"Falling" Forward in His Grace!

 

How does Your Garden Grow?

 



Looking for Slugs and rabbit damage!

Lots of potatoes (however a bit smaller this year), turnips, less cabbage, snap peas, regular peas, lettuce,  and onions have been unearthed, pulled up, picked, etc. Carrots, parsnips, celeric, fennel and beetroot soon to come  and weeds continually competing for prominence! Rain often keeps me out of the garden but not the rabbits! I didn't think we were going to have any cabbage left, they were being so greedy. However, we were able to get chicken wire around the whole perimeter of the garden (and that's alot of chicken wire!) and so far it looks like they haven't been able to wiggle under it and get back in! Robert had tried some techniques (unsuccessfully) previous to the chicken wire to scare them away, which I will leave to your imaginations!

We enjoy sharing the produce with neighbors and friends as well as serving it up for those who come to the manse for a meal.  We have been serving up lots of meals here; visiting ministers who come to do communion week services, church members, visitors to our churches, fellow presbytery ministers and even some hitchhikers!

We had a great "Holiday Club" this summer, with Jonathan and Elizabeth Tink planning the program. This year we had 18 children attend and we were thrilled so many came along!  On the last day of the club, parents and relatives came to watch the kids singing, reciting scripture verses, and hear the bible story for the day. We served up some highland baked goods and tea at the end. It was nice this year to have several from our parish volunteer to help us. We were a bit nervous, only having the Tinks and ourselves to run the club this year (last year we had a team come in). However, several of our folks "stepped up to the plate" and it was great!
Communion in September.....Roger and Pearl Page and Sandy Sanderson came again for our September communion services...all the way from London area! In a previous blog, we wrote about their 40+ years in Christian Literature Crusade ministry. They attended a communion here in Snizort Parish a year ago while they were here on Skye for holiday. Since then, they have planned their holidays to coincide with our communions. What a blessing they have been to us personally. This last communion, Roger and Sandy each preached at one of the 4 "Preparatory Services" before the actual communion service on Sunday morning.

Fall youth meetings have started up and we have increased to 10 youth! They are a lively bunch!  With the 3 new attendees being 12 years old, there is a new dimension of energy in the room!! We are looking at a Norwegian missionary's life story, and the youth are "keen" to hear what will happen next time we meet. Please pray that all those who have yet to respond to the grace of the Lord will do so this year. 

Robert and Jonathan have the opportunity again this year to go into the schools every 2 weeks to do a devotional. They use a puppet monkey "Leroy" and he has captured the kids attention with all his antics. What a rare opportunity it is here in Scotland to go into public schools and share God's Word on a regular basis!  There are 60+ children at MacDiarmid Primary school and 15+ at Edinbane. We appreciate your prayers for them!

Robert and Jonathan also alternate preaching each week in the different churches in our parish. Robert has been greatly relieved to have 2 services on Sunday, rather than 3! We are so thankful to the Lord for bringing the Tinks to help us here in Snizort Parish! We have been so encouraged by their coming alongside us in ministry.
The women's bible study continues to be a big blessing for Linda. We consistently have 9-12 women coming each week to the manse to study God's word. We have been using the book "Lies Women Believe" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss as the guide in our study. The ladies do their homework each week and we have had some good discussions. Our fellowship and love for one another has grown over these past 2 years together.

Even with all these great opportunities for ministry within our parish this summer, there has also been a heaviness in our spirits over the decisions of the recent General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. In the Lochcarron Skye Presbytery, of which Snizort parish is a part, there are 5 out of 9 ministers who plan to leave their parish ministries in the near future. The decision to allow practicing homosexual ministers freedom to keep their positions and to stay on a "trajectory" to ordain practicing homosexuals to ministry has created a great division in churches, presbyteries and the denomination as a whole. William Philip, pastor of the St.George Tron Church in Glasgow, expressed our (and many others in the Church of Scotland) sentiments about this decision quite well in a letter to his congregation. Please take the time if you can and read it yourself: http://new.tronmedia.org/news/from-the-minister/
It's a sad thing when Scripture is basically ignored and a denomination takes a path toward being "culturally correct" rather than standing by what God has revealed to us very clearly in His Word.
Some ministers have said they want to wait until 2013, when there will be more definitive legal moves, but others say that C of S has already crossed the line and it's time to go now. We are among the ones who feel they can no longer stand "under the banner" of the
C of S. It is very grievious to us and other ministers to leave their "flocks".  Many church members are leaving as well. We greatly appreciate your prayers for us as we seek to discern God's leadership in where He wants us to go from here.
We are headed back to states for a visit soon and hope to see some of you there. We are expecting a new grandson this month and are looking forward to meeting him! Blessings to all of you!!