Cheerio To Snizort

Sunday was a difficult day for me. The Lord has wonderfully melded the hearts of the folk here with mine in such a short period of time. I have had some wonderful fellowship, learned a great deal about the Scottish worship culture…if there is such a thing…have had wonderful opportunities to speak the Gospel into peoples’ lives, both in and out of the pulpit and have been allowed to speak into the hearts of some of the more mature Christians of the need for intentional discipleship (which was warmly and enthusiastically received.) So, all that to say that Sunday was just a wee bit emotional, knowing that I will not, often, see some of these dear people again. The Lord has made a rich deposit into my life through them, and, hopefully, the same is true from me to them.

Last night, I had the joy of having Ben and Annette Johnstone in the Snizort manse for a spaghetti supper. You will recall, Ben and Annette were our friends that we met in 2006 whom the Lord used to precipitate my being in Scotland . They were on their way to the Isle of Lewis, where they will live when they retire, to do some work on their retirement house…scraping, painting, etc. So I feed them a delicious meal (if I do say so, myself, which I thoroughly enjoyed) and then put them up for the night. The ferry that goes to Lewis leaves out of Uig, where I was this past Saturday. We had a good time of fellowship and he gave me some information that I will have to let the Lord filter through my heart in the days to come…said news being that chap that handles the initial applications for transfer into the Church of Scotland told Ben that he felt that there did not seem to be anything that would hinder or prohibit my acceptance.

The past year or so I have sensed something working in my heart about Scotland as a permanent place of ministry. I have struggled with those feelings not knowing if they were from the Lord or fleshly intimations of wanting to be here. I have been keen to keep my eyes on the Lord, because I don’t want to be led by the flesh. I don’t want to be anywhere He doesn’t want me. My heart cry is to be in the center of His will. So, the conversation that Ben and I had about his conversation with the rep. from the C of S, has presented me with a further inclination that the desires that I have been experiencing are not of the flesh, but of God. It is still early. And even with this additional information, I am certainly not going to presume upon the sovereignty of God, in any way. I am opening up my heart to you in this way is for the purpose of pleading with you who have been reading the blog and praying for me to pray very specifically about this issue.

I moved a part of my stuff over to Dunvegan this morning and met a lovely man and his wife…Donald and Rose Mary MacLeod (pronounced like McCloud). His career was in the British diplomatic corp. He is quite…sorry, but there is presently a patch of very white thunder clouds exploding out of very dark clouds that is just breath-taking…oh, I wish you could see it…again, he is a very proper chap, but so warm, open and inviting. He lives in the former Dunvegan manse, which is about 200 yards to the west of the manse where I will be living for the next two months….only 10 days, Linda…here I go again with the mushy stuff. Anyway, his son and family were with them for a few days and I had a wonderful time visiting with them. At one point, his son excused himself so that he could go practice his bagpipes. I said, “By all means, just play loud so that I can hear you…and he did. It was wonderful. I will be having dinner with the MacLeods tomorrow night and look so forward to deepening new roots in Dunvegan.

I have one more gathering with the Snizort members tomorrow night for the mid-week prayer service. What began as a fish-bowl experience, has turned into a rich time of study and prayer. One of the fellows that did not seem to get on with me in the beginning, asked my on Sunday, if I would like to join him this evening at the weekly Rotary Club meeting. I told him I would love to. In the course of our drive into Portree, we had a chance to share testimonies and he told me of his burden for the lost in his community. He is a Gideon and committed to the Kingdom. I am so thankful that the Lord opened up this relationship to me. I was really blessed, but it makes it even harder to say, “Cheerio.”

The Northern Lights

Yesterday, Sat. July 26th, was another stunning day, both weather-wise and in terms of the scenery. I had earlier mentioned to you that John and Margaret Burnley offered to take me to the northern parts of Skye. Well, they picked me up, yesterday, and took me to see some breath-taking scenes. (You might want to Google Skye to get a feel for where we went.)

Our route took us first to Uig. Uig is where people go to pick up the ferry when they want to go to the outer Hebrides. Coming up on A87 when you round the bend, you get this picture of a most idyllic scene. The water is dark blue and the mountain landscapes create an unforgettable picture. Houses line the slopes that bend down toward the water.

As you move up the mountain and look back, the change in perspective causes you to think that you are leaving a place that you really didn’t see or that you didn’t visit. But, that is not unlike so many of the places here on Skye. The placement of clouds, the degree of sunshine, a movement up or down in elevation completely changes the visual impact of a sight. Moving away from that location we arrived at the “Monk-stadt.” It is the ruins of a monastery formed by St. Columba in 1400. He is said to be the first one to bring Christianity to Skye. And, not far from that place is the farmhouse where Dora MacDonald hid Bonnie Prince Charles from the authorities in early 1740’s. There are so many different versions of the prince…it reminds me of all the fables that surround someone like Daniel Boone.

Further along on A87, after passing through Balgown, Kilmiur, Bornisketaig, Kilmaluag (the most northern community on Skye) and Digg, we came to Staffin which is the largest community on the northern part of Skye. The mountains, locks, and ocean were breathtaking and, hopefully, never to forgotten beauty. “The whole earth is full of His glory.” If you were to follow the road on south, it would take you into Portree, but we took the one of the narrow, one lane tracks back across the peninsula that ends back at Uig. As you start across the peninsula, there is a peak that is probably 600 ft. off the road that you can climb up and get the most spectacular view. It is not a bad climb because it is on an continuing slope of about 45 degrees. I think God made it like that so that people could get the view. I didn’t even take a picture knowing that my camera would not come close to capturing the sight.

We drove back to the Burnley’s home and had tea and scones…eat your heart out…home-made fruit scones...yummmmmmmm! Diabetics are allowed a little fun, every now and then, ha! John is a very accomplished amateur photographer. He has some remarkable equipment that has allows him to do remarkable development of his pictures. I am hopeful that he will sell me some of his work. They have one of the most creative flower gardens I have, yet, seen.









------- Started Sunday… is now being finished Monday morning…the 28th. (Just 12 days, Linda)

Well, today is beginning to look like the most sun-filled day since I have been here. There is not a cloud or haze in the sky. What am I doing here…other than the fact that I am three or four days behind on my blog…I don’t know!! It’s the animal in the beast. (That doesn’t sound right…does it?) Someone help me out here.

Well, I am off to the library to post these blogs, so I will say, “Cheerio”.

The MacRea's and Midgens

July 26

Last night I had supper with the MacReas…Billy, Helen, Duncan and Elizabeth…a sweeter family you won’t find. I called Helen yesterday afternoon and reminded her that I didn’t want her going over the top with the meal… “oh,” she said, “we are just having baked potatoes and salad.” I told her that was great with me. Well, when we sat down at the table, I realized that I had been hood-winked…she had three deli meats, slaw salad, regular salad, pasta salad, carrot sticks, three kinds of tomatoes, sautéed mushrooms, peppers, two cheeses, and fried rice. Yep, that is the Scottish hospitality way. It was delicious and we had lots of good laughs around the table. Especially when I was convinced to eat a flower, a Nasturtium. It is a beautiful yellow flower, which I thought that Helen had put in the salad to color it up. To my surprise when I started chewing it my mouth began burning…how could something as beautiful as that flower produce heat like a jalapeño pepper? How? The wonder, beauty and creativity of our God! I think my vegetarian daughter, Sarah, would be very proud of me for living on the edge!

After supper, we loaded into their van, including Karrie, their beautiful Spaniel, and headed out for the Coral Beach at Dunvegan, and had a lovely hike and climb. We saw some seals, a beautiful sunset and climbed a moderate hill. It did remind me, however, that I am 63 years old…I was breathing pretty hard when we got to the tope of this hill.

The walk from the car to the beach, about a 20 minute walk, I was severely introduced to the Scottish “Midgens.” It is a cross between a mosquito and a nat. The female bites, but they are small like a nat. They swarm. This was about the only time, since coming to Skye, that the wind wasn’t blowing (because of the size of this critters, they are not able to fly when there is a breeze). You will look down at your arm and it is covered. We also walked through an area that was infested by flying ants. At one point, the ants were swarming right along with the Midgens. When we finally got to the beach, the insects weren’t quite so bad. There was a small knoll that we all climbed, thinking that the midgens would not be as bad up there. Wrong, again. So I prayed, “Lord, would you bless us with a nice breeze to clear out the insects?” Within five minutes, a breeze began to sweep through where we were and picked up until we left the area. Thank you, Lord. Karrie ran the hold time, except when she was chasing rock thrown into the water. She chases birds and rabbits. I am sure she slept as well as I did last night.

See, I really did survive the climb, althought at one point I thought I was going down.

The Scarey Sheep

July 24
The last two days completes the weather cycle here: rain, rain and mist, rain and wind, rain and wind and mist, cold wind and rain, warm wind and rain, wind and stronger wind, sunshine through clouds and wind, sunshine and rain at the same time through clouds, … I think you probably get the idea. (Check out my clothes on the line...horizontal with the ground...the wind dried them in about 20 minutes.) Every imaginable permutation of weather possibilities has made my stay. I especially like to hear the howling wind and rain at night. It is so strong, sometimes, that the windows and doors whistle. Though I have to admit that the other night I did get a slight fright.

Apparently, the back door light is driven by motion. I switched it on the other night before going to bed and when the light did not come on I thought the bulb was burnt out and I just left the switch where it was. Later, the wind and light rain was giving the manse a going over. I got up to go to the bathroom at about 1:30 am. While in the bathroom, a light started shining in. And then it went off. And then it came on again. It was like someone had a flashlight moving back and forth in the windows. The windows are a kind of warped texture for privacy and so I couldn’t look out and see what was going on. I realized that the light outside probably had a short in it and that the wind was affecting it. So I got back in bed. This is the only time that I have been unnerved by this big, creaky house. As soon as I got back it bed, the light started coming on again, but this time it would stay on a little longer than before and now there was noise! I had seen an old broom handle under the stairway and so as I moved my way to the back door, I saw the light come on and heard a loud noise. I said, “OK, Lord, be my strength and shield.” I quietly unlocked the door and gave it a huge pull, giving out a loud scream as I did (why I don’t know). At that moment three living things gasped for breath: me and the two sheep, who had been eating grass outside my door. I think they were more frightened than me, because the smaller of the two literally left his feet and then both were off in a flash. I wish that I had had my camera in my hand instead of the stick to have captured the looks on their faces, although any picture taken of them would have blurred because of their speed. I stood there and laughed out loud. Fortunately, the nearest neighbor is two hundred yards away…although I am not sure that they didn’t hear some of the noise.

The last two days have been absolutely stunning weather-wise. Accept for a few very high altitude clouds, there is only a blue sky. And it is quite warm…probably in the high 70’s. And so, you might ask, what am I doing sitting in the manse’s kitchen writing a “blooming blog”? Well, I am going on another hike, later this evening with Billy and Helen MacRea. I had a couple of visits this afternoon that have hindered me from being out to enjoy this today.

I visited a man, who is known by many in the community that has terminal cancer. He is not a believer and I was asked to go see him. He and his wife were very welcoming and friendly. As we visited, I discovered that they had been visited by several people interested in their salvation. As I wove John 10:10 into our conversation, giving insight as to what it meant to have a personal relationship with God, through His Son, Jesus, they became agitated. Not in a hostile way, but to the point of changing the subject. I tried to move back to who Jesus was and why He died, but they would not have it. We continued to visit and then the wife said that she needed to get supper ready for her bed and breakfast guests. I asked if I could pray with them. The man grudgingly agreed, but the wife actually seemed eager. As I prayed, I heard her sniffling and when I finished tears were running down her cheeks. She was obviously touched by the Spirit. As soon as I finished, the man got up and quickly left the room. She, however, briefly chatted and said I was welcome at any time to come back for a visit. I believe that a seed was planted for someone to harvest at some point in the future. God be praised.


The services at Uig, Arnisort and Kensaleyre on Suday and then the Wed. night prayer service will end my stay in the Snizort Parish. It has been thoroughly refreshing to be here and to get to know the people as well as I have in one month. The Lord has been at work through His Word and I have learned so much about what great people of sincerity, graciousness and hospitality they truly are.