Tag: scotland

Unbound

James HoganLeave a comment

So I’m sitting here in Starbucks after some lovely reading and getting some work done(royal wedding today, so day off today!! Congratulations, new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate! Even though I don’t know you…I hope you are exceedingly blessed as you start your new life together!) and I thought it might be a good time to write a long update/poem/something insightful…but it is just too beautiful outside. The sky is unprecedentedly blue and sun is blazing gloriously bright and the streets outside colorfully beckon and I just cannot stay inside any longer.

Sweet Friday afternoon walk coming right up!

Smoking Beauty

James HoganLeave a comment

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!!!!

apple orchards

James HoganLeave a comment

I really want an apple pie right now. All hot and delicious and full of apple slices drenched in sugary goodness in a nice delicious crust…along with a cold glass of milk. Yes? Yes. Made by dad(the filling) and mom(the crust), specifically. Of course, this is now sadly impossible as they are thousands of miles away. Well maybe come Christmas time, this will be remedied. Until then, I will just have to dream…

And now that my craving for apple pie has increased exponentially after writing that, I will try to switch topics gracefully…by saying that it is a beautiful day here!! I am very happy that despite a week of mostly rain and wind and cold gloominess, Aberdeen has decided to reward us with a gorgeously sunny and refreshing Saturday! And of course, anthropomorphizing Aberdeen is foolish…I really want to thank God, for this is indeed the day that He has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!!

And this has been a delightfully busy and hectic week! This week I think I’ve become fully immersed in my new job, as I had no lack of tasks to complete, from compiling quoting process maps to engaging the rest of the staff to form a comprehensive picture of affairs here. We have a consultant coming over from the States next week, so we’ve been prepping for that this week, as next week should be even crazier! But then, do you really want to hear about Cameron Drilling affairs? Probably not, so I’ll refrain.

But last night was not business, but pleasure! A couple from church invited me to their place for dinner last night, so me and my roommate went over(rewind – did I mention I now have a flatmate? He’s from Nigeria, and this is his first time out of the country! So it is most fun to use my lofty status as three-week resident of Scotland to show him around the city and introduce him to our crazy Western ways; he’s pretty awesome) – we left straight from work and through the driving rain and terrible traffic(Houston-esque, almost) I drove(wait, rewind again – did I also mention that Cameron hired me a car? Well they did – a Nissan Note – and so yesterday was my first day driving through Aberdeen! In the rain. And traffic. On the other side of the road. I’m still here!) to their house right near the University of Aberdeen. And wow, that was…an interesting sentence. Anyways, Josh and Emily have a lovely family(daughter Rebecca, son Luke) and they made taco salad for us! They’re actually from Texas(what!) and he’s here getting his doctorate in theology, particularly in regards to the doctrine of the Trinity and the view of the Trinity throughout church history and how that has been changing the past 200 years. Oh yeah, we got a little theologically nerdy. Anyways, it was simply an amazingly awesome night hanging out with them and relaxing and communing in the goodness of the Lord!! Afterwards me and Uche(my flatmate) drove back through the considerably more empty roads to our flat. Following that we had an ASDAs adventure to get him a phone so he could call his family(which he did – success!) and I called back home and got to talk to Laura for the first time in a while – hurrah! Finally, we made it home and sleep beckoned…I woke up this morning to hear Uche vacuuming our flat – see, I told you he’s awesome!

Ok, while I’ve been writing this, me and this woman two tables over from me(here at Starbucks) keep making eye contact. I’m not sure if she’s just intrigued at my furious tapping away or what.

ANYWAYS, I really need to get going soon, as later this afternoon is castle time! But a little sidetour first…

This morning I was walking to Starbucks enjoying the beautiful morning when a woman stopped me(old enough to be my grandmother, if not my great-grandmother!) holding out a tract, saying something about “the future kingdom”. I’m thinking, “Oh, she must be a Christian, yay!” So I mention that I follow Christ. She sort of brushes that off, which I find only a tad odd, and then ask me if I’m waiting for the coming kingdom. I enthusiastically agree and at this point she points me to a verse somewhere in John about Jesus pointing the way to God. John 3:17 maybe? Anyways, I make a remark affirming that, saying also, “And Jesus is God!” at which point she says, “Well, no, he isn’t…”

screeching halt

I had to drastically revise my approach at this point from friendly encourager to wary combatant. I responded to her heretical statement by saying, “Actually, He is God.” At which point we got into a nice little debate, with her pulling out what I assume are all the classic Jesus-is-not-God passages, starting with Colossians(why is it telling me Colossians is spelled wrong – hmph) 1. I think when I rebutted this by telling her what firstborn meant in the Greek, she may have begun to re-evaluate her opinion of me as a soft target. Anyways, I’m not going to recount our whole conversation except that I urged her to read John, as the whole purpose of that testimony is to put forth Jesus as God!! She denied that with some silly out-of-context verses, tried to reproach me on the illogical nature of the Trinity(1+1+1 can’t equal 1!) and eventually we parted ways. I think I would put our mini-debate as a draw, simply because neither of us were even slightly budging and I failed to pull out the ace verse of John 1:1. Oh why oh why did I not remember that until ten minutes later???

Anyways, the point of this whole recount isn’t to prove my theological acuity, because most assuredly, I felt like I was stumbling around….any good words I did say were of the Spirit. But I just wanted to express my sadness over her words and my acute anger at her denial of Jesus’ very divine nature as God Himself. I think this cut me the deepest, that someone would deny Christ as God, and then I think of all those every day who deny Christ. And I weep. And then I think of my own denials of Christ every day, even though I know Him!! And I weep bitterly. Oh for the lost ones of this world! I cannot wait for the day when faith truly shall be sight and He comes on the clouds for every eye to see Him. Every heart will be pierced and all will know Jesus as Lord. King of kings and Lord of Lords is His name. Amen and Amen!! Come Lord Jesus!

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. He was in the
beginning with God. All things came
into being through Him, and apart from
Him nothing came into being that has
come into being. In Him was life, and
the life was the Light of men. The
Light shines in the darkness, and the
darkness did not comprehend it.

Some of the most beautiful words ever penned. Bar none.

Grace and peace be with y’all this most glorious day!

To dream and hope and love…

James HoganLeave a comment

Because mere wonder cannot suffice for love…

Can you guess where I’m posting from? Yeah, Starbucks. And why, you may ask, am I posting on the middle of a Monday? Well, it happens to be a bank holiday here, so no work for me! It’s quite unfortunate though, because I was originally going to use today to explore around Aberdeen, maybe go visit a castle or something of the sort. Sadly beginning yesterday, I seem to becoming sick. Most annoying. Apart from having a stuffed nose, inflamed throat, sleep-inducing weariness, and a slight tint of dizziness, I’m quite fine. I swear! I actually probably shouldn’t have walked here to Starbucks at all, but I couldn’t stand the thought of being by myself in my flat all day long! Had to get out, so I made the trek here(I really should measure the distance, but it can’t be longer than a couple miles) and now after a few hours spent replying to emails, sipping on my peppermint mocha and reading the delightfulness that is the Word, I decided I may as well see if my writing muse had fled along with all my strength and vigor. Apparently not, hurrah! But I must warn you, I’m feeling slightly hazy, as if I’m dreaming yet awake. So we’ll see if my writings can actually make sense!

So yesterday(apart from the gradually feeling sicker part) was quite awesome! I love Sundays. I was originally going to go to a new church(Gilcomston South, a Church of Scotland) yesterday morning, but me and Mark(friend from work) had planned on going to the football game. Thankfull, Gilcomston has an evening service too! But first, me and Mark hit up the football game – Aberdeen versus the Rangers(of Glasgow). Apparently it’s one of the biggest games of the year, and the Rangers have been perfect thus far, winning all their games. I could believe it – quite an awesome atmosphere!! Right to our left we had a huge section of Aberdeen supporters singing and chanting most of the game and there was a large Rangers contingent at the game as well. It definitely wasn’t a boring game either – we went up 2-0 and it looked like the makings of a huge upset! Sadly it was not to be, as the Rangers came storming back the 2nd half. A couple brilliant goals and a penalty to win 3-2. Alas. Still, it was an awesome game!

Afterwards, came back to my flat and then got ready for church – it’s only a few miles away, right on Union Street, so I was able to walk. It was a lovely service, although by this time I was feeling quite under the weather and most un-energetic. Still, met a few friendly people and look forward to meeting more later this week!

And Saturday was a fun day of exploring and buying far too much stuff. After I spent the morning reading and relaxing at Starbucks(if you’re somehow desirous of reading more words by me, I wrote up a post on Adam’s blog here. Warning: content is sort of unedited…but joy inducing all the same, to me at least. I cannot ever forget or deny the majesty of the LORD, all glory to the Father!), I walked downtown and found a scarf and gloves(which people told me I’d eventually need) and then around lunchtime, found a statue of William Wallace and ate lunch there. After that, I quite by accident discovered an awesome 2nd-hand book shop! They had an Asimov book I’ve been wanting for a while(Prelude to Foundation – the first one of his I ever read, way back in 9th grade!) and I got a biography of William Wallace. My bedtime reading for the next week. It’s so cool to be reading it and finding mentions of Aberdeen and thinking, “Oh yeah, where I am right now!” I love finding random awesome book shops. And they mentioned that there was an even better one near the university. I’ll have to discover that one another weekend…oh and I also bought a Rhapsody of Fire album. I really shouldn’t have, since it was sort of expensive, but I really wanted to hear its epic-ness. I’ll just consider it my early half-birthday present to myself. Have I mentioned Rhapsody of Fire here before? They’re an Italian symphonic power metal band that primarily writes fantasy-based songs. Gorgeous songs that probably most of you won’t enjoy. But I do, so there. My favorite driving music ever, pretty much. And on the subject of music, I need to do another album rank-up post sometime soon…but this post is already starting to go too long, so we shall save that for another day!

And yay, apparently being sick hasn’t taken all of my writing powers(or my tendency to be long-winded…but shh)!

Alright, I’ve decided it’s time to leave Starbucks(I’ve probably already been here 3 hours…and I’m getting sore sitting in one place for so long…and my peppermint mocha is almost gone…) and go down to the store for some soup and Nyquil(or whatever passes for Nyquil in these lands). Hopefully my body can heal up enough that I can go to work tomorrow. We shall see. Now, off to walk on the ancient paving stones, dream of a time when there will be no sickness, dance in the beauty of the day…and rejoice in the goodness of our Lord!

Rock on, y’all.

September 18th, 2010

James HoganLeave a comment

Currently chilling in Starbucks.

In Aberdeen, Scotland.

WHAT.

I must admit, it’s a little odd being the one with a foreign accent!! People can always tell right off that I’m an American – not that I mind, it’s just weird! Anyways, I’ve been here about a full week now! I flew from Houston through Amsterdam to Aberdeen this past Sunday, and I started work on Monday morning! Yep, no rest for me! It’s all good though – this past week at work has been mostly settling in anyways and getting to meet everyone. Everyone’s so awesome here!! Weird things I am getting used to include money(I’m finally getting to the point where I don’t have to squint at my coins to figure out how much each is!), cars being on the opposite side of the road…and loads of phrases that take me a minute to figure out what they mean!

Still though…I love it here!! I really should write a longer entry(describing my grand beach adventure today…in the rain…but it was still awesome!! And talking about taking lovely walks in the fall-like crisp weather EVERY DAY, rejoicing and communing with our glorious LORD!) but I think I’ve been at Starbucks long enough. Time to go and grab some dinner. Somewhere.

To all you back in the States, hugs all around! Well, virtual hugs.

Cheers!

James HoganLeave a comment

A good evening to you all! (Or a good “whatever” to those in different timezones…*tips hat to Deanna*) I’ve really wanted to do a proper update for quite some time…but no, don’t get your hopes up – this is not that time. It’s a Thursday night and Thursday nights do NOT make for good writing moods. I’m listening to some sweet MUSE currently, but sadly that does not translate into my literary muse. Ah well. I actually don’t even know why I’m writing an entry at all, but I felt I should pop in and reassure you, my dear readers, that I actually still exist. This weekend, hopefully, I’ll get a bit of time. We shall see. And my, but isn’t this post full of uncertainty!

Because I actually don’t know what I’m writing, I shall sign off. Oh but before I do, be assured that Houston is still pretty sweet. The weather was gorgeous today, with the breeze shyly dancing through the newly green trees, victoriously holding its own against the bald aggressions of summer heat. And oh, have I mentioned that I recently found out where I’ll be headed in a few months? Well, Cameron decided I needed a bit of…experience. Abroad. So I’m going to be working in Aberdeen the latter half of this year. Aberdeen, Scotland, that is. My Scottish blood sings at the notion! Of highlands and lochs and the sea breeze through my hair!! Houston’s been enough of an adventure. But it’s time for an even more epic one. YES. And if it wasn’t clear, I am quite excited. Quite.

And God is awesome. Just saying.

And I did NOT sign off earlier. Clearly I am a liar. Oops. Farewell. *clicks Post*