New Year

Hogmanay: It's what the Scots call the New Year and it's a BIG DEAL around here. A bigger deal than Christmas, even, and every other holiday during the year. For most Scottish people, New Years = the weekend you get more drunk than any other time during the year. Because of this, no one goes back to work until the 3rd or 4th of January, and some not even until next Monday. They're all too hung-over. No, I'm not kidding! I laughed when I first heard this, but then I was told that they actually all get an extra day or two off work in order to "recover" from the New Year celebrations.

But for me and all the lovely folk in Radiate and Aberdeen AG church, it was a time to celebrate life and all the blessings God has given. The party started at 8pm with plenty of lively Ceilidh dancing and massive group games. Around 10:30pm we took a break to refuel on food (and coffee), then gathered together in the sanctuary for a thanksgiving service. It was refreshing to be in God's presence and give Him thanks for the way He's made our lives abundant and new. After worship Pastor Iain left an open mic for anyone who wanted to share a testimony from the past year. There's a Teen Challenge center in Aberdeen that our church supports, and it was especially encouraging to see so many of these men, recovering drug addicts, stand up and give testimony of what God has done. One man said, with a voice full of emotion, "I couldn't imagine my life without drugs because that's all I'd ever known. I've been clean for four months now. That might not sound like a lot, but for me, that's a miracle." Praise God!

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Ceilidh is traditional Scottish dancing. It's kind of a mix between swing dancing and square dancing. Loads of fun!!

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We also played a few really fun group games.
This was a hat game (obviously), with the same basic concept as musical chairs, except instead of moving you pass hats around the circle until the music stops and one unlucky person is stuck without a hat. Sorry, you lose.
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In Scotland, after the clock strikes 12, the party has really just begun. The rest of the night is spent going from house to house, visiting all your friends and eating lots of great food that they make for you. This celebrating continues for the next two or three days as they make to rounds, visiting and calling everyone they love to wish them a Happy New Year. I ended up getting home around 6am the next morning :o) and on New Years day went to Sarah and Rob's for a big New Year dinner. It was a lot of fun.


And more games....
And more food....
For Debz and Naomi, it was all a bit too much :0)
Happy New Year!