Monday, November 24, 2014

T.H.A.N.K.S.G.I.V.I.N.G

This week truly has brought me so much happiness. I will try and contain myself but no promises, it's just that this week had so many different little moments that made me realise how lucky I am. It started off with doing some research and trying to be productive in the library while the deadline for my finals are closely approaching, however this week soon distracted me from doing anything. I bought myself a little notebook that I can carry around with me in my pocket everyday and jot down some notes to myself, and it has made the world's of difference with remembering little details and things to do. Tuesday I got treated by Claire, Martin and Lise (again) to homemade crepes: 
This little notebook of mine really helps me with my french because I can write down a few phrases as the frenchies are talking. The crepes were unbelievable with a variety of ham and cheese to sugar and chocolate powder. 
Another thing I would have to mention was that this week was another dry week in Glasgow which made for some pretty amazing artwork in the sky: 
 This is the view from my room, and being woken up to this light coming into my window is such a blessing.

On wednesday I went to go see the intimidation game with the french girls and I was not disappointed. I highly recommend watching this film about the history of cracking the Enigma machine during a time of war around the world. After the film when I left the french house I saw a cute cat walking towards me and while on the one hand it jumped onto my lap and continued to be really cute and cuddly, the rest of the story didn't turn out so great. I got clawed in the face after she jumped up onto a garbage bin. I didn't have it in me to just walk away and leave our relationship like that however so I went back and we made up by her allowing me to pet her one more time: 

On thursday I had my regular lesson with Chris the bagpipe instructor followed by lunch with Sydney Cason. Syd was an interesting character to pin point in the beginning of the semester because she told me she was studying neuroscience yet she can sing opera. If it isn't her laugh it is her amazing enthusiasm to do everything and anything. She really is a gem to have around, especially because she always has a smile on her face. We ended up going back to the piping center before our lecture and both did a solid number with researching for our final papers. 
After our lecture a handful of us decided to have a wine and cheese night because who doesn't like wine and cheese? If not that then a chance to procrastinate more, perhaps? The night was a great success:


Friday meant bible study being back to the normal time, and although a lot of people couldn't make it due to weekend trips we still went on. This week was a little more in depth I would say because I could tell that a lot of people were at that time where finals and other stress in their life has hit them. This just gave us more to pray about and a chance to share some personal struggles:
Saturday couldn't have come any sooner because that meant that my cousin Maryke would arrive from London! Being reunited with my cousin really brought a special warmth in my heart. It amazes me how even after 3 years of not seeing her nothing seems to have changed. We spent the entire saturday going to the cathedral, the necropolis, and the modern art museum with Martin, Claire and Lise. We saw a wedding while at the cathedral:




Before we headed back out to the city center for night time we had some tea and cake at the french house where some of us passed out for an afternoon nap and others just played guitar. At night we attempted to go see Mockinjay, however after failing due to it all being sold out we ended up watching Interstellar. Now I have two words to sum up this movie: MIND BLOWN. Truly an incredible film that toys with your emotions, mind, beliefs, and perception of things. One of our fellow companions really wanted to watch interstellar the whole week yet couldn't make it every time. Brandon wasn't there this night but we tried to include him the best we could: 
Sunday was pure joy from the beginning till the end. We went to church and Maryke came with, also Calvin's family joined us. Every sunday so far it has been sunny during church service and it just really creates a sense of aw while learning about the Lord's word. This particular service had a baptism and right before she was submerged into the water she said a few words. For a person so young she spoke of words far past my vocabulary, with such passion and love it had most of the community in church: 
After the incredibly powerful service we went to campus to show the McNellys and Maryke around: 
Because a bunch of us will be traveling this weekend, not myself, we decided to do thanksgiving a week early. We ended up squeezing about 25-27 people into our tiny kitchen. The food stacked up against the counters and after the great feast it felt as though we had to roll everyone out of the kitchen:





Familiar friends, people we haven't really known for that long, families we just met and families reuniting from afar; france, argentina, canada, south africa, united states, texas and brazil. So many different people with so many different stories all coming together for thansgiving, for some it was their first. 
I am thankful for God blessing me with this amazing opportunity of coming over to a new country, meeting these amazing friends, having a loving family, and just for the amazing love He has given me throughout my life. 
Today was spent going geocaching with Maryke and placing a verse from the book of Psalm in each one we found. Following the exploration we took a lunch break in the botanical gardens in my hammock with some leftover turkey sandwiches from last night. After we went for a tour through the city chambers in the heart of Glasgow: 




I am so incredibly happy and although I am overwhelmed with how much work I have to do before my finals this week has been one of favorite weeks thusfar in Scotland. God is so incredibly loving and thoughtful. All glory be to Him forever.