Stirling Name W...

Okay, so the title of this blog might intrigue you. Thinking about what I wanted to write here, my mind drifted to a small snippet of the TV show "Outnumbered" where the young girl comments on how silly it is to have a size zero dress size to her gran....the gran explains that it is just a number but that women can be whatever size or shape they want to be regardless of the popular images.....the little girl responds by saying "I want to be Hexagonal". Its funny, but my question here is Do you/I dare to be different? Sometimes I long to have a normal job that gives be a regular, stable income and a life where I have far less juggling and "stuff" I have nearly been in this ministry for 5 years and still lots of people don't get it....sometimes I think people think I am doing this until I can get a proper job when the kids are older. Some just presume I am a housewife. In fact I don't fit nice and neatly into any "box". Sometimes I like tha...

Today I had an interesting letter.....a letter informing me that I might be made redundant. In a way it was a stage before that actually. The letter to let us know that some people may get a job at risk letter as redundancies will have to be made. This job is a care job I do on a casual basis. In one sense I could see how my job will be at risk since I don't do that many hours a month....then again getting rid of me won't save them much. On the other hand that job funds 99% of my ministry costs so it raises a few questions. One one hand I know God will show me the next step and on the other there is a gap that needs filled.... Interesting times.

It has been a while since I have written anything here and well that has been life. In the last few months we have had a variety of challenges one after another. For a while we got pestered with teenage pranksters on a daily basis, often several times a day.... What they saw as fun, actually began to grind us down and make us anxious....The human side of you wants to defend your territory and knock heads together while you are trying to remain calm and be reasonable. Then there was a fall, concussion and now nearly constant headaches....such is life you have to take the rough with the smooth... I have been pondering lately about how we perceive things... In my church we have a Bible in a year challenge.... so lots of us a reading the daily reading and its stimulating discussion.... Someone wrote in a blog discussion "we have so many programmes and so little yield.... people do it because its what we do in Christianity" You know I get part of what the person is saying but my ...

Once again, International Christian College is opening its doors for short courses. Topic include 10:15am - 11:15am The Bible and the End of the World Escapology or eschatology? Jane McArthur 12:00 - 1:00pm Prophets, Priests and Kings Exploring some Old Testament themes Ralph Martin 7:30pm - 9:00pm Who Would Jesus Vote For? Exploring faith and contemporary political issues Graeme McMeekin The cost is £8 per class or £40 for the series if paid in advance or on the first week. (For Friends of ICC the cost is £6 per class or £30 for the series if paid in advance or on the first week) Starts 15th Feb (sorry for late notice) More details from http://www.icc.ac.uk/content/monday-classes

Over the past few months, I have been designing a website for my team in Youth with a Mission Scotland . I work in Stirling with YWAM Stirling. We are a small team, getting smaller actually! Feel free to take a look at the site and tell me what you think. This is my first attempt at anything like this so please be gentle! In particular I would like to bring your attention to the School of the Heart conference we are running in February. A fantastic week of teaching and ideal if you need a bit of retreat time. If you are in ministry this is a good place to recharge after a hectic Christmas. (One of the questions you are not allowed to ask is what do you do for a living? - So yo can just come and be.) Anyway, please take a look

Just a quick post for those in my neck of the woods. International Christian College has publicised their latest batch of Monday classes that are open to folks. There is a cost £8 per class or £40 for the six weeks per class. Registration required. I am taking in a class, so might see you there! Six Mondays from 26 th October - 30 th November Monday mornings 10.15 – 11.15 a.m. Alastair Noble “The Design Controversy – current issues in faith, science and apologetics” 12.00 – 1.00pm Speaker to be confirmed Using the Bible in groups Monday evenings 7.30 – 9.00 p.m. David Smith “Seeking a city with foundations – exploring urban theology”