... Lochnagar

I'm thankful for a family who, when I'm absent from a holiday, will call every 30 minutes until they get to talk to me. I'm thankful for being granted dear, sweet friends who I love and trust despite long distances between us. And now, I'm thankful that after 2 and 1/2 months of wrestling with numerous agencies and banks, money finally arrived in my account on Thanksgiving day! Coincidence? I think not.
In celebration of both, before church I cooked a glorious dinner feast -and by glorious I mean edible- for a few members of my surrogate family (the Dundee church, that is) including my roommate, her parents, and our friend Hayley. Except for an unfortunate Jello salad, I'd say it was pretty fair for my first solo attempt. Yesterday also brought our first snow of the season-- what a lovely day!
So my friends, wherever you are, and in whatever circumstances- be thankful! There are many special things that we forget to appreciate because of their frequency in our experiences, but this should not be so! In case you need some inspiration, this set of pictures comes from a gorgeous drive to, well, the middle of nowhere. Enjoy, and happy Thanksgiving!

Away, ye gay landscapes, ye gardens o' roses

In you let the minions of luxury rove

And restore me the rocks where the snowflake reposes

If still they are sacred to freedom and love.

Yet Caledonia, dear are thy mountains

Round their white summits tho' elements war

Tho' cataracts foam 'stead of smooth-flowing fountains,

I sigh for the valley o' dark Lochnagar!

- Lord Byron

... Dunkeld

This edition comes from Dunkeld in Perthshire, about 30 minutes or so from where I live. It's my brother's favorite place in the world, though one of the girls in my program is from here and doesn't find it all that exciting. Come on, they're masters of thrillology!!

On being away from home

Yes, this is a lovely place indeed. Do I feel at home here? No. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever feel at home anywhere again, even after safely returned to my family and friends in Oklahoma. Nevertheless, God is good, and is so obviously taking care of me. I got a job yesterday (finally!), at a lovely little coffee shop about 100 yards from my front door, thanks to Alan from church. Today I'm off to Edinburgh to meet Trey and Lily-- and in fact, should be getting on the road soon, so I leave you with this. Hope you all have a nice weekend!

The Christian doctrine of suffering explains, I believe, a very curious fact about the world we live in. The settled happiness and security which we all desire, God withholds from us by the very nature of the world: but joy, pleasure, and merriment, He has scattered broadcast. We are never safe, but we have plenty of fun, and some ecstasy. It is not hard to see why. The security we crave would teach us to rest our hearts in this world and oppose an obstacle to our return to God: a few moments of happy love, a landscape, a symphony, a merry meeting with our friends, a bathe or a football match, have no such tendency. Our father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home.
- from The Problem of Pain