A few more words of the non-creative variety. I wanted to mention that I am heartily enjoying the electro-swing that is the current music du jour here at Antidote. Also – I didn’t mention in my previous, but it is now a week since Mom was here in Houston staying with Dani and I. I will not spill all the ink discussing our various adventures here but simply wanted it to be in the chronicles. May it be known that it was a time of love and laughter and all the wonderful talks and smiles and prayers. How precious was it to show her a bit of our life here in Houston, the life that our God has given us this year of 2026. Sometimes one knows they are blessed and richly loved, but to then have the chance for someone (such as Mom!) to come and visit and see it all displayed, one’s breath catches and one is ever so thrilled all the more as that life shines forth in technicolor dazzling in all its glories. Praise to the Lord the Almighty!
Tag: family
Softly dreaming
So should I be in bed right now? Well, yes. Actually, I am sort of in bed already now, since my bed is the couch and I am sitting on it! But while my eyelids are drooping and my thoughts are fading…I still feel I must write a few words. And so I will be uncharacteristically brief, but wanted to write one last post from Florida before I fly back to Scotland tomorrow.
This trip has been most glorious – although it’s flown past far too quickly for my liking! Nevertheless, I have been oh so blessed these past days…from my times of joy with my family and friends to a pretty sweet weekend past in Gainesville(where I spent time with some of the best friends known to mankind…maybe later I’ll write more on this, but just know that hanging out with Rob, Laurie, Dan and Betsy is pretty much the best thing ever. Just saying. Talking and talking and praying and being together…epic. I can’t really think of a better word right now. Maybe I’m just tired. Or maybe there just isn’t one. Nonetheless, I should probably close this parentheses) But yeah, Gainesville was awesome(also may have included some sweet disc golfing with Dan, Rob, Laura and George…as well as quality time back at the Lebos – one of my favorite families ever!!)
And then driving back home with Laura this afternoon, with the beautifully thunderous rain pounding down on the windshield and the windswept trees of central Florida shadowing our path…I just couldn’t help but thank our God for his goodness to me. Always.
And then being with my family tonight – eating dinner and talking and being encouraged by the best parents in the universe and then watching some classic 24(3 episodes was not enough!)…capped by reading a few Psalms together. Love it.
And since this post has been characteristically not brief…I’ll close.
Time for some sleep. And then one more day here in Florida. Here at home.
Love longs to leave one last encore-
Songs spill across the sun spun night,
Crystal chandelier, caressing sight.
And stars named
and blessed
with light.
Joy Inexpressible
And another Sunday evening rolls slowly on..
I meant to write a longer entry tonight, but I am getting a reading craving right now(first Ted Dekker’s Blink, then I’m thinking some classic John 17…oh yes) so thinking this will be pretty short. Famous last words.
Anyways, this day’s been simply lovely…despite waking up feeling severely under-rested. Played RISK at Ruth’s place last night with her and David and Rosie – epic game! Of course, I was eliminated first…but thus is war. Didn’t get to sleep until late, and then this morning woke up a bit early, since I was preparing to speak at the local Woodend hospital church service. I won’t dwell too long on that, except to say that God gave grace abundantly. (In case anyone’s interested, spoke on 1 Peter 1:3-9, our ever increasing joy as we love Christ more)
Then this afternoon, after church, came back and had a quick lunch before being overcome by my exhaustion. Did I have a two hour nap? Just possibly, yes. I feel asleep practically before my head hit the pillow and slept like a log. Woke up feeling simply amazing! You know those naps where you wake up feeling worse than when you lay down? Yeah, definitely wasn’t one of those.
And did I just spend a paragraph on my Sunday nap? Oops. Anyways! This evening was a lovely service at church, dwelling on John 21 and the restoration of Peter. Oh I wish I could have breakfast with Jesus!! Someday. Someday.
And now I feel it’s reading time, before my cocoa gets cold. Have a lovely week, y’all. My prayers and thoughts are with you. You who are far away(you know who you are!), oh how I long for the next time we can speak face to face!
G’night all – and sweet dreams.
A swiftly tilting planet
And about dinner time here in Tampa! Only have a minute to write, but wanted to dash off a quick entry before dinner! Hopefully a longer, more in-depth one will follow later tonight, but I make no promises…
Just wanted to state how awesome our God is, truly. And how blessed I am, always. Tonight I spend my last night here at home for a while, before flying back to Scotland tomorrow, but oh have these last few weeks been amazingly awesome. From being blessed with such a loving family to being encouraged by the best friends a man can have…like I have said many times before, I am overwhelmed by the goodness of the Lord.
And now, time to help Mom and pour water glasses for dinner as Dad and Katharyn are almost home. Roast chicken, potatoes, onions, mmmm…chocolate cake to follow, along with some 24-watching? Yeah, pretty good night coming up if you ask me.
Over and out.
Scent of Roses
And as I think of writing a few lines here…I sign in happiness, relaxing at home in Tampa!! The cool Florida sea-breezes are blowing through the house and I smell lunch(hash – fried beef, potatoes, onions and carrots, mmmmm…) on the stove and I’m chilling here with Dad…yep it’s a good day!! Just had a sweet few minutes outside in the glorious Florida sunshine, watering the roses and digging in the garden a bit.
But no, getting home wasn’t that easy. After a somewhat over-adventuresome journey home(missed my connecting flight in Amsterdam, barely got on the next flight to Detroit, then snagged the last seat – first class, yo – on the Detroit-Tampa flight to arrive home some five hours later than I’d planned. And without my luggage. But I’m here home now and all is well!! Oh how wonderful it is to relax with Dad, Mom and Katharyn and enjoy this lovely vacation!
Yesterday was Dad’s 58th birthday!! So of course we celebrated in classic Hogan-style, complete with Pizza Hut and a few episodes of ’24’. How we do it! Dad and I finished up the evening watching the Oklahoma State(ranked #2) vs. Iowa State game…went down to 2OT with Iowa State pulling off the massive upset, complete with the field being rushed! A good birthday present to my dad, I’ll say! (Yes, Iowa State alumnus)
And now lunch smells almost complete – and how can I spend too much time on the computer when I can spend it with the fam here! – so I think I’ll be away. Before I do…some sweet verses I read this morning…(actually I would love to quote verbatim Psalms 37 and 38 in their entirety, but I’ll spare you)
Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgement as the noonday.
-Ps. 37:4-6
Oh glorious verses! How I long to follow my God in all that I do – and for Him to bring forth righteousness in me as the rising sun! Oh bliss.
And I’m really off now. Love y’all.
Smoking Beauty
Roast chicken and potatoes(oh yeah, and a pan of stuffing!) is in the oven and dinner is less than thirty minutes away. But will I let that stop me from attempting to update y’all on the awesomeness of the last few weeks? No, I will not! So no messing around and no tangents and no randomness from me today…I will just let my fingers fly in correspondence with my increasing hunger.
Anyways, I have several updates, seeing as I haven’t written in quite some time.
Update Number One: Yes, I am back in Scotland now.
Update Number Two: Yes, I was in Florida last week due to some visa complications.
Update Number Three: Wait…wasn’t I supposed to be in Oklahoma City by this time? This is true, but due to some business needs here in Aberdeen, turns out I’ll be here through the end of July!! Actually, I almost ended up in Singapore, but Cameron figured it’d be easier to keep me here. And no, I don’t know where I’ll be following my time in Scotland. I’ll keep you posted.
Update Number Four: Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, our awesome and most holy God blesses me ever more abundantly than I could ever ask or imagine. Oh wait, that’s not an update. That’s always true!!
And now that the bullet point updates are out of the way, I’ll expound a bit on my Great Florida Visa Renewal Trip of 2011!! Cameron knew that my visa was going to run out…but somehow I still found out on Monday(yes, TWO weeks ago) that I’d need to be back in Florida for a biometrics appointment and visa submittal to the British Consulate in the States. So two days later I found myself on a flight back to Florida!!
I told my parents I was coming…but pretty much no one else(bar a few of you Scotland people!). So my parents picked me up Wednesday night at Tampa International and I walked in the house to the shock of Laura and Katharyn. Their faces were a sight to behold…following the reunions, enjoyed some of mom’s spaghetti and enjoyed being with my family even more…
Thursday, I didn’t get to sleep in, nope. It turned out we were planting grass at the church, so my dad took me along to help him lay down the hay on top of the grass to protect it while it germinated. I ended up getting a sunburn my first day back in Florida. Yep, I got skillz. That night, rested with the family a bit…and the following day after a pancake breakfast, up to Gainesville I drove! And why did I go to Gville? Well it just happened that Friday the 15th is Maryanne’s birthday, and I just could not pass up the opportunity to give her a happy birthday surprise! I haven’t been in Gville since Rob and Laurie’s wedding December 2009, so it was so weird making the Tampa-Gville drive and then driving through the oh-so-familiar streets. Took me about an hour to find parking near campus(yep, no change there)…finally I gave up looking for legitimate parking and parked at McDonald’s near the corner of 13th and University Ave. I bought an iced coffee there…so fair enough, right?
I then walked onto campus grounds…feeling the oft-trod paths under my feet and exhilarating in my return – it wasn’t even that hot(yet). So I let the breeze caress my face while I slowly proceeded towards Turlington. Maryanne was supposedly(according to my informants – thanks Mom!) eating lunch at Subway with a friend, so I ended up near there. I really wanted to call her and pull a Bourne(“Maryanne, you look tired. Get some rest.”) but because she’s a good friend, she kept eating lunch with her friend Sarah, not answering her phone! After attempting to call her phone about 12 times, I walked towards the Subway…about 10 feet away, she looked through the door and saw me…yeah, her face was priceless. “What are you DOING here???” We laughed and hugged and it was SO GOOD to see her again!!! Happy 20th, Maryanne!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sarah then graciously left so we could have some time together, so me and Maryanne grabbed some Subway and ate out on the Plaza and caught up(a little!) She finally had to go, so I left her and went to get my car and go meet…RobG!!! I had called him the night before, so we’d set up a meeting at the CSC. I drove over there and found him inside at our old study corner…and it was amazing. It felt like I’d seen him 15 minutes ago…not 15 months. He bought me a java chip chiller and we talked and talked and talked…obviously I can’t really recount that here, but know it was epic. Oh God has poured out grace on him and Laurie exceedingly…and well, I just can’t express how blessed I feel knowing him and having him as a friend. Laurie came down eventually and so got to talk with her some too!! Eventually, Rob had to leave(for an overnight youth trip), and so then I dashed to the Hub to see Chris real quick! He just might have been a bit shocked to see me, but we got a few minutes together before he had to close down work. I went back to the CSC and Laurie and I made our way to my next stop…Dan and Betsy’s!!! I had also called them the night before, and they’d assured me I’d always have a place at their house. So me and Laurie drove over(on the way, Laurie called Mary…who upon hearing I was in town decided to join us at Dan and Betsy’s for dinner!).
Arrived at Dan and Betsy’s…Dan opened the door, and oh it was good to see my brother and friend again. We then decided to walk down to the store for some supplies for dinner(walking is always better than driving, no??) and on the way, ran into Betsy driving home(who was listening to Absolution in my honor – yep, she knows me!) Me and Dan walked to the store and back, talking and enjoying each other’s presence all the while…
And hm, now it’s time for me to take my dinner out. Apparently I don’t type fast enough!! But, I will let it cook a little longer while I try to finish up. Operative word: try. I’ll speed this up a bit!!
So me and Dan and Betsy and Laurie and Mary enjoyed dinner together…and we stayed up past twelve talking…about pretty much everything, from deep matters to light. We had fifteen months to catch up on!! And so I found out what they’ve been up to(a lot) and they got the low down on my life(yep, a lot!) And most of all…I just rejoice in the LORD that I have friends and family such as them that any time I see them…I can bask in their fellowship and love them and be loved. Oh good times. Again, words cannot express.
And I just checked the oven and the stuffing is slightly burnt, eek!!! I think the inside parts will still be good, but I am a tad bit annoyed. Burning food is most definitely not my favorite thing. Anyways, while the food cools…I’ll just finish up with my Gville trip…Saturday morning was spent disc golfing with George and Laura Lebo(with Dan’s Beast disc…which he gave to me afterwards. I love that disc!!). For some reason, even though I haven’t played disc golf in ages, I played better than was my custom. Weird? But I’ll take it. Also got to hear a lot about what George and Laura have been up to…
Soon enough, dropped the Lebos off and then stopped by at Dan and Betsy’s to change my shirt. Oh Florida. Then back to campus to pick up Maryanne!!! We had decided we must have more time together, so we gleefully Starbucks-ed, browsed book stores…and finally finished off our time at Five Guys. Which is THREE MINUTES WALK from Stoneridge. WHY was it never there when I actually lived there? Well, maybe that’s a good thing. Anyways, my sister Maryanne is indeed so dear…I love her so!!
Finally, finally, I drove back to Tampa. And the next few days would take a while to describe, but be assured that they were just as sweet as my Gville trip. Spent oh-so-delicious times with mom, dad, Laura, Katharyn…and above all, soaking in the grace of the Almighty. I wasn’t quite sure why the Lord wanted me back in Florida for a week, but I was determined to make the most of it. It felt like a gift of the Father, indeed.
And now, it really is dinner time. This was not a short update. Oops?
Dance in the beauty of this glorious world, y’all…dance and laugh and sing. And glory in our God!!!!
The eye of the sea
Mmmm…sipping some perfectly lovely mint-chocolate tea right now and feeling slightly sleepy, but I couldn’t resist writing a few words(and since I’m hearing my bed call my name, it will indeed be only a few!). Today, returned to Aberdeen after a totally awesome week in Florida!! I wish I had the time to truly do it justice, but alas for my tired state(flew from Tampa to Detroit to Amsterdam to Aberdeen last night and so didn’t quite get much sleep). Truly though, just let me say one thing(actually no, two things): firstly, I have pretty much the best family in the world. Secondly, God is awesome.
And while one week isn’t really the ideal length of time to spend at home…we made the most of the time, what with continuing our annual Mini-Golf Tournament of Champions tradition and eating like royalty(roast turkey, potatoes, stuffing, asparagus, fettucine alfredo, shrimp, lots of salad, chicken parmigiana, chocolate sheet cake…just the tip of the iceberg) and playing cards and ping-pong (which got stylishly interfered with by our resident kitten troublemakers, Caroline and Julia) and relaxing in the joy of each other’s company and watching Jack Bauer dominate it up in a ’24’ marathon(Season 3 – but we didn’t get to the finale before I left ahhhh!!!) and singing together and staying up late talking about random things with the sisters and making known the goodness of the Lord and going out to lunch far too much(TGI Friday’s with Mom, Panera with Katharyn, TGI Friday’s with Laura, Chili’s with Maryanne, Five Guys with Dad…yes, I told you I ate bad. Shh, no telling. But it was so worth it just to get the time to talk with everyone..) and catching up with friends(and seeing friends’ new baby – Gloria!! David and Dream, y’all are indeed most blessed of our Father!) and oh I just don’t know how to properly convey the joy of the blessings of the Lord which He has bestowed on me and my family! And while my prayers for them will not lessen as the distance between us increases, may my love for them increase all the more! And all of you that aren’t my family, don’t worry, I love you too. Always.
And as for me, it is not that late, but I fear my wits are fleeing me, begging me to rest my eyes and drift away to the land of my dreams before I pour out my whole mind like a waterfall into the deep… First though, I will finish my tea.
Across the ocean
Alright, I was going to post a long, EPIC entry, but alas, I took too long eating lunch and now lunch is about over and I need to work. But I still must at least write something! Hopefully the quality makes up for the quantity. Actually, it probably won’t, but shh. And now that I’m done talking about why I’m not writing more(and thus wasting precious time that I could have written a longer entry!), I shall just say a few words…
Firstly, Deanna is in town! What!!! Yes, you heard that right – Deanna’s in Aberdeen as of last night and that is just so much awesome, y’all. She’s staying with a family here in the church(Eleanor’s parents) currently and today she’s recovering from her flight adventure yesterday(which included a 4 hour “visit” with immigration officials. Ugh) and exploring around Aberdeen while I work. But tonight, going to go downtown and celebrate Rosemary’s birthday(hurrah!!) and then tomorrow, we go up to Inverness! As long as we don’t get blizzard-ed in the face, that is. We’ll spend a night in Inverness(of course exploring Loch Ness while we’re at it) and then taking the train down to Edinburgh on Friday(again, God willing) and spending a couple days there! It shall be sweet and epic and awesome and fantastically fabulous and perfectly lovely, I so declare.
Of course, I’m also a little exhuasted right now, because while I told myself ahead of time I’d get lots of sleep over the weekend in preparation for impending Deanna-visit, did I? Of course not. Instead I had a gorgeous weekend hanging out with people and enjoying amazingly encouraging and refreshing times at church and shopping(the worst part of the weekend!) and seeing random movies and staying up FAR too late every night and not getting any sleep at all(most of this is your fault, Aiysha!). But…what do I always say? Sleep is unnecessary.
And now it’s work time(for the last time until next Monday!) and then it’s epic Scotland with Deanna Adventure time! Peace out, y’all!!
So just got back from a sweet weekend in Tampa!!! Admittedly, it was bracketed by crazy car adventures(car breaking down in rain + impending flight + me hitchhiking to airport + car being impounded = just a little stress and anxiety. I do NOT like allowing myself to be overwhelmed by worry or uncertainty, but this weekend cut it a little close. But now I have regained my car and I *believe* it’s fixed, bar a slightly alarming rattle in my compressor flywheel. And I have been affirmed in my conviction that I have two of the most awesome friends in the world…Alex driving to check for my car on the beltway at 3 in the morning…and Will helping me rescue and fix my car today. I gotta say, I feel so blessed to know that I have friends who have my back! God is good, INDEED. And thus ends the longest parenthetical thought of all time.), and now I have totally lost my train of thought. *scans back to top of parentheses* Ah yes. The weekend of Tampa and family awesomeness!! Full of the *whole* family together again and taking naps on the couch and late night talks with the sisters and lasagna of amazing awesomeness and Spades tournament with the fam and just loving my family!!! And of course, I did see some other people(including Dream and David, enjoying delicious ice cream and more delicious conversation! And I got to have lunch at Steve and Vickie’s, enjoying hamburgers and beans and encouraging words. And I got my Christmas(ok, a little late) present from them – this awesome handmade blown-glass alligator head. It is AMAZING. If you are in Houston, come over and you can see it. And Gary and Janet came over on Sunday night and again, I am constantly reassured of the amazing blessings of the LORD in the people he surrounds me with. Ah it is too much for someone as silly as I!!) And seriously, these parentheses have got to stop! I am henceforth banning myself from using them for…the rest of this entry.
I have now decided it’s time for dinner. And I’m binging on Snow Patrol on the moment, and I’m not quite sure if that’s a good thing or not. It’s chill enough to be relaxing, but romance-tinged enough to be slightly dangerous to the emotions. Like I’ve said before, music can be a most wonderful and perilous creation!
And now I take my leave. Before I do though, let me share what has been most encouraging these past few days:
Therefore humble yourselves
under the mighty hand of God,
that He may exalt you at the proper time,
casting all our anxiety on Him,
because He cares for you.
1 Peter 5:6-7
He cares for you. How awesome is that?
Peace be to you all!
I’ve had a pretty awesome Christmas, what! Cinnamon rolls, bacon, giving and receiving presents, relaxing and reading in my room with Maryanne and Laura, playing epic Monopoly(of which I was the champion!!), playing brutal Spades games(of which me and Katharyn SHOULD have been the champions), best-meal-ever-lasagna, more goofing off with sisters, enjoying the company of the best family EVER, and relaxing in the goodness of the LORD Almighty. ‘nough said? Yes.
Something Weird 