Scotland: Day 1

I was able to journal on our laptop pretty much every day while we were in Scotland. So, I'll just post a day at a time. These journals are personal and show many sides of my emotions; lucky you, eh? :) Overall, our trip was wonderul, and I love the land of Scotland. It's amazingly beautiful, and unlike America has a real sence of quality and sturdiness that comes with age. To see all of the pictures from Day 1 of our trip, click here.

Day 1 – Well, technically, it’s Day 2, because we left yesterday, but we arrived in Glasgow at 3a.m. EST – 8a.m. local time. I don’t remember ever being so tired in my life! Except for maybe when Luke was a wee lad (I may as well talk like the Scottish, eh?). My emotions wobbled back and forth between excitement about my first trip abroad and despair over leaving Luke. Even on the long flight from Philly to Glasgow, I was overwhelmed with how much I missed my little man. I just don’t know how to be without being his mom. In some ways, it’s very freeing. I feel like I can do anything and sleep anywhere because I’m only responsible for myself. There are two little girls with us on this trip. One is 14 months, and one is 7 months. For a fleeting moment I wished that Luke were with us, but then changed my tune because the poor guy would be such a mess with the time change. It has been an extremely long day. We met up with the rest of our group immediately after getting out of customs. They had just picked up their luggage, and we were waiting for ours. After we all had our bags, Doogie (Douglas) picked us up in a van/minibus and drove us to Ayr – about an hour’s drive away. The countryside was BEAUTIFUL! And I fought to keep my eyelids open so I could enjoy it all. The weather is in the mid-60s, and it’s quite breezy. Doogie told us that it doesn’t get too much warmer or colder than this; it stays about the same all year round. After we arrived at St. Andrew’s Church, where we are staying, we just kind of hung around waiting. This took some effort, because I just wanted to lie down and go to sleep! But, I knew that if I went to sleep it would be hard to wake up, and I would really be a mess tonight. Finally, we got a group together to head to the main center of town and took a nice leisurely stroll up and down the streets. It’s so quaint; I loved it. I bought 8 postcards – my first purchase with lbs. It’s pretty simple, because you can just use pounds and pence instead of dollars and cents. Finally, we walked to the coast. This would be Scotland’s West coast, the Irish Sea. It is amazingly beautiful, and there are some awesome houses/castles in the picture. We made it back to the church by 4, hoping to make some phone calls and send emails at the church office, but now that will have to wait until after tea time (supper).

My spirit was so troubled and restless on the flight over here. I was on the verge of ruining my visit to Scotland because of my fear of moving here. I know I’ve got to get over that fear, because it looks like this is where God is leading us, but I missed Luke so much and also felt so far away from my family. But, now that I am here, I am loving it more and more, especially after meeting some of the people from the church here. They are so friendly and very easygoing, especially with us Americans who can’t understand their fast speech so well. Ayr is not where we will be living, so I hope that Aberdeen holds the same charm to me when we visit their tomorrow and Sunday. As long as we are together, I’ll be okay.

One other lovely surprise that Chris and I had: we were supposed to bring our own bedding. This is one of the downfalls of being from a different state than the rest of the group. O well. A nice lady from the church is lending us some bedding. Now, I’m just hoping that I’ll get a shower before the end of the day. I haven’t had one for 24 hours (I feel disgusting), and the showers that we are supposed to use are a good 20-30 minute walk away. Walking is our primary mode of transportation. Lord knows I need the exercise!

End of Day 1: It is almost 10p.m. here in Ayr, and I didn’t get to call home today. I did send an email out, which I’m fairly certain both Chris’ and my parents will have gotten this afternoon. I miss Lukie a lot, and my mood has changed so that I very much do not want to live here. I feel this way mostly because I miss Luke and it just seems so far away (which it is). Being in another country brings out all of my insecurities. I forget that Scotland is not so very different than America. Yes, it is quite different in many areas, but people are still people. Above all, I have to remember that God is the director of my steps. If he wants us here in Scotland for a few years, he will give me peace, contentment and even JOY. I will pray and dwell on these thoughts tonight as I go to sleep. Chris is sleeping downstairs, my boy is thousands of miles away, but I will pray until there’s peace.