One month ago today...

 It's hard to believe that ONE MONTH AGO TODAY, we stepped off a plane in Aberdeen, Scotland. The days seem like they have just flown by! The first week with jet lag was pretty rough, but once the we all adjusted, everyone started sleeping better and feeling better too! Then we had a nice week with Tim home before he started up his studies and got to do a few "touristy things". That was nice.

Then we hit kind of a rough week (with no internet still) and very few friends yet and just some normal transitional stresses. Tim and I were feeling pretty alone and stressed, but instead of naturally turning to the Lord and each other for strength, we were kind of turning inward and struggling to trust the Lord and to serve ONE ANOTHER in love. We were reminded of Philippians 2:4 "Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus..."  God is so faithful to convict us of sin and to put us back on the right path. We got our priorities straight again and things started to get so much better! But of course we need to renew our minds with that truth daily and trust our great Savior for strength.

This was taken by a new friend Leah (of "Sand and Flowers" blog) who is learning more about photography by practicing. And we lucked out and she took some GREAT pictures of us! More to come :)

Tim has been enjoying his studies so far, but is still trying to settle into a good groove. He seems to be getting along well with the other guys, which I'm glad for. Right now He walks to and from school each day, which round trip is probably 3 miles. And I would say 4 out of 5 days this week he has walked home in the rain :(  He's such a trooper and doesn't complain though! We are looking for a car though. We have determined that it is just necessary with two little girls and the weather getting colder and more windy every day! So now we just have to find a good deal.

ahhh- sisters!

We are still looking around for churches. We have visited a few promising  ones. Nothing is like the quite like our church back home in Chicago though. But honestly, the churches are just so different here that we are having to adjust our whole frame of reference!  For one thing, the buildings are almost all stone on the outside and wood on the inside, very tall and beautiful. I love that part. The singing is very plain, but genuine and worshipful, and the preaching seems a little dry (often times read from a manuscript), but the few we have been too have been right on as far as scripture goes, so that's what's important. But I'm really trying to be open minded and not compare - just trying to find the best place for us now in this phase of our lives, ya know? So you can be praying that we would find the place God wants us.

Got out the warm gear already. We walk a lot in the stroller and it's so windy and cool that the girls get chilly so quickly!

The girls and I are doing really well. They have adjusted so easily really. There is a group of christian women (Aberdeen Women's Fellowship) that I have been able to jump into and start to get to know some other ladies, their kids, and their husbands. Once a month they have a social event just for the women, every Monday they have a women's bible study, and every Wednesday there is a play group! Not to mention that there are plenty of family events planned already like a trick or treat party, and a big American Thanksgiving meal together! I'm feeling blessed that we already have a community of strong believers to step into!

The girls at playgroup. I'm not sure what's up with Maddy's face :)

Please pray that I will be patient in getting to know other ladies and allowing them to get to know me. I don't want to feel like I'm always pretending to be someone I'm not, just wanting to be genuine and yet feeling a little out of place.  Everyone is so sweet and I have no need to feel that way. It's just that weird transition phase. I know God is good though and will allow those friendships to build over time.

Thank you for all of your love, prayers, and support of our family in this endeavor. It really does mean the world to us!

Here are some more pictures of our comings and goings this month if you are interested :)