Burning boats

It's done now.  Fraser has handed in his notice to Highland Theological College so we have to go to Nigeria!  He's been working there for nearly 10 years and it always seemed the perfect job for a Christian librarian with IT tendencies until God used it to start the uprooting process.  One of the ways Fraser realised that God was saying it's time to move on was when this previously great job became exceptionally stressful and no longer satisfying.  As these feelings were described almost exactly by a visiting speaker to the college when she was explaining how God told her it was time to leave her job in education and go into full time Christian work they helped Fraser to realise that the Lord really was shaking him up.

On the topic of recognising God's pointers, last Sunday we were at Kiltarlity Free Church to speak after the morning service.  It's a warm, welcoming church with a preacher brave enough to admit that at 12:31am on Sunday morning he had just torn up his sermon draft and was sending up a "what am I going to preach on now Lord?" prayer.  The message he did give was very applicable to our situation and fitted powerfully with the theme of being obedient to God and trusting him in whatever situation he's put you in or is leading you into.  My eyes were also opened by my reaction to a conversation I had with Shona, a visitor from Stornoway.  When we tell people we're going to Nigeria their first reaction is often "You must be mad" but to me there's no problem.  When Shona told me about people she knows who took their young family to work in Afghanistan my immediate thought was, rather them than me, although they love it there as that's where God wants them to be.  I think it shows that knowing you're following what the Lord wants of you really enables you to see things with different eyes.  A banal thought possibly but it struck me as helpful in deciding whether you're on the right track.

 I meant to take some photos of the trays of cakes at the coffee morning but was too busy getting them ready and serving the lovely people who came to support us (don't say too busy eating cakes too as confidence is shaken if the cook doesn't the sample the goods).  A big thank you to everyone who came and gave so generously.  We're still getting donations from people who couldn't make it on Saturday morning although that makes me wonder what it says about my cooking.  Support the mission but avoid the cakes?  Possibly very wise and certainly less fattening!  We're heading towards £500 and we're very grateful.