Saying Goodbye

I feel like there are a thousand things I need to pen out right now. My heart is full to the point of breaking with all the thoughts and emotions that come with this transition and the many vital lessons I've learned this year. As my time in Scotland is drawing to a close, these past couple weeks have been full of preparations for returning home - mainly packing and a lot of coffees and meals with people I love as we grasp to make the most of our rapidly disappearing time together.
One such event was last friday night - a surprise going away party that my wonderful colleagues threw for me. It was so much fun! By the end of the night my face hurt from smiling and laughing so much. I really felt so, so loved and appreciated. The high point was probably when they showed a video they'd made of all the students saying goodbye and why they love and will miss me. SO PRECIOUS!
Although it aches to say goodbye, I'm finding a sweetness amongst the bitter parts. The pain we feel in this separation is a testimony to the depth of our relationships and the love that we foster for one another. If we didn't care so much about each other, then it really wouldn't hurt to say goodbye. I've found a great community in Radiate and I'm going to miss these people very much. I'm thankful for the opportunity to share life with them and I feel honored that God would allow me to be a part of their spiritual journey.

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To see all the photos from my party clicky here

My Babies

I have the cutest nieces in the world!!

End of Semester Elation

Sarah and her crazies!

Lots more photos here.
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Last night we had our end of the year party for Radiate - a BBQ and bonfire at the beach. It was a little cold but a lot of fun. There's a really lovely beach right outside of Aberdeen in a small community called Balmeadie. The only draw back was that the barbeques are one side of the sand dunes and the shore is on the other. So we flipped some burgers, scarfed them down, then ran over the sand dunes where we'd built a nice toasty bonfire. We were a little chilly while barbequeing but managed to stay warm by playing tag (a game I'll never outgrow) and taking jumping pictures. It was seriously fun times. I'm really going to miss these people!

Getting ready to barbeque. So much food!

Sarah and her midget.

"Give us food......NOW"

Or maybe everyone was just trying to stay warm?

Joe, Nathan, and Jackie

A few brave souls went in the water even though it was freezing!

Grace turned Christine into a mermaid.

And a bitta rugby of course.

Adios Home Group :o(

Last night was the last of our home group bible studies until next fall. Aww! It's kinda hard to say goodbye for a while to these weekly meeting, a little bittersweet ya know?.........nah, it's mostly just bitter ;o) I did have such a wonderful time being a discipleship leader to these girls this year and last night was no exception. I will miss them all very much. Since it was the last meeting I made them all dinner - chicken tikka and chicken korma curry, rice, and rhubarb crumble for dessert (classic British meal, aye). After consuming a large amount of food we spent some time studying and discussing Romans 12:1-2. We talked about what God requires of us and whether or not He could really change us - change the really rough and bad parts of who we are, and how the fact that He is unconditionally patient and compassionate plays into that whole process. It was a good discussion. Below are posted some photos for your viewing pleasure....

Really silly Sarah, Christine, and Laura.

I know this isn't the most appetizing picture, but seriously people - this rhubard crumble was AH-mazing! Joe and Jessica Hippey (a couple of our student leaders) gave me a bunch of rhubarb this week that they'd grown in their garden. Apparently rhubarb is a totally British thing so they didn't want me to leave with out experiencing it. I'd never eaten or cooked with rhubarb so I was just kinda like, "Uhhh.......thanks, I think." But I found a recipe on the internet and it was brilliant. Who knew rhubarb could taste so scrumptulicious? Not I, said the Anna. Don't worry Mom, I'll be bringing this one home!

Yeah, of course we took jumping pictures in my living room. The people who live below me loved it.

Open Mic Night

Last night we had another outreach hosted at Starbucks - this time an open mic night. It was amazing! I honestly don't have words. There were over 50 people there and at one point I counted 25 new students. That is incredible! Five of the students who preformed were first timers who had been invited by a friend to the outreach. I felt overwhelmed, almost to tears at one point, when I looked around and saw all the students that God has entrusted to us, and thought about the brilliant relationship He's given us with the Starbucks staff. He has been so good to us. Our next outreach is an end of the year PARTY on May 11. It's gonna be an end of semester elation extravaganza! Please pray that the relationships we've started building with these new students will continue to deepen and that the life of God, in us, will draw them to Him.

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There was quite a variety of creativity expressed: short stories, poems, music (both original and cover songs), and comedy.

Sarah and Natasha started out the night with a short story they'd written about superheros.....

...and they had volunteers act it out. Very amusing!

Some of the first time guests singing away.

Natasha has been writing poetry for years. She read two poems, one she'd written before she was saved and one she wrote just recently, to show the contrast between what her life used to be and what it is now.

Students enjoying themselves

The very talented Nathan played the guitar and harmonica (at the same time) and sang (when his mouth wasn't full of harmonica).

Music by David Karon read poetry he had written, and a couple from his favorite books. He's from Trinidad and speaks with a lot of rhythem. It was brilliant.

And of course, the hilarious Rachel and Andy had everyone in stitches with their corney jokes and comedy routine. What a laugh!

Our Norway Peeps

The past four days we have enjoyed a massive blessing: visiting with our missionary friends who are pioneering campus ministry in Norway. Cortney, Brett (pictured to the left), and Kelly (pictured below with Cortney and Brett) are about nine months in to a two year missionary assignment. They came out this weekend to see how we're doing things here in Scotland and draw from Sarah and Joe's vast wealth of wisdom and knowlegde, as well as enjoy some major chill time with their favorite missionaries to Scotland (us, of course).

When we weren't discussing principles of pioneering campus ministry, we were doing equally important things like taking jumping pictures.
We also took them to see the Crathes Castle. Fantastic!

More photos can be viewed here.
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And now, for something completely unrelated to the above paragraph...

Cheers to my good friend Dave for bringing me back sugar-free flavored creamer from the States! He went for two weeks to visit his fiance and returned bearing gifts for all us Americans who are way too far away from home :o)