Dear Fleetwood,
I’m writing to you from a Starbucks here in Edinburgh. Given that I spent a few afternoons at the Starbucks on Fraser Hwy right by church, it’s nice to know that wherever you go on God’s green earth, there’s a Starbucks waiting to welcome you.
Amy and I can’t believe that it’s been three and a half months since we left Vancouver, and since we shared our last Sunday with you. We miss you all, and think of you often. Having been here a few months now, we thought it might be nice to give you a quick update.
First, and what you all care most about, Norah is doing well. You wouldn’t believe how old she has gotten. She and Amy go to a big park (the Meadows) near our house pretty much every day, and she loves playing on the playgrounds there. She has a doll that Amy’s grandma knit a long time ago for the Minnesota State Fair that she affectionately calls ‘Deedo’, and another little cloth doll she calls ‘Baby’. Deedo and Baby go pretty much everywhere with us, and when we’re home, Norah pushes Deedo and Baby around in her pram, and feeds them some of her milk. Norah’s also become a master color-er. I even have an original of her artwork on my desk at school.
Second, all is well with Amy’s pregnancy (many thanks, again, to Tom for making that announcement for us J). She is thirty weeks as of yesterday, and we’re looking forward to meeting this new ‘wee one’ at the end of January.
Third, Amy and I are well. The transition has been, in many ways, smoother and easier than we could have imagined. There is a lot to love about Edinburgh. We’re thankful for a cozy little apartment that we love; we’re grateful for a good church that we’ve gotten connected to; and a toddler group that meets at our church on Tuesday mornings has been a blessing for Amy and Norah. My program is almost completely full of Americans, so it’s nice to meet native Brits through church. We’re thankful for friendships that have started to form, particularly after the unique blessing of the community we left at Regent and Fleetwood. And we’re grateful that, for this season in life, we get to live in such a beautiful and historic city.
Fourth, school: I really am loving it, perhaps even more than I expected to, and it has been a great gift to be reaffirmed many times over that God has not only called us here, but has also prepared a place for us here. My work is going well. I meet with my supervisor every other week, and all of my research and writing right now is working towards my Review Board that will take place in late May or early June 2015. That’s a fairly significant hurdle for me to clear in order to continue on as a PhD Candidate. If that doesn’t go well, we may be moving somewhere sooner than we planned J. I sit at my desk most days—reading and writing—and while at times it feels tedious, my overriding emotion is one of gratitude. It is a gift to be able to devote three years of undivided attention to the study of something you love.
All of this isn’t to say that everything has been easy: it was difficult saying goodbye to family (again) at the end of August, and pretty daunting to step into an entirely new community here. We’ve been blessed to be able to spend a few weekends in St. Andrews and Newcastle with couples that we were friends with at Regent, but other than that, we are back to the beginning. There’s something tiring about the early stages of community, about not being in a place where you are known—where relationships feel more like work than like gift. And on the school front, it’s not easy being around really smart people all the time! Those old demons—shame, fear, and inadequacy—tend to bubble up in environments like this.
All of that to say, we have both much to be thankful for, and much that fosters in us dependence on God (which we should also be thankful for, I suppose). On our last Sunday with you, we sang the song “Jesus Draw Me Ever Nearer” together. The chorus of that song goes like this:
May this journey bring a blessing,
May I rise on wings of faith;
And at the end of my heart’s testing,
With your likeness let me wake.
I will neither confirm nor deny that I got choked up as we sang that, but the words of that song, which felt very much like a pleading request at that time, have been proven true in our experience. Our journey has brought a blessing—blessings innumerable. And although your journey has kept you at ‘home’, we pray God’s richest blessings on you as well.
And if your travels should ever bring you over to Britain, please come up to Edinburgh! Our doors are open, and we’d love to see you.
Love,
Benj, Amy & Norah
P. S. We’ve sent some pictures to the church office by email, and also posted an album of our first few months here to Fleetwood’s Facebook page.
