Greetings from Scotland!

Yes, we are here! The moment we have been waiting for since God called Don has finally come to pass. The journey that began 5 years ago has led us to this - home.  Five years ago God called Don to Scotland. Two years ago we began our deputation travels and now here we are.
We began this week with our last Sunday service at our home church. Pastor preached a special service and afterwards he and the officers of the church prayed over Don. He then read the passage from Acts 13. One verse he particularly emphasized, verse 3 "...and laid their hands on them, they sent them away" After the service we had a dinner. Don preached the evening message.
Monday was hectic. Packing was quite a chore. We bought one new suitcase that was bigger, but I had to send Don out to get another one. I packed those bags to nearly bursting. I was afraid they were over the weight limit which they were. We did get everything packed and by the end of the day I was very tired. Don did a great job of keeping the kids out of the way.
Tuesday I was up early and we literally shoved in the remaining last minute items. Pastor Martin and a few people from church came by and we prayed together. Then off we went at about 10:30.
Let me say now, it is very difficult to travel as far as we did with 3 little ones!!! :) Our first stop was Chicago. I'm glad we had changed our flight and had 3 hours there, because we needed it. We had to go through security again and then make it all the way to Terminal 5 before our gate closed. It was nice that on the long flight they let families go first. One thing that was hard with ours being so small is that Don and I carried all the carry-on luggage. We didn't have much, but what little we did have made it quite a chore. :) They did do very well though. Kathy had a short crying spell when we arrived in Dublin because we had  to wake her up so she could walk off the plane. As soon as she was in her stroller again she was fine. Tip: if you're traveling with an infant and toddler, take a baby carrier/sling and an umbrella stroller. By putting Audrey in the carrier, my hands were free to push Kathy in the stroller. There were a few stressful moments, but all in all it went pretty well. Much better than the disaster I was expecting.
And now we are here!  The kids napped on the back from the airport. They went to bed early and didn't wake til 10:30 and 11 am!! I think as far as time we're doing good on recovery.
Today we went to Arbroath along the North Sea for some fish and chips. They were the best!!! 
Tomorrow we head up to Tain. After we have lunch with the Cashners we will go to our house! Please pray as we hunt for furniture. We want to be able to find some quality items that will last, but for a decent price.
Sometimes it seems like we're just visiting. I think it'll take a few weeks being in our own home to really sink in.  I'm looking forward to settling in and getting acquainted with the shops and people. I've already been trying to tell Harry and Kathy some of the different words to use. They find it fun.
Tonight Harry prayed: "And Lord help us to bless the people that they all get saved!" Amen!

The last days...

A lot of things have happened since I last blogged. With minor delays and much frustration we completed the paperwork for our visas and sent them off. Within a few days we heard from them that we had not sent our marriage certificate. Now this at first seemed to be somewhat of a problem., since our license was on it's way across the Atlantic on a big boat.  Then I remembered that I could request a certified copy by mail. We sent out the request overnight and received that within a few days. That had to be sent overnight to New York. They received that this past Monday and a week before our departure we received our passports with our visas. We have seen God's hand throughout this process.  It's amazing how quickly everything came together. Sometimes it seemed that with every paper or process we completed we were met with another obstacle, but in the end we simply needed to trust God to bring it all about on time. These past two months of getting everything together to apply we have definitely been tested and learned patience again and again.
Now the wait is almost over. In two days we board a plane to the place God desires us to be. I don't know what lies ahead for us, but I pray that whatever we do, wherever God leads us that we do all to glorify Him.
Today is Sunday, our last Sunday in our home church for a while.  We leave loved ones behind and we will miss them! We had a special commissioning service with a dinner afterwards.
We've been granted a 3 year visa which is the longest time frame they give. The kids are excited about going. I don't think they understand the time frame we will be gone. They know it will be a long time,  but I wonder when they will begin to ask if they can visit nana and papa, or Oma and Opa.
I'm ready to get into my house and buy furniture. Don can't wait to just finally be there.
"And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, THEY SENT THEM AWAY." Acts 13:3 KJB

Look who's 1 month old

New Title

So, the time has come to make a change. I don't know if I'll remain with the title, but for now I've renamed the blog mwinscotland.blogspot.com. In case you're wondering, mw stands for missionary wife. In about 3 weeks we embark on a new adventure. Our 'first term' as missionaries in Scotland will begin. While I will miss our family and church people, I am looking forward to the move and what God has for us over there!