Happy Birthday Julie!!!
It is hard to believe this will be the 15th time Julie and I will be celebrating her birthday today. While pondering this I couldn't help but think back to the first and how nervous I was. It was the day after our first date back in September of 1992. We spent the whole day together first visiting my church, lunch at Houlahan's in King of Prussia, and then the Philly zoo so I could introduce Julie to some of my relatives in the primate section. They thought she was great by the way. Well, I guess things were going pretty well as we decided to stop off at Valley Forge Park on the way back and sat and chatted for a couple of hours. I knew the next day Julie's parents who I had not yet met, were having a surprise birthday party for her which I was invited. Well, after spending the whole previous day with her I was a little bit leary about appearing at her party the day after thinking she may feel a bit overwhelmed at the attention I was giving her. That on top of meeting her parents for the first time and most of her friends who I hadn't met before including one lad (complete dork by the way) who was very interested in Julie and wasn't that thrilled that I had come on the scene. So now you can see why I was a bit nervous. But I was on a mission so I wasn't going to let a little nervousness get in the way. After all, my good friend Mike had prophesied the night I met Julie by calling her my wife.

Well, I said all that to say this, as a wise man once said. Instead of getting the feeling that I was overdoing it, Julie made me feel like the most important person there and after all these years is still doing the same thing today. I guess this sounds more like an anniversary because whenever we celebrate Julie's birthday, it reminds me of how things began with us and all the amazing experiences we've had together over the years. I never would have imagined what God would do with us and through us including those three wonderful children in the picture above.

Julie, you've been an amazing friend, bride and mother to our children. I love you and hope and pray that you have a wonderful birthday and that this next year of your life will be filled with many blessings.

Happy Birthday!!

Marc 

Happy 6th Birthday Liam!!
Today, August 22nd is Liam's birthday and is actually the 3rd Liam birthday we've celebrated here in Scotland which unofficially makes him half Scottish I guess. It's hard to believe he is 6 already as it seems like it's been barely a blink of an eye since he entered this world. Liam is quite the character and I must say as his dad that he is the coolest son a dad could ever ask for. Just look at that face and tell me he's not the cutest guy you've ever seen.

Yesterday for Liam's birthday we took him and some of his friends to the Safari park just a few miles from Stirling. All in all everyone had a great time so special thanks to Gary (The park manager and one of Liam's friend's dad) for going out of your way to make sure we had a great time, which we all did.
Here are some other pics from the big day. We hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed being in them. Liam, you are the best son we could have ever asked for and we love you to bits.
We pray that each coming year will be better than the last and that God will continue to bless you and enable you to be a blessing to many more people.

Happy 6th Birthday Liam! You're the coolest.

Mom, Dad, Kayleigh and Wee Erin

Scenes From Scotland
Yesterday while we were returning from being out all day we spent some time praying in the car. Sometimes I get frustrated with living in a foreign country when things just don't make any sense at all. In my frustration I can loose sight of the bigger picture like why we are here in the first place. Sometimes I think I must come accross to God as a spoiled kid who has lost sight of all he has been given. One of the things that came to mind last night in prayer was what a truely beautiful country God has allowed us to serve Him in. The pictures here are from our latest excursion to the isles of Mull and Iona with the Andrews about a week and a half ago. I just thought I would share them with you all and invite you to think about what an amazing God we have. His creativity as well as His love is boundless even for a spoiled kid like me.



 

Back to Work
Last week we had a nice vacation spent with the Andrews but in the wake of that funfilled time we are left with the reality of getting back to work and catching up with the stuff we had to lay aside for the week.

Kayleigh and Liam are even getting in on the act selling genuine American lemonade from their roadside stand. They actually had several customers and all were quite satisfied with the product and the service.

Well I have to say after taking a look at our blog I thought it might be necessary to let you know that our lives here in Scotland are not all about the beach and lounging in the sun. We actually do some work here and as we come out of the summer holiday period and get closer to tour time, the work load is going to get more and more intense.

Today I'm at home watching the kids while Julie is at the office trying to take care of some of her responsibilities there. I think she may be heading out to do some man on the street video stuff for another video we are working on.
We are also in the process of organising not only the main tour but many events leading up to it. At the end of this month we have the 'Transform' seminar which is three nights with different speakers including Mark Anderson, the IWT founder and leader of YWAM Campaigns based in Kansas City. Mark will also be speaking at a fundaraiser we will be having on the 2nd of Sept. up here in the Stirling area. We are also planning a youth prayer and praise evening with a prayer walk preceding it that day in Kilmarnock. There are many other things happening with IWT as well but I don't want to bore you.

We are also involved although to a limited degree at this point with helping out at the Alva Baptist church. We'll update you on that soon.

Julie and I have also been asked once again to be a part of the Willow Creek annual Leadership Summit being held this year in Stirling. This is not the actual event. That will be held at Willow Creek this month. After that is done they will do the international version on DVD in several different laocations around the world. Last year it was in Glasgow which turned out to be interesting as I got lost on the way to the rehearsal and ended up picking up a couple of hitch hikers who led me to the church. I'll be playing drums again and Julie will once again be taking care of the hospitality for us back stage people. I have to say I don't agree with much of it from a philosophical (using many secular marketing techniques for church growth) standpoint but it's an opportunity to see what's being taught and promoted without paying the outragious fee. I also enjoy being a part of the worship team and spending some good time offering up praises to God. It's also an opportunity to engage in discussion about what's being said by the speakers. I was actually very impressed last year in speaking with the other musicians about what was taught. Some of them had some really good comments. That's one of the things I like about Scots, they're not impressed with anyone no matter how big they are in the church or the world. They'll tell you what they think. Kind of reminds me of Philly.

Anyway, that's scheduled for the end of Sept. so we'll give a review when it's over.

I think that's enough said for today.

Cheers,

Marc 

Scotland with the Andrews Clan
Today we said goodbye to the Andrews after spending a fun filled week showing them the sights and just hanging out. As you can see from the pics, we all visited the Stirling castle, Edinburgh, Mull and Iona, among other sights. I think the favorite seemed to be hiking the Mts. of Glencoe and seeing the Isles of Mull and Iona. Special thanks to Wolf and Arlene for taking us along with you, we had a great time seeing that amazing place once again.

From the Hamer perspective, it was great to just see some of our family and catch up on what's been happening in their lives. As you can see by this picture, Hansy boy has grown up a bit. We still call him Hansy boy though. Valia had the kids laughing almost constantly, especially in the car on our trip to and from Iona. She and Liam were still laughing in the car 'till well after 11 last night. It was also good to hear of the next chapter in Jon's life as he is heading off to the Indiana University of Pennsylvania this fall. How's that for a mouth full. It sounds like a great school so we wish Jon the best and a great experience their.

God bless Andrews clan, you are already missed.

Wow, it's been an amazing summer weather wise around here as we have been seeing temps consistantly in the 70's and 80's. Today I'm back in a sweater with the temps more where they should be in the mid 60's.

I'll post more pics from the Andrew clan invasion soon.