Back in St. Andrews

Several of you have asked how my writing is going, and I appreciate the interest! I came here wanting to write about family in the New Testament: Father/Son language for God, Mary as the Mother of God, and Christian Identity as sons and daughters. That remains the outline of my project, and I’ve made good progress. Two chapters on Mary are written (one focusing on the character of God as revealed in her story and one on the identity of humanity in relationship with that God), and by the end of March a third on Hebrews’ view of the family of God will be completed as well. It has been such a joy to have the time to read and write; I have about 50,000 words right now, almost half of a decent book. Even more importantly, the project is quite different (and I hope much better) because of the scholarly engagement here. I’ve presented my work to the Logos Institute (the group sponsoring me), New College at the University of Edinburgh, and a research seminar at St. Mary’s (the divinity school of St. Andrews). I’m attending two classes, one on the Atonement and one on Temple and Sabbath, as well as the weekly Logos lectures. I stayed until 10 pm the other evening vigorously discussing the nature of Biblical Theology! All that to say, different communities offer different perspectives and ask different questions, and because I have the time and headspace to do so, I’ve asked some pretty probing questions as well about my vocation and my own strengths and weaknesses for it. Those deep questions continue, and while I’ve done some writing, I still feel that I have a long way to go. So, prayers for clarity and fortitude and excellence are much appreciated!

New College, Edinburgh.

Watching the waves during the storm

To resume the family story since our return from Belgium. We arrived back in Scotland late on the night of Monday the 26th, and on Tuesday the 27th the “Beast from the East” started to move in: snow, ice, and gusting winds. If our trip had been any later, we might still be in the Brussels airport! People seemed spooked, but as Midwesterners we figured it couldn’t be too bad. We were wrong. We didn’t even venture out of the house for two days, and school was cancelled for four (even over the weekend—Wednesday through Monday)! Truly, it was a sight to see, and many native St. Andrews residents told us they’d never experienced anything like it. Several cozy days inside were really nice actually, but after day three we needed more structure. Subsequently, we had a great day of "homeschooling”; Maxson’s self-crafted curriculum was twenty items long.  The best part was the chance to do some sledding and snowman building, a winter’s activity we’d thought we’d have to forgo this year being so close to the ocean. Speaking of, Lance got some amazing views of the waves as the storm was coming up the coast.

We also enjoyed the waves on "Mothering Sunday," the UK equivalent of Mother's Day which happens in early March rather than May. I chose lunch at a local pub (which happened to have a drink named after Kindred!), zip-lining at the local park, and rock climbing at the beach. As I usually attend Wheaton's graduation on Mother's Day, it really felt like Sabbatical-like to have the whole day to enjoy!

Kate has been busy since our return as well. Inspired by the Comic Book museum, she’s creating her own comics featuring our pets back home, to her brothers' giggling delight. We’ve also had a chance to see the fruit of her hard work in the musical theatre group. They performed this week, along with a dozen other primary and secondary schools in the Lochgelly Theater. Her group from Canongate (of over 30 kids!) stayed right with the beat as they danced their hearts out to “You Can’t Stop the Beat” from Hairspray. She used plenty of it too, in her sweet ‘do for the performance.

She remains good friends with her birthday twin, Izzy, and has formed a friendship with another new girl from America (Hawaii), Isabel. Maxson has been hanging out with Carlo, his bus buddy, and Kindred has now had several play dates with Thomas, a friendship that has captured the hearts of the preschool instructors, so we’ve heard. It means the world to us that our kids are not just surviving, but really connecting with friends we hope will remain penpals and skype buddies for years to come. We too have made good friends, having shared meals recently with a PhD couple who did their previous degrees at OU, a Master’s couple who come from Moody and had babysat members of St. Marks, and our pastor and his family. We've also made "Scottish" friends, through St. Mary's and the Crossfit gym Lance and I have joined. Nothing like 60 over-the-bar burpees to create bonding. We've continued to find St. Andrews a small and friendly world indeed!

Thomas and Kindred

As we look toward the end of Lent and the approach of Easter, Lance has been preparing for several organ gigs. More about those and our Easter holidays, next time!