I've Learned to Dance in the Rain

Week one of my placement here at Cartsbridge Evangelical Church is complete! Seems like I just got here yesterday and after getting over an ugly cold, I now feel happy and settled here. It has rained almost every day but everyone in the church is very welcoming and there are quite a few youth too. :) My host family is so nice and it is fun to spend my down time with them.

Gordon and Lynn, and their two boys: Joshua (3 years) and Ethan (20 months)

Here are some pictures of the church:

Main entrance

sanctuary/main hall

 Here's an idea of what I did this week and what I'll be doing during my time here:
Sunday - Communion Service and All Age Service in the morning, then Evening Service and YF later on.
Monday - Stepping Stones nursery group in the afternoon and discipleship course whenever I'm home. I also went to play basketball once so far, we'll see how long I last there. :)
Tuesday - Story time at a local nursery or Tuesday Lunch Club (a senior citizen group) and in the evening, a children's choir.
Wednesday - CU at a high school, King's Club in the evening (a club for primary aged children), and church prayer meeting.
Thursday - SU at a primary school, met with my mentor, Hilary Templeton for dinner, and Freedom in Christ (a 13-week course they are doing instead of bible studies).
Friday - SU group that meets after school at a church and Youth Club at Cartsbridge. Twice while I'm here, I'll go to assemblies at a primary school.
Saturday - Day off. Last Saturday, I went to watch the church football team play (in the rain!) in the semi-finals of their league, then my host family took me to a shopping centre and we ate Auntie Anne pretzels! They invited people from the church to dinner and then I went with Lynn's sister, Jen, to a girl's house to hang out and play games. This Saturday, I went into Glasgow city centre to see my old friend Tara Nicholl. It was great to see her and catch up, it had been a while since we'd seen each other! And there was also a praise night at a church so we went along to that and met up with some people I met at bible college.
 Most of the events that I attend/help at are run by various people from the church but I go to the schools with Iain, the youth worker. They have made this such an easy transition with their friendliness and willingness to come pick me up etc.
They can still hear my American accent, a man at Boots even asked me if I was from California... so I haven't picked up the Scottish accent yet - but who knows! I have been finding myself fitting the random "wee" into conversations. :)
Thanks for all your prayers and support! I'm so blessed to have you all following my exciting journey.