Four Months In...Time Flies When You're Unemployed!

Hey hey! Well, I can hardly believe it, but we have been in Scotland for just over four months now! We have spent most of our days looking for jobs and time is flying by. We are grateful for this unique season in our life where we have been able to spend extended time together sleeping in, going for nice walks, making awesome food, reading fun books, and hanging out with new friends.  We know it will all come to an end soon, but it has been really fun! Look at some of the awesome food I am making:

 

 

  

Now, this may not look appealing to some of you, but I can assure you, it is tasty, nutritious and satisfying! :) We have also taken a few photos of some of the amazing views in the Scottish countryside. This country is SO beautiful!

 
     

So, besides all of that, we are adjusting quite well. We have several updates on this crazy adventure, which I am delighted to report:

 

1. We have moved to Glasgow! In late November Alisdair and I both had second interviews with different organisations. So, we decided that we should start looking for flats under the assumption that one of us would get a job. I began researching everyday for flats that were available in the area. We viewed a few and were not impressed, not because we are high maintenance, but because they were pretty run down from university student living. Then, one evening that week, a new flat popped up on the list and it looked amazing! This flat is located in the perfect area, just a five minute walk from our church, a five minute walk from our good friends, Scott and Monica, and walking distance to all shops and public transport. It is located in an old tenement building in Glasgow which are characterised by tall ceilings (with beautiful crown molding and embroidery), big spacious rooms and large bay windows. They are SO lovely and not at all what you would normally picture for a flat in the UK. This flat has two bedrooms (which was a non-negotiable for us as we love hosting), one bathroom and a nice spacious kitchen (for all my cooking endeavors). Alisdair went to view the flat the next morning without me, as I had my interview, but I gave him clear instructions: "If it looks anything like the pictures, reserve it!" It did, so he did. :)

 

However, after that week ended, we both didn't get the jobs! We were pretty disappointed, considering the flat seemed so perfect. We also learned that because we didn't have any income, we would have to pay six months rent, plus deposit, up front in order to rent the flat. We definitely did not have this kind of cash lying around so assumed we were not going to be able to get it. Then, we received word from a friend stateside (who is managing our mail there), that she deposited a large check into our bank account (from retirement money I had put away). We did not know when this check would come in nor did we know how much money it would be. When we got the amount and ran the conversion rate, it came out to be just short of what we needed for the full six months! We couldn't believe it, but took it as a provision from God and decided to move in faith that He would provide us with jobs in His good time. Here are a few pictures of our lovely (furnished) flat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Alisdair got a job! So, literally two days after we moved into our flat, Alisdair got offered a job with Bank of Scotland as a Customer Adviser. The location he originally interviewed with was in a town just outside of Glasgow, but he didn't get offered that position. Instead, he got offered a position at a bank that is just a seven minute WALK from our flat! We couldn't believe it, but were so grateful to God for the provision of this job.

 

3. We have a roommate! Less than a week after we moved in we had dinner with Alisdair's friend, Libby, who had just moved to Glasgow with her new job. She was looking for a room to rent and we were delighted to have somebody live with us, so we offered her the room! She is great, and we are super grateful to share a flat with her and get to know her more.

 

4. Some sad news. We went back to the states for the holidays to visit family and friends and to be in a wedding in Houston. When we arrived, I realized that something was going on with my body as I was exceptionally tired and moody. So, we took a pregnancy test just after Christmas only to find out the super exciting news that we ARE pregnant! If you know us well, you know that the fact that we were able to conceive, given all of my health conditions, was rather miraculous, so we were in major disbelief. We decided to go to the doctor in the states, even though we don't have insurance, just to make sure everything was okay and progressing as it should. During our appointment, we were made aware that the pregnancy was not progressing as it should and they believed (but were not certain) I was having an ectopic pregnancy (which is when the developing tissue gets stuck in the fallopian tube). They basically said that the pregnancy was not viable and was potentially life threatening for me, so we had to terminate the pregnancy. As you can imagine, this was very sad. Nothing in us wanted to terminate this pregnancy.

 

So, we had to extend our stay in the states for a few weeks and received the medical treatment to terminate the pregnancy. However, the medicine did not work as effectively as it should, so they brought me back in for another ultrasound. At that appointment, they were no longer thinking it was an ectopic pregnancy but believed it could be a molar pregnancy (which is when the meeting of the fetus and sperm is chromosomally abnormal and a "tumor" pregnancy is developing as rapidly growing cells that will never form into a normal baby). This type of pregnancy is also not viable, so they suggested minor surgery to remove the pregnancy. We complied and went through with the surgery.

 

Afterwards, we found out that based on the diagnostics of the surgery, they did not believe it was a molar pregnancy and their best guess was that it was an ectopic, as they had originally stated. At that point we were emotionally spent, as you can imagine. They had to give me a second dose of the medicine to terminate the pregnancy and wait for my numbers to drop. And they finally did!

 

All throughout this time, we have been SO taken care of and blessed by our dear friends and family and by our incredibly gracious God. We had several friends who took us in and let us stay with them for weeks. We had heaps of people praying for us in both continents. We were supported emotionally, prayed with, and cared for. We also had tons of people meeting all of our practical needs, such as making us dinner, taking us out and just giving us money. All of the medical staff were unusually caring, kind, and generous. We were given so many free services, such quality care and just over-the-top kindness. My doctor even gave me her cell phone number in case I needed anything! I have never experienced that before! There is no doubt in my mind that God has been with us and His good hand has been upon us. The whole time, even before I found out I was pregnant, I felt like God was saying to me "I am in this. This is Me." I know it has ALL been God. Through several scriptures and songs He led me to the point where I was able to say, "I have to trust You. I have no other choice, there is no other option. You know what's going on and I don't. Your ways are good and that is enough." He is constantly working everything out according to His perfect plan and I trust Him. I have been filled with peace that surpasses understanding, faith in things unseen, and hope in the glory to be revealed someday. Oh, how I long to see His glory! This scripture below brings great delight:

 "Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Now, we need your prayers! As you will see below, so many of our previously requested prayers have been answered. We believe that God hears us and responds, so please keep praying!

• Relationships: Ministry, family and friends. As mentioned before, we believe that our whole lives are meant to be on mission with God, and we desire to minister to our co-workers and neighbors in our ordinary lives, so please pray that where He has strategically placed us He would give us opportunities to build relationships and make an open door for the gospel. This is the whole reason we are here, so it's very exciting! Please also continue to pray for mom, as her health is deteriorating and it is quite sad. My constant prayer is that she would experience the nearness of God and that He would deliver her from her suffering. Please also pray that God would continue to grow our friendships. We already feel we have so many friends in Glasgow (a city we have lived in for only two weeks) and are so blessed. Please pray that God provides us with a few couples that we can do life with and run hard after Jesus with.
• Marriage: Protection and Love. In the last few months God has done so much in our marriage! We are beginning to regularly communicate the ways in which we hurt each other and are learning how to love each other better. Please pray that we would continue to grow in our friendship with one another, that we would have "Jesus-centered" care for each other, and would be for each other. God is already doing a major work in us here, so we are looking forward to Him continuing to refine us in marriage.
• Mission: Now and in the future. Now that we are settling into Glasgow, we are beginning to think about where God would have us long-term and what He would have us do. We both still have a great desire to be a part of planting a church here in Scotland and have our ears open for opportunities to do this. We have already heard of two different plants that will be going out in the next two years, and therefore, are very excited about what God is doing in this country. Please pray for direction from God in this regard.

Thank you so much for your friendship, partnership in the gospel and prayers! We love you! Lookout soon for a post on all the cultural differences I am experiencing here. :) More coming soon!

 

McKibbens

 

One Month In!

 

Time has absolutely flown by and we have been here for over a month now! I can hardly believe it! 

We have been living in a beautiful little fishing village called Catterline which is where Alisdair grew up. The photo above was taken just a few days after we arrived on a gorgeous sunny day (which we have had heaps of...miraculously)! It truly is a little dream world here but can be kind of tough for someone like myself who is much more accustomed to city life. More on this later! :)

So, we've been here for over a month now and there has not been a dull moment. When we first arrived we had a few days in Catterline with Alisdair's family and then headed off to Glasgow (about 2 1/2 hours away) to visit the church we have been following. Glasgow is an eclectic city in Scotland with rough ends and nicer ends. The area that we were visiting is in the West End of Glasgow and is right next to one of the main universities, so has much happening for the buzzing student life. It reminds me a lot of west campus in Austin, TX (for all you Austinites reading this). Here is the church below.

 

While there, we met up with this lovely Scottish/American couple that worked for Re: Hope and had a great time with them as we learned more about the church. We then paid the church a visit on the Sunday morning and it was lovely. We met up with Brian and Ruth (the pastor and girl who heads the prayer ministry) for lunch and had a great chat. However, after our time in Glasgow we didn't feel a strong indication that this is where we should be, but continued praying that God would give us more direction. 

We headed back to Catterline, resolved to make another trip to Glasgow in the very near future and continued praying. After about two weeks, we made another trip to Glasgow, this time staying with Scott and Monica (the Scottish/American couple). They were incredible hosts and we just spent a lot of time chatting with them, processing through where we feel God leading us. We visited the church again, going to prayer in the morning before the service (so fun) and met a lot of new people. During this stint in Glasgow we walked away with the following:

• We highly value being a part of a church that is biblically sound, is making disciples, is missional in their approach and is making room for the movement of the Holy Spirit.
• We found that Re: Hope is doing all of these things.
• We feel like God has wired us for church planting and we believe we will be a part of planting a church here in Scotland in the future.
• In the mean time, we will jump in and serve, make disciples and get even more equipped for ministry at Re: Hope.

So this means...we are moving to Glasgow!!! Whew, this took a long time to process and pray through, but we feel assurred that this is the direction we are being led in. Now we are spending our days applying for jobs, which is a lot of work!

Now, your part in this. :) We need prayer! We truly believe and have experienced that only by prayer does anything happen, so please join us in our efforts to pray and petition God for our next steps. Your prayer is invaluable! We would like to ask you to pray for the following:

• Provisions: Jobs and a home. Right now we are looking for jobs, not having had any experience working in the UK and the market in Glasgow is not great. Please pray that our CV's (resumes) get into the hands of the right people and we get a job! Also, we are really looking to live in a specific area of the West End of Glasgow that is very close to the church. Living in close proximity to our church has been something that God has put on our hearts for some time now so please pray that the right flat will become available at the right time in the right area! :) More than all of this, we really believe that our whole lives are meant to be on mission with God, so please pray that God would put us around the right co-workers and neighbors to minister to. It is our desire to reach people with the gospel in our ordinary lives, so please pray that He would strategically place us and prepare hearts in advance. This is very exciting! :)
• Marriage: Protection and unity. As you can imagine, moving to another country can be quite tense at times. We have recently felt that we are newly married all over again! Fun times! :) We are learning how to communicate lovingly when stress levels are high, how to care for Alisdair's family, and how to rely on Jesus in the midst of changing circumstances. It's been hard, but SO good. We are realizing that we have developed some poor communication habits in our marriage and are working to change. We believe that through the amazing grace and redemption that Jesus provides, we can change (and will!) and our marriage can be a picture of Jesus' relationship with the church. There is great hope in the gospel! So please pray for protection from lies and unity in the gospel.
• Relationships: Family and new friends. We have never lived in close proximity to Alisdair's family before, so we could certainly use prayer in learning to do this well! Also, my family is not well at the moment, my mother is having a lot of health issues and has been in and out of the hospital in the last month. It has been very difficult to be away from my family during this trying time. Please pray for healing for my mom and that God would provide them with heaps of people to love and support them during this difficult season. I have already been amazed and so grateful for our dear friends who have been ministering to my family in our absence during this time. On another note, we are in need of new friends! We miss everyone from the states SO much, and are looking forward to moving to Glasgow and making new friends at Re: Hope in the very near future. Please pray that God will provide us with a few couples that we can do life with and run hard after Jesus with.

Now last, but certainly not least, here are a few things that I have found to  be interesting and different about living in this country. Please know that I know these are ALL first world problems. :)

• Laundry. Doing laundry here actually takes at least two days minimum whereas I could knock this out in a few hours in the states! I have to wash clothes, hang them out to dry (yes...outside) which takes at least a day (that's if it doesn't rain), and then iron everything! Whew! This is going to take some getting used to!
• Coffee. I really love a good cup of coffee. In this country, not many folks buy coffee beans and grind them so it's been difficult to find a good selection of coffee beans and even more difficult to buy a good, inexpensive coffee grinder. We have actually already gone through TWO coffee grinders which both broke! :(
• Lettuce. I didn't realize how spoiled I was to have Whole Foods, Sprouts, Central Market and HEB within a 20 mile radius as the selection of food shops here are limited. I have found it really hard to find fresh, organic heads of lettuce in this country. They certainly don't have the many varied options that I had become accustomed to! So, for now, bagged lettuce will have to do.
• Driving. We have been so blessed by our cousin who has lended us her car for 3 months! Otherwise, I would be stuck in the countryside all the time and would go totally mental! ;) I have driven once so far and found myself veering to the left. Also, because the roads are SO narrow, I find myself flinching, making it hard to keep my eyes OPEN when another car crosses me from the opposite direction (dangerous!). So, I have given up driving at the moment and Alisdair takes us everywhere. :) He's a pro and has found it relatively easy to adjust to the opposite side of the road.

I am really beginning to miss everyone and everything stateside now and I anticipate that this will grow even stronger. This morning I am reminded through scripture that I am a foreigner and stranger on this earth and the home that I long for can only be found in heaven. I hope this word blesses and challenges you in the same way:

"By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

These all died in faith without having received the promises, but they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth. Now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they were thinking about where they came from, they would have had an opportunity to return. But they now desire a better place--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them."                        Hebrews 11:8-10, 13-16

Oh, may He give us grace to see Him the way we ought! To God be the glory and blessings to you all!

The McKibbens 

Moving!

This list is pretty much what our lives are like just now! We have a lot to do and the window to get everything done is closing quick. That said, we have been tremendously blessed by God through it all. Here's a little bit about what's been going on:

• Over the last three weeks and for the upcoming week we have literally had a dinner on every night. We have spent this time saying goodbye to our dear friends. It's been awesome! Alisdair is in his prime with all the people time. :)
• On Saturday night, our church put on a goodbye party for us and it was SO nice. We had a lot of laughs and got to spend one last time catching up with folks and telling them where we are going and what we are doing. We are incredibly grateful that God called us to be a small part of what He is doing in North Central Austin by helping plant North Village Church. Being a part of this church and following after such Jesus-loving people has totally changed the trajectory of our lives. We are so thankful and look forward to continuing to partner with North Village for the sake of the gospel around the world!
• On Sunday, Michael, our Pastor, said a little word for us and prayed for us as we are sent out to be a part of what God is doing in Scotland.
• On Sunday afternoon, we gathered together with a few of our close friends and asked them to cover us in prayer. They prayed for the following big areas: God moving in Scotland, God moving in our marriage, God directing us to an awesome church in Scotland, God going before us in our relationships with our family and God's sovereign goodness over all of the logistics. Again, we are so humbled and blessed to have gotten to walk alongside these brothers and sisters over the last six years and know we will be friends with them for life!
• On Sunday night we got to attend a very dear friends' goodbye party as she is off to Boston. We got to connect with a lot of other people and pray and hear about God being at work in the lives of people all over. To Him be the glory!

Needless to say, it's been a lot on! For those of you who know me, you know that I could be at the tipping point just about now as I struggle having so much on! :) God has sustained me and given me strength, joy and peace throughout every step of this process. It's been amazing. 

Everyday we are covering all that is before us in prayer and we are finding that as a result we are protected by His perfect peace. All good stuff. I plan on updating this more frequently now that our journey is truly beginning, so stay tuned for more soon!

Counting The Cost

This morning I am convicted that following Jesus costs me nothing. I fear that I have had an additive approach with regard to Christ. That just like I have loved food or my home, I have loved Christ. I am convicted as I look in scripture and read the words of Luke 9:

"And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?" (Luke 9:23-25 ESV)

I am convicted because I can see the immeasurable love of God toward me in the cost of the cross of Christ. I know that following Jesus to Scotland will cost me much, but oh the precious worth of the gospel. It is worth all. He is worth all. May I be like Paul and say,

"But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:7-11 ESV)"

How It All Began...

Six Years Ago

It all began six years ago when I met Alisdair for the first time. He sat behind me in our freshman English class and I was completely fascinated by him. His culture, his home country, his accent...I couldn't get enough of it! I had no idea at the time that I would eventually be living in his home country. All I knew was, all I felt was: "there is something here". We talked much about Alisdair's family background and about how he has three brothers, grew up going to church, his mum and dad planted a church in a little village in Scotland and how he comes from several generations of pastors. I rashly said, having only known him for a few months, "I think you are going to be a part of a revival in Scotland!" Now, those words were most certainly spoken without thought, but here we are, six years later on our way to Scotland based on what we believe is a call from God.

Although we have always believed that moving to Scotland is "a part of the plan", a year ago we really began to seriously consider it. Even before we got married, when asked about us moving to Scotland, Alisdair would nonchalantly say he thinks we'll move after we've been married for two years. A year ago we began praying daily about the move to Scotland. We prayed about if this was indeed where God wanted us and if so, when. And day after day we received more and more confirmation and assurance by the Spirit. So we began to take steps in that direction. We applied for my visa, we put in our notices at work, and we bought plane tickets...one way! Crazy! On September 4th (our two year anniversary), we will fly to Scotland.

We are not exactly sure yet what we will do in Scotland but this blog will be our way of keeping a little chronicle of what God does. We are anticipating much and are absolutely thrilled to get to be on mission with God in Scotland. Here we go!