On purpose, with purpose.

I am really going to try and work on being more consistent with my posts.

I think one a month is a little bit pathetic!

 I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and took some time to reflect on the real reason for the occasion. I have to admit that Christmas became a whole lot more special when I really appreciated all that the birth of Jesus meant for me.

He is really the greatest gift we could ever ask for.

I am back in Scotland for a little bit.

Hopefully, I will be back in California soon.

(please pray for me)

I am enjoying spending time with my family and especially the little brother.

He is a such a blessing to me.

I do have some fun photos from Christmas day, but I need to get them from  brother first.

We had a some what eventful day.

My brother, Dad and I headed to Bridge of Earn for Christmas day to spend it with our Granny and Great-Aunt.

They were very excited to have us spend the day with them, as were we!

We arrived, and I put the pavlova safely in the kitchen.

(I don't know how you are supposed to travel with a pavlova but I was holding the plate, the pavlova was sliding all over the place so I had to hold it with both my hands. I had 2 fingers on one side of the pavlova and 2 on the other and still had to have hold of the plate. I don't know how it made it there in once piece because I dosing in and out of consciousness.)

Annnnnyhoo.

We said "Merry Christmas" to the girls (the old girls) and started unpacking all the presents from the car.

As I was coming back in Aunty was on the floor in the house.

She had tripped and must have hit her head off the cabinet.

She had a cut just above her eye.

She sure gave us all a freight.

Thankfully she was alright.

It was crazy because on the way there I had been thinking about how old they are getting (Aunty will turn the big 9-0 next year)

For the most part she is doing great. But she has had a few little bumps now.

I do worry about her.

But honestly, I think (ok I know) that I fall over more often than her.

I was putting up Christmas decorations last week and stepped back, lost my balance and took a heavy step back and smashed a glass bauble. Great.

No glass in my foot though! Phew.

I am enjoying relaxing these holidays.

It is horrible outside. Really it is.

I think I could quite easily go into hibernation right now.

I have no desire to go outside. The wind is crazy, and throw rain in there and it is just nasty.

There is no fear of me blowing away though, I have not stopped eating since Christmas Day.

Why does that happen around this time of year?

You just see food and think that you need to eat it or something terrible is going to happen.

I just want to eat all the food so it is gone.

I've not just been eating.

What I've been enjoying more than eating is reading.

I am finding it hard to put down a book just now.

I am readying a book called The Power of a Praying Woman by Stormie Omartian.

It is very challenging, and encouraging.

I started reading it a while ago, I may have spoken about it here before.

But I haven't read it for a good few months.

It is actually a 3 in 1 book and it also have The Power of a Praying Wife and The Power of a Praying Parent.

I have been reading parts of all 3.

Now is hasn't been that long since I have posted.

I am neither married, or had a baby.

But I still find it relevant.

As I read through the different chapters and sections I find myself agreeing with what the writer is saying.

It is very real, very honest and I can relate to what she is talking about.

I find myself reading it and saying "YES" in my head.

Yesterday I read this.

" We have to put our expectations in the Lord and not in other things or people."

Emm, yes.

How often do we forget this? I know I do.

As I wait  and pray for my visa sometimes my prayers are not focused on the Lord and His plan but focused on the outcome I want.

That is not to say that I don't believe that the Lord wants me to be in California.

I do.

But my prayer should be, and is, that the Lord's will be done in my life.

His plan is far more perfect than any plan I have for my life.

"We want to live life on purpose and with purpose"

It is so easy to get caught up in the things of this world.

I want to be part of something greater.

My prayer is that I will live my life on purpose and with purpose.

Ladies, I would definitely encourage you to get this book if you haven't already done so.

My dear friend, Juliet, gave me this book for my Birthday 3 years ago.

I have picked up it a few times in these 3 years but I am feel challenged to study it more closely.

I'll leave you with a photo of my in my new Christmas Pjs!

Yes, they are covered in robins and holly.

And yes, they are beautiful.

Praying that you have time reflect on the things/people that really matter this holiday season.

Just chilling with Mr Darcy.

Ok. I found this cute little book a couple of weeks ago. I was waiting to meet a friend in town and I had a bunch of time before she finished work so off I went to the bookstore. I have a funny relationship with reading. I find it really hard to find a book that really grabs my attention, but when I do I usually can't put the book down. I now know what books to look out for. I really enjoy Jodi Picoult and Nicholas Sparks. So I went straight to the area where I would find Picoult's books and Sparks' books when I came across this one.
Me and Mr Darcy by Alexander Potter. Oh my goodness, I am so enjoying it. Anyone who knows me well knows that if I could pick out my perfect day it would be watching period dramas or Anne of Green Gables, Calamity Jane or Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. The thought of all these movies makes me smile.

Anyway, back to my little book. I read the blurb and smiled as I agreed with what I was reading.. "She'd rather curl up with Pride and Prejudice and step into a time where men were honourable and strode across fields in breeches, their damp shirts clinging to their chests." Eh...yes please! I then read the first page and knew that I this was the book that I would be reading if a wee coffee shop to pass time waiting for my friend.

I have never actually read Pride and Prejudice, but today I bought a copy of the book - a beautiful copy! I am looking forward to reading it after I finish this lovely book. I guess I am going to be chilling with Mr Darcy for a while, and I don't have a problem with that. So I am off to curl up with Me and Mr Darcy! You should definitely buy this book so you can do the same.



I found this image on google so you even know what book to look out for. Go on...you know you want to read it!!

To you I shall say, as I have often said before,
'Do not be in a hurry, the right man will come at last,'
                   Encouraging words from Miss Jane Austen ♥

Crazy Love.

by Francis Chan.

I have been reading this wonderful book for a couple of months now. I started reading it this summer, while I was away, and just loved it. I should have finished it by now. It is so challenging and just what I need. I'm not going to go completely into it just now, I think I am going to wait until I have finished the post. But I am going to leave you with something that I read last night that really challenged me.

"There has to be more to our faith than friendliness, politeness and even kindness."

I always remember being taught in Sunday School that you have to love your enemies. At work just now there are a couple people that are very difficult to work with and they are really testing me. It has been really easy to complain about these two people with each other and after reading this last night I realised that I need to work at changing my attitude toward them. I have to show them more than the above qualities and genuinely love these girls. So this is what I am going to be working on just now.

"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." Luke 6:32-36

Back in the Summer of 2004!

I am finally finding time to sit down and blog about my summer. Sorry it has taken me so so long. It was a pretty exciting summer filled with fun, friends and family.

The first time I went to California was way back in 2004 with my sister. We were invited by friends we met at a wedding in Scotland. Long story short, we met a lovely couple there who invited my sister and I to spend the summer with them. We were very excited about the opportunity to go over there having loved the time that we got to spend with them while they were here. So off we went, I was 15 and my sister was 17. We all hit it off straight away and had a wonderful summer together. The last week we were there we went to their Church Beach Camp. My sister and I were both really, really dreading going to this camp. We had no idea what it was going to be like and didn't really know anyone that was going to be there. Little did I know that this would be a life changing week with lots of learning. It was so hard to leave them when we came back to Scotland. We didn't really know if we would see each other again.

We shared with our Church what we had experienced that summer. We were able to show them the Beach Camp baptism video. This really moved them and they were encouraged by this. We wanted more kids from Scotland to be able to experience what we had. So we pitched this idea to the Elder board and they loved the idea. The Church were happy to pay for the flights for the kids to get over there. In 2006 we were all set to go over, myself and another guy who attended our Church. At the last minute her pulled out so I went over by myself again. Of course, I had another great summer there.

I come from a small Church so for the next few years there really wasn't any kids that were old enough to go over. Until last year, 2009. My baby brother was now 16 and I thought it would be great for him to experience this before he finished school. And a close friend of mine was also in her final year of school. So we got ourselves oganised to all go over. I was so excited that finally I was going to be bringing more students over with me. It was a wonderful summer. They both learnt a lot and got to share their summer with two wonderful families who fell in love with both of them. I was able to go along to Beach Camp with them and help with the childcare there.

This year we were fortunate enough to send another student over again this year. I went over with her and was able to go along to Beach Camp with her. Anna is such a beautiful young girl, inside and out, and it was a real joy to have her there this year. She has a such a sweet spirit about her.

This year I was blessed with a lovely group of girls. They are all such sweet girls and loved having the opportunity to spend each evening with them at Beach Camp.

This summer I was so happy to spend more time with my very special friend. It is very hard being so far away from someone the is so dear to me but I am very thankful for the friendship that we do have. I have so much fun with this lady. She is such a blessing. Love you, boo.

Every year that I return to California I always make new friends. This year was no exception. I was lucky enough to share a tent with this girl as well as LOTS of laughs. She is a close friend of my lovely boo so we were sure to have a great time together. And we certainly did. The Lord definitely blesses us through friendships, and that is exactly what He did this summer. We had a lot of fun together this summer. I miss seeing these lovely faces each day.

For some reason I seem to have NO photos of my dear family over there, The Allens. They know how much they mean to me. They are famly for sure. I was blessed with many laughs, long talks, hugs, grandkids, "taking the mic", delicious meals, and even more special memories made. I love you dearly and miss you lots.

I will leave you with just a taste of what it is like when Karen and I are together. Lots of faces that look like this.

"Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart." Philippians 1:3-4