Wow, much has happened since our last post.
We celebrated Liam's 5th birthday as a family and then a few days later we had a 'Pirate' birthday party for Liam and some of his friends. We all got dressed up, Julie mapped out a treasure hunt, we through water ballons at eachother and then ate some pirate cake. Over all, a great time was had by all. One of Liams's friends described it as his,"best day". Wow, how 'bout that
In another developing story, Kayleigh has been elected to the student council and is having her first meeting today. I've recieved word from a reliable sorce that she'll be lobbying for the corridor in her wing to be widened. Apparently there have been many complaints from her fellow students. We'll have news at 11 on that one.
Also, just yesterday we celebrated Julie's __ birthday. We had steaks out on the barbecue and a surprisingly tasty chocolate cake. It was a surprise that it was good because I (Marc) made it. Enough said on that.
In Impact World Tour news, we had a steering committee meeting in Kilmarnock last week which was well attended and there were many in attendance that brought some enthusiasm with them. So, it looks like this thing is going to happen in at least one city and maybe more, stay tuned.
In other ministry developments, Julie has had an answer to prayer. One of the things Julie misses from home is the Bible Study Fellowship program she attended before we left. There is one in Aberdeen but that's about a 3 hr. drive. So, who comes into church on Sunday but 4 Americans representing a very similar program they are trying to get off the ground here in Scotland. Julie met with them the other day for several hours and it's quite possible that something may be getting underway here in Stirling soon. We'll keep you posted.
Another interesting ministry related thing happening is my possible involvement in an apologetics ministry based in Edinburgh. This has been an interest of mine for years and it's looking more and more like a divine appointment has happened here. I've met twice with the director and have hit it off really well. We're looking forward to having him and his family over for church and lunch afterwards this Sunday. More on that later.
We are watching with our jaws dropped at the situation in the gulf states and are praying for those that are suffering. It's amazing how similar it looks to the area hit by the sunami. I'll have more on that on my other blog sometime later today.
That's all for now,
Marc

5 years ago today... almost exactly at this time... I was urgently nudging Marc to get the bags and take me in to deliver our 2nd baby! Hard to believe Liam is a whole hand full today!

HE'S 5!!! He is so much fun to have around and always makes sure that Erin is entertained and laughing. He's goofey and silly, immaginative and extremely generous and giving. We love him to bits!

I just dropped the kids off at school and there he stood, with his buzz light year backpack and lunch box almost as big as himself, looking straight ahead in line through the flurry of activity as parents said their good byes for the day and seemed to concentrate on his teacher Miss Ditton opening the door. I think he was excited to get inside and see what the day had ahead. He did GREAT in his first week last week! I was a bit concerned because HE is usually the shy one and I thought for sure he would be a bit clinggy... but no... he did'nt even want help carrying his pack and lunch bag the first day. What a big boy! We are so thankful for our kids! Heres to a day of excitement and a weekend of adventure ahead! (The pic. is of Liam and his best pal Adventure froggy climbing Dumyat... See the pointy Wallace Monument in the distand background, our house is just below that)
Happy 5th Birthday Liam!!! Love you, Mommy

Time to Gloat once again!!

Sorry I can't help myself but we are having some really nice weather today. We're talking 68 and partly sunny, kind of like the picture here that was by the way taken by another photographer friend of ours, Tracy Miller while she and her rabbit hunting husband Bobby visited last October.

Technically this photo is nearly perfect. Notice the how the fence and the Mt. top are at opposite quadrants and the body of water takes you on a trip to the upper right quadrant. It makes you want to jump into a canoe and start paddling to find out what's behind that hill on the right, and that's what makes it perfect. I'll try and post some more from her gallery in the near future.

Anyway, I'm playing Mr. Mom today while Julie's at the office working on the Scotland video. Erin has finally taken a nap so I have time to do stuff like this. I'm also taking in an episode of Seinfeld thanks to Mike and Joey. I forgot how funny that show was. Thanks again you guys, I've never been more productive. I also wanted to give a heads up to a really great conference coming to the southeastern, pa region. I'm not one who normally recomends conferences but this one looks really good. These are some of the best Christian thinkers out there today. I wish I could be there but I'm kind of like 3500 miles away so I don't think so. Anyway, you can check it out by going to www.reasonforthehopewithin.com/ Well, I better go and vacumn or something. Later,Marc

Lately I've been gloating a bit about the weather being so nice here while everyone back in Pa. has been mired in the soupy heat. Well, I guess reality is back as the weather the last two days looks pretty much like the picture above which by the way was taken by Tina Weiler while on her visit last winter. Great shot of Glencoe eh. So the weather here is back to being Scottish and the San Diego weather has returned to where it belongs.
I also wanted to update you to Marc's new blog. This (Marc and Julie) blog will continue on and will be mostly devoted to family life and our ministry here where the other one will be more about things like apologetics, theology and other fun stuff. It's still in the infancy stage but you can check it out @ www.marcreedhamer.blogspot.com Anyway, I must get on with the day.
Later,
Marc

School is in session!!!
Well the first day of school has come and gone and both Kayleigh and Liam seemed to enjoy the experience. Kayliegh was a bit anxious about what her teacher would be like. I think she was expecting Jezebel or theWitch of Endor or something but she came out of school today and couldn't wait to tell us how nice her teacher was. Liam, though somewhat quiet and reserved, as he is known to be, had nothing but good things to say as well. This was Liam's first full school day experience so this was a big day for him. We'll see how he feels after a couple more days. I think he'll be great, he's very adaptable.
Back to Church
We had our first day back in church the other day and it was great to see some of our friends for the first time in almost two months. After church we ended up packing some sandwiches and heading off for a picnic at Inchmahome Priory with Dave, Louis and Lilly. They're the family that lived in San Diego for ten years and moved back here about two years ago. Dave is from the States, Louis is from Scotland, and Lilly is the American born daughter that has a Scottish accent. Inchmahome Priory is an old church and place of refuge for the Queen during times of war that dates back about 800 years. It's located on an island on the Lake of Menteith (the only lake in Scotland) so we had to take a boat out to it. This is all free since we have 'Historic Scotland' memberships. The weather was great (cool and sunny) and we had a great time taking in the sights. So sorry to hear it's still so hot back in Pa. The weather here has been amazing.
The last couple of days have been spent trying to get our office things back in order and setting up appointments. We are scheduled to have a steering committee meeting in Kilmarnock next Thursday evening the 25th. Pray this will go well.
More later,
Marc

Greetings once again from Bonnie 'Ol Scotland
We've been back since wed. morning but only physically since our bodies were still on Pa. time. We are still a bit tired but slowly adjusting. From wed. night into thursday, we slept for 16 hrs. I think that's the longest I (Marc) have slept since I was a teenager. Jet lag is a drag!!
The weather here has been like being beamed into fall.
It has been extremely refreshing to say the least especially after all that heat and humidity back in the states. Word has it that the weather has been very dry here while we were gone. Our front lawn backs this up since it has some pretty wide spread brown patches. According to the locals, 'it must be global warming...'. Yup, we're all gonna burn up and die just like what happenened to Mars many moons ago. Sounds funny eh but I just heard a story on the BBC last night alluding to the concept that long ago there was life on Mars and that it could no longer sustain life because of global warming. I feel sorry for these people that live with so much fear. I believe in the God who not only created this earth and universe but who also sustains it. When He says it's over, it's over, and that's that. That being said I think we as Christians especially should care for God's creation the best we know how, but this earth is not where our hope lies. The beauty of this earth is but a glimpse of what we will experience in heaven.
Has any one ever heard of a 'Presbyterian Atheist'?
I just saw this term for the first time while reading the newspaper at the convenience store. It was describing a local politician who had just passed away this past week. As I ponder that term it has made the state of things here in Scotland so much clearer. The Church of Scotland is presbyterian and practically dead, I wonder why. Think about that one for a while and then pray.
By the way, it was great to see all of our friends and family back in the states over the last 6 weeks. We had a great time and we were very sad to say goodbye. You all are such a blessing and we are very thankful to God for putting such great people in our lives.
Congratulations once again to Michael and Melissa. May God bless your marriage all the days of your lives.
Bye for now,
Marc

welcome back to the states guys!
jeff

Hey there people of 'Planet Blog', how's it bloggin'?

Erin is three months today, I can't believe it, she just keeps getting cuter every day. No offense to the rest of you babies and parents out there, but I think she is about as cute as a baby can get. She's at least in the top three of the cutest babies I've ever seen. Take a guess at who the other two might be.

IWT Stuff

Anyway, an update on the Dunblane meeting. It's looks like it's going to have to wait until we get back from the states in August. The pastor I met with is also heading to the states around the same time we are. This is very typical around here. Everything just seems to shut down here in the summer. I am also going to be meeting with the senior pastor of Calvary Motherwell in August as well. He had been pretty busy with other stuff including helping to plan his daughters upcoming wedding so we decided to get together when we get back here. If you ever want to hear some excellent, and I mean excellent teaching from the bible, go to their web-site www.calvarymotherwell.org and go to the multi-media section. They have a whole library of his (David Simpson) teaching. It is excellent stuff and much needed in the church today. I just like how they go right through the bible and let the text dictate the subject rather than the other way around. That church is definitely one of the bright spots in the church in Scotland today. Another good thing happened the other day. Ian Black, who heads up a ministry called 'Dundee for Christ', got back to me and would like to meet up in the next two weeks. He is probably the biggest mover and shaker in all of Scotland with organizing large scale church related events. This is quite significant since large scale events and Scotland are somewhat of an oxymoron. Anyway, pray that we would be able to meet up before we head out.

Answer to Prayer

Julie and I have recently been praying about starting a small group or home fellowship, whatever you want to call it. Well, last week the assisitant pastor from Stirling Baptist Church approached us and asked us if we would be interested in leading a small group for what he thought are new believers. We immediately said yes which shocked him. He said he was used to a lot of non-committal answers or people never getting back to him about things. We just knew in our hearts that's what God wanted us to do so there was no need for delay. We'll be having our first meeting next Tuesday evening the 14th, so please keep that in prayer.

Hannah's getting married!!

No, this isn't the latest Julia Roberts movie. Hannah, the former bass player for Beyond the Pale is getting married July 9th. We just recieved the news today and we are really excited for her and her groom to be. God bless 'em!!!

Well, that's all for today folks.

Later,

Marc

Hi everybody, just a quick update on some things.

The Latest With IWT

I (Marc) just had a probably my most encouraging IWT meeting last week with a local pastor from Dunblane. To be honest, most of our meetings so far have had us walking away confused or just downright discouraged. This one would prove to be diffferent which was a shock considering how it came together.
I had originally phoned this pastor with the hope of setting up a meeting of local church leaders from the Stirling area while Mark Anderson (IWT founder & International director) was here back in April. He was not able to attend and added that the fundraising meeting we were having in Dunblane was a major offense to the local churches because they were not invited. I explained that the reason we were having our meeting in Dunblane was solely for the access and affordability of the venue (The Victoria Hall) and to raise funds with those that were already familar and supportive of the ministry. Unfortunately he was unconvinced by what I thought was a pretty good explanation. We did end the conversation however with the hopes of getting together in the near future to talk about our ministries here in Scotland. Well, a couple of weeks later I phoned him and we agreed to meet over coffee and tea (I had the tea). He started out by saying he was surprised that I had called him back because he thought his words had put me off somewhat. He also shared that he is tired of 'plastic Christianity' and tends to just tell people what he is thinking. This was extremely refreshing to hear because I think there is far too much 'plastic Christianity' out there these days. We're all so infatuated with unity at all costs that we just go around tickling eachothers ears half the time rather than telling them the truth. Well anyway, the meeting went extremely well as he was very excited about IWT coming to Dunblane.
We are planning on having a follow up meeting next week with some other local church leaders present. Please pray that this will be fruitfull.

Kilmarnock Steering Committee Meeting June 20th

You can also pray for a very important meeting we are having on June 20th. This is a steering committee meeting and will hopefully solitify the campaign coming to Kilmarnock next year. There are many people that would like to see this thing happen in Kilmarnock but we haven't recieved the official invitaion to their city as yet. Pray that they would extend the official invitation that evening and that we would be able to start getting things set up there. This could potentially start the ball rolling in a big way for all of Scotland. We'll let you know what happens through the blog and when we return home later this month.

We'll be back

In case you're wondering, we'll be returning June 27th and will be home until the 9th of August. The reason we are coming back this summer is my nephew is getting married and also to recharge our batteries a bit. We'd also love to share more about Scotland and what were doing here.

G-8

One other thing to keep in prayer is the upcoming G-8 summitt to held in Glenneagles, Scotland which is just about 20 mins. up the road from us. This is a huge deal here and is dominating much disscussion inside and outside the church. Unfortunately, there are many that just want to start a bunch of trouble with violent protests. Check out this artical www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1632526,00.html The path of their very uncool and to be strait, STUPID protests will take them right thru Stirling. Pray that no one will be hurt or killed during this time and that the G-8 leaders will be able to come up with some viable (not based entirely on the emotions of Bob Geldof ) strategies to attack global poverty.

How's that for just a quick update? Just a little more blather eh Dick.

Later,

Marc

Did you notice?! Did you see the pics Jeff posted? Thanks Jeff! Did you notice Erins cheeks? An apple in each one! :) What a puddin' cake!

She is definatly a smiley baby and its hard to concentrate on anything else when she is awake and looking at you like... "will you smile and talk with me". Her smile draws you in and compells you to give your full attention and begin babbeling with a lilt in your voice and oogeling over her ever dimple, raised eyebrow or coo. Its amazing how you could be mad at the world, not that we ever get to that point, but then one little face looks at you and just settles your spirit and makes you melt. Hmmm... similar thing when I am upset and then start praying. Just puts things into perspective and the other things become strangly dim in Jesus' light.

Today was a nice Saturday. Did some laundry, got bitten by some midges, caught up with some other moms on the phone, got bitten by some midges, ran down to the co-op for eggs, bread and milk, came back to make pancakes and get bitten by midges on the way back. The kids worked on a coloring contest, Marc typed out his notes for the course he was working on, I hung out some more laundry and got bitten by more midges. We decided to go for a walk to the University Lake to feed the ducks. THe kids shared some bread with other kids to feed the ducks then tromped through the edge of the lake in the creek under the giant rhodadendrun and we got bitten by more midges, oh and Kayleigh got picked by stingey nettle and Liam decided to take a face plant on the sidewalk. Kayleighs jumping rope is improving at a rapid speed on the way. We ended up at the Macrobert (Comunity theater and center on Uni. campus)looking at the local Stirling kids art gallery focusing on the history of this country and William Wallace. (700 year celebration of W.Wallace this year!!!) Braveheart on the BIG SCREEN... Marc is psyched! He is now preparing to preach for tomorrow at Stirling Baptist Church. Something about the Upsidown Church and Pentecost. Im sure he will work in an IWT presentation in there somewhere. Ohhhhhh ..... did I mention that I GOT BITTEN BY MIDGES?! THEY ARE NASTY THOSE BUGGERS! I guess Ill have to load up on garlic or someting. :) All in all a nice day, It felt like a saturday... nice!

Love to all! Julie

Hello to everyone once again from the land of 'Hammish' the highland cow.
First of all I would like to appologise for not keeping up with the blog lately. To be perfectly honest, the whole thing feels a bit narcisistic. Since many of you have voiced your displeasure at our neglegence, we will try to do better at keeping up with things.

We just returned from a wee holiday trip to the Isle's of Mull and Iona. Iona you might know is where the Irishman Columba, first brought Christianity to Scotland in the yr. 563. He would go on to build a monastary on the very small Island of Iona, and would later spread the gospel to some of the eastern areas of Scotland. As I was looking out at the amazing view from Iona towards Mull, I kept wondering why Columba as a missionary would settle on such a desolate place. I mean this place is practically devoid of civilization. It's definitely National Geographic material. It reminded me that Christianity is not just missions and evangelism, it is primarily a relationship with God. With that in mind, it all made sense because I don't think I've ever been to a place that was so condusive to just spending time with God. It was absolutley beautiful. I could have stared out at the view for days without tiring. I think if we would spend more time doing just that, we would naturally become more contagious Christians. So, take some time out of your day today just to be with God and see what happens. By the way you don't need to go to Iona to do this. You can just find a quiet spot and open the word and meditate on it.

Ironically, though you can see God's handywork here all through the countryside, there's evidence of the dying church here in everytown we go in. Just about every town we visited had at least one church that had closed its doors and reopened as a tourist information site, retail shop or antique mall. It's sad to see but a reminder of why we are here. Please pray for this land, it is much worse than I would have ever imagined before we came over and sometimes the state of things seems overwhelming. We are just hoping our time here will help to make a dent somehow. This is only possible though through the power of the Holy Spirit so pray, pray, pray!!!

That's all for now, I need to make some phone calls and hopefully work on that dent.

Marc

click here to go to see the new pictures I just posted. Sorry it took so long. Peace yall
jeff

They're Home!!!J
Just a quick update to let you all know that Julie and Erin are home from the hospital. They are both doing well and as I write this Erin is snoozing away just a couple of feet away. She's got the cutest big honker cheeks. Pretty soon you'll be able to see them when we get the pics posted. Julie is doing well (relatively speaking of course) and resting up as much as possible. I (Marc) am just now recovering from the epidural they gave me from the neck up, what a blessing it was.
O.K., bye for now.
Marc

Houston..........We have a baby!!!
On Monday March the 7th, @ 8:58PM (Scotland time) Erin Grace Hamer 'graced' us with her arrival. She is a beautiful wee lassie looking very much like her big sister Kayleigh when she was born. Erin was somewhat larger than her sister though weighing in @ 8lbs. 13ounces. I Marc, didn't notice too much of a difference in size but Julie would definitely beg to differ. Julie was amazing during the whole delivery and both Julie and Erin are recovering well and should return home today (Wed. the 9th). Kayleigh and Liam are about as excited as I've ever seen them and can't wait 'till their new baby sister comes home.
That's about all I have time for right now. Thank you all for your prayers and keep posted for some pictures real soon (thanks to Frank & Becky and their digital camera).
God bless you all from the Hamers

STILL no baby face yet!!! I am officially now overdue! I actually think the date they originally gave me (March 9) may have been more accurate! Oh, well. Now we play the waiting game and watch the ankles swell ... in amazement!

I know some of you are checking the blog for progress, so here is to say that there really isn't any. Well, in the baby world anyway! In the office peruse... there actually may be! We are looking at 2 possibilities for office space at the moment (even if it is temporary). Its exciting to actually think that we may have something within the month! Need to wait on finding out total costs including council taxes and extra fees and stuff. Will keep office progress posted too! :)

Ok, speaking of swelling ankles... I think I will go kick it up with Marc and Mom and watch the last 1/2 of Ground Hog Day. Mom is giggling a lot, so it must be funny. Its been a while since I saw it.... but strangle seems like yesterday! Hmmmm

Wow, I know we are just a bunch of blogging goobers! Too much time between entries. Please forgive me!

The IWT Launch went well! We had a packed house and some great new contacts and it was just a blessing to be in the midst of people who seemed to have a heart to see Christ preached in this nation!!! What a refreshing blast! The donations and financial commitments to see this National office start was a very helpful start! Marc Andersons visit was short, but also a blessing. Great to have such a visionary here to direct and advise! We are finally beginning to see some things happen and decisions being made for future dates and goals for us to work toward.

Thanks if you took the time to lift us in prayer and that situation! We really appreciate those prayers! STILL looking for an office!!! UGGGG!

We had a guest... TINA WEILER... for a week and it was so much fun to have her here. Always great to be in the company of friends! She had an interest in Roman history and it was interesting for us to learn a bit about that part of Scotland. We had the best guide one Sunday, our pastor Alister Black volunteered to ride with us and show us some Roman sites that dated back to 82 ad! COOL!!! She had great weather (except for her adventure in the highlands with our friend Andy... cloudy that day... bummer) but the rest of the week was sunny! So if you plan to visit, lately our visitors have had wonderful weather and just a touch of some Scottish grey to make it real!

BABY COUNT DOWN is just about 3 weeks and the MOMs VISIT COUNT DOWN is just in about 8 days!!! YIPPEE! Nope, no names picked yet. We have a skeleton of a list, but are trusting God will give us the perfect one at delivery! :) The kids are coming up with some dousies though!

Tomorrow is national Pancake day! How much fun is that? Im getting together with a bunch of other bumps (expecting moms) that I met at a maternity class. No, we are not getting together to eat pancakes, just tea, but Im planning on hosting someone for the eve. for the traditional festivities. Looking forward to extending these friendships and opportunities to share Christ with them too!

Are these pics. working yet, by the way? Can you get to them? If not, Ill check again with Jeff.

Well, Just now Marc is re-living the pain of last nights game results. Yes, we could see the Superbowl on the BBC live. Thats 11:30-3:30 by the way! A friend came over and shared the joys and the sorrows. Hes from SanDiego, but was so attached and cried and hugged over the Eagles ups and downs... almost felt like a brotherly love connection! :)

OH, I almost forgot...... NEWS FLASH........... Marc has finally tried Haggis and actually likes it!!! Go figure! He had seconds! Thanks to some friends Andy and Gyda who invited us for a traditional Scottish meal and served the plates filled with all kinds of savory treats (not family style where you could quietly refuse) we all had the encouragement to enjoy the local flavor! Yummy! You really are missing out if you don't try it and for crying out loud, Im so proud of Marc for biting the bullet and actually putting it in his mouth and then, shock of all shocks, HE LIKED IT!

On another Scottish cultural note Kayleigh, our American sounding daughter, got 2nd in her class for reciting a Scottish poem (or "poe-yem" as they say here)... in a Scottish accent! Amazing if you think of it! We're so proud! Hee-hee!

Sweet haggis dreams, Julie

Just a quick one...

We are having our official IWT Scotland Launch... That's Launch like in Kick off... not lunch spelled wrong! Hosting our International Director Mark Anderson extraordinair... he will be the speaker! Just wish we had more time to invite people. We are looking forward to him sharing vision and encouragement and everyone coming together to make it all feel like we are actually rolling forward! Praise God! Should be good. Next Thurs. Jan 20th, so mark it on your calendars! :) Still looking for an office, please keep praying! Did I mention that we are looking for an office and would appreciate your prayers with us in this?

Had 4 seasons in one day yesterday. Gusts of winds up to 100mph... thats crazy wind! Marc drove through snow on his way back from some meetings, we had marble size hail, some beautiful sunshine and cool fall weather now. Hmmmm. Makes you want to come and visit, ehh?!

Trying to pick baby names... any ideas? We will make the list and take it with us to the hospital to choose then. We are taking requests.... No, sorry, Harry is not one of them! Moms coming soon to help out for a few months. Its been way too long since we saw her! It will be wonderful to be together! I had contractions yesterday... so get your ticket mom! :) Back pains like an old woman, temp. loss of hearing in one ear, bulges and bumps, not being able to touch your toes without bending your knees, ahhh, the joys of pregnancy. (Dont worry, I wont go on... but I could :) Its all worth it! Kids rock!

Thanks Jeff for Updating the Photos! You rock! Hey guys, check out his link and picture of their new baby on the way too! I know the ultrasounds often look a lot alike, but I think this one has Jeffs eyebrows. By the way, we've named our wee one in the womb "bean" since it jumps ALOT and also since the kids have made a bean baby the size and weight of the growing one in my belly. Cute eh?

Well, by now you possibly have all successfully stuffed your faces with Christmas goodies and have tried to find space for all your new stuff. I hope that each of you are having a great Christmas and able to really cherish together time with those you love, the peace that God gives and the passion and purpose behind it all!

We enjoyed our Christmas with a relaxed start which was a nice change then the traditional stockings, readings, singing, and stuff. A great new friend named Cephas from Nigeria who is attending the local University came over for dinner. It was a pleasure to share the celebrations with him. He is a father of 3 and his wife and kids are currently living in Alabama while he studies here. Man, that must be tough! Anyway, Liam and Cephas successfully whipped our butts at Uno and created a Unoic bond. We missed being with our families, but enjoyed some phone calls from friends and family and even a quick web cam visit to the gang in NJ. Today we had guests stop in (Dave, Louise and Lilli) and they ended up hanging out for the day and helping us empty our dorm size frig. of our leftovers so now I have room for milk and OJ again. Im loving the gathering time that most people take time to do around this time of year. We have enjoyed some nice little visits with some neighbors as well.

AND.... SUPRISE OF ALL SUPRISES.... we actually had a WHITE CHRISTMAS here in SCOTLAND! Go figure! Most locals have been saying that they cant ever remember a white Christmas, ever, so we thank the Lord for the gift of a fresh blanket of snow that has lingered the last 3 days! YEHAA!!! Now, if only we had a sled... hmmm Marc said that he remembers in the hood some used to use cardboard and I remember in college we sometimes used cafeteria trays so I guess we will have to be creative! Any ideas?... let me know! More later, suddenly Im inspired to curl up with a hot mug of water (helps with the sore throat) and watch my favorite Christmas Movie that somehow I have not seen this year yet... White Christmas. "Vermont must be beautiful this time of year... all that snow!"

LOVE AND ... dont forget to buy the sauerkraut for new years, Julie

Happy Birthday Kayleigh! "Now I am 6 I'm as clever as clever, so I think I'll be six now and forever" Christopher Robin

Hard to imagine its been 6 years since our little burst of sunshine came into our lives! Thank you Lord for Kayleigh!

In case you are wondering, Kayleigh was sick on her birthday (Dec. 1) and the few days following. She received a few packages in the mail that day from family and was even too ill to sit up and open them. (We decided to wait to open them until she was conscience.) NOW THAT'S SICK! We still had a little cake and sang to her, but had to wake her up to do that!

Today she was feeling much better except for a lingering cough now, but not too much to hold back a little party. She invited Lilli (from church) and Brittany (from school and Australia) for a little gathering. They had Kayleighs choice for lunch, had fun with cake, played dress up, went to the local village for a few jumps down the jumpy castle and slide that was so conveniently nearby to exert some energy, then home for a crafty ornament making session, some kereoki, some more dress up and wound down with a brief viewing of Home Alone... what else? All in all it was a nice wee gathering! (and very manageable with just 2 guests! :)

THANKS to everyone who helped make her birthday so special! We have received so many nice cards, and packages from family and an incredibly huge package from the Millers and our friends from Zion! We will have to post some pictures soon... as soon as we get them scanned in.

I must write more... I will let it at just b-day stuff for this post. Happy day to you all!

Sorry for the delay in keeping you all in touch on this fine blogger site. Since our last update some interesting things have been happening. First of all we had a great time visiting the Canters for a couple of days down in West Kilbride. They're a great family from America working with YWAM Scotland in the National office. They're are great conversationalists (sounds like a political party or something) that we always end up talking with 'till the wee hours of the evening or morning. They also have three kids that Kayleigh and Liam just love to play with. Let's just say this family is a real blessing from God. Unfortunately Liam became ill with the flu at the end of our visit but after about five feverish days, he's beginning to act like himself again. Praise God for that!

Another unfortunate circumstance was that our IWT meeting which was scheduled for Ayr was cancelled because they had forgotten that day was Amistice day here in the UK. This is similar to our Veterans day, but there's more of a link to the church here. So, we'll have to reschedule that one hopefully some time soon.

On Friday we traveled back down to the Seamill Centre to give a presentation to the students that are presently doing a DTS. We also brought along Lance McKinney, the IWT national director for Spain. The objective in this meeting was to make them aware of the IWT ministry in case they might want to join along with us in some capacity. We'll see what happens.

The week ahead brings a YWAM orientation for two days back in West Kilbride and a follow up meeting for IWT in Kilmarnock. We'll update you on that later in the week.
I (Marc) have also been given the opportunity to help get the evening service at Stirling Baptist a little more together. I met with the senior pastor Alister Black, the other day and had a great conversation with him on a variety of subjects. Anyway, that looks like a great opportunity to become more involved in the church and he had some potentially great contacts for IWT as well. We've also been invited to sing a couple of songs and give a short message at the Motherwell Calvary Chapel next week for their prayer and praise for Scotland night. We are very excited about that opportunity as well, they're a great group of people down there.
Well, since I'm a bit tired after getting up really early this morning (3am) to take Frank and Becky to the airport, I'm going to sign off now. Hope you all are doing well and that you continue to breathe deep the breath of God.
See ya,
Marc