But even if He does not…
Today in church we lifted our voices to join prayers declared across the country as part of Open Doors’ worldwide Day of Prayer for persecuted Christians. We learned more about the challenges faced by believers in Afghanistan, the world’s #1 country for persecution against Christians, and we interceded on behalf of our brothers and sisters…
Healed After 11 years!
There’s no need to sugar-coat or add glitter to this headline – it speaks for itself! Eleven years after my PCOS diagnosis in 2011, I am HEALED! But first, let me give you a little bit of background… PCOS is a condition that affects approximately 1 in 10 women. You can read more about the…
Five Short Years – A Celebration of God’s Faithfulness
On Monday 3rd April 2017, I boarded a plane with two suitcases and a one-way ticket to Frankfurt am Main, Germany. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing or what life would look like on the other side, I just knew in my spirit that that was the next step God had asked…
Counting the Cost of Obedience
A number of years ago I had the opportunity to visit Montenegro as part of a short-term mission team. My local church in Scotland was partnered with a church in the Montenegrin capital city, Podgorica, but our work was primarily with three Balkan refugee camps in the eastern town of Berane. The first team that…
Beyond Breaking Point
Stress; it’s a word that we are all only too familiar with. We associate it with work, with certain people, with responsibility, with busyness. But I’m beginning to believe it’s much more than just the extreme emotions we identify as “stress”. What if it’s even more acute than that? What if, rather than reaching the…
A Dream Come True
On 15th June 2020 I witnessed a dream become reality; I held my first published book, Adventure Awaits, in my hands and awed at the journey that had led me to that moment. Yes, my life journey – all the experiences, lessons, hurts, and breakthroughs – had paved the way for the content of the…
A Hero for Our Time
I love to watch movies. Depending on my mood, I will watch a range of genres, including comedy, romance, science fiction and action. However, some of my favourite movies, like ‘The Blind Side’, ‘Hidden Figures’ and ‘Apollo 13’, are those based on true stories. I sit, mesmerized, watching dramatizations of real-life heroes who have taken…
Defying the Facts
October was an interesting month. I knew breakthrough was coming; I was anticipating it, I was ready for it, I was looking for it. I’d been declaring it for months, and inviting others into my journey of faith. Then a series of breakthroughs came! … And looked nothing like I’d expected them to… Instead of…
Holding on to Hope
For months now, I’ve held a strong sense of anticipation that God is up to something big. Between the far-reaching promises He declared over me in January, the ever-growing wisdom and influence He has gifted me with, and the significant open-heart surgery He has been conducting in the secret place, my anticipation of a new…
Look What You Have Done!
“Look what you have done!” Perhaps you heard this often as a child, having made a mistake or acted clumsily or not thought through the consequences of your actions. Or maybe you are a parent who has used this statement all too frequently. Well, I’ve been saying this a lot recently. Admittedly, I am a…
A Tale of Two Tests
As I reflected over the Easter period, I was struck by two different perspectives of the well-known Easter narrative. Each describe a test of faith, and each have relevance in our own faith journeys two millennia later. The first, is that of Jesus Christ, Himself. A.W. Tozer said, “True obedience is the refusal to compromise…
The Worst Kept Secret
A few months ago I celebrated my 32nd birthday. My parents made their first trip to visit me in Germany and we enjoyed traditional German food and plenty of sight-seeing around the province of Hessen. As messages of congratulations flew in from friends all over the world, I noted the occasional hint of awkwardness or…
The Hidden Door
In J.R.R. Tolkein’s tale, The Hobbit, a company of dwarves led by Thorin, the heir to the throne, embark on a quest to reclaim their home in the vast caves of the Lonely Mountain. Now housing a greedy dragon, the dwarves have little hope of re-entering the mountain and defeating the dragon unless they enter…
Humility: Redefined.
In church, we are currently journeying through the book of Philippians together, considering, last week, Christ’s example of humility (Philippians 2:1-11). As part of his introduction, the Pastor quoted C.S. Lewis: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.” It was not the first time I had heard or read that quote.…
The Catalyst for Answered Prayer
I returned from New York City in December 2014, just days before Christmas, having completed a four-month internship programme with Metro World Child. I arrived back in my home city with little idea of what would happen next; having felt that the season I was in was not yet over. Having been asked to be…
My Top 5 Takeaways from 2018
No, I’m not talking about fast-food (although, admittedly, I did enjoy a few tasty dishes last year), I’m referring to the lessons and threads of grace that God wove through my life in the last twelve months. These lessons are on-going, and in no way ‘complete’; no doubt I’ll have to resit a test or…
A Crisis of Faith
I have always believed in the existence of God and His role in the creation of humanity; it was what I was taught as a young child, having attended Sunday school each week, and it is what I read for myself in the Bible as I grew up and explored the ideas for myself. However…
Do It Anyway
A few weeks ago I was asked to share a testimony at church. The opportunity thrilled me and I was grateful to have the chance to share a little of my heart with my new church family. But then I hesitated, as I carefully typed my reply to my pastor… “Sure. In English or German?”…
Building Momentum
I recently read a social media post from Paul Scanlon that resonated with me as I reflected back on my time in Germany so far. It read: “Q) How do you attract divine guidance? A) Movement. The biggest thing I’ve learned about divine guidance in over 45 years of walking with God is that: GOD…
The ‘I Don’t Know’ Taboo
I recently returned from a 3-week trip back to Scotland to visit my family & friends. It was a fantastic time to reconnect with people, make memories, and share with them all that God has worked in me and through me in my time in Germany so far. But what struck me the most was…
How Do I Know It’s God?
“But how do I know it’s God?” I’ve been asked this question over and over again the last few months; friends, acquaintances in church, family members, even social media connections from the other side of the world, all want to know the same thing: how do we know we are being led by God? So…
So Why am I Here Again?
It can be easy to look at the everyday, mundane nature of life and ask ourselves this very question. I remember reading a book in school that described people in the “rat race”. People going to and from their work and daily lives, like a swarm of mice going back and forth, back and forth,…
Making Way for Miracles
A number of years ago I had the opportunity to visit Montenegro as part of a short-term missions team. My local church in Scotland was partnered with a church in the Montenegrin capital city, Podgorica, but our work was primarily with three Balkan refugee camps in the eastern town of Berane. The first team that…
The Power of Position
Michael Apted’s movie, Amazing Grace, features the life and works of William Wilberforce, an English politician who led the movement to abolish the slave trade in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries. Following his conversion to Evangelical Christianity in 1785, Wilberforce toyed with the notion of leaving politics and a life in the public…
Rather You Than Me
I have lots of great memories from my childhood. There was the day I became a big sister for the first time, or when I was told a third sibling was on the way. I remember laughing until I cried on a family holiday a few years later as the three of us attempted to…
A Modern Day Epidemic
In my late teens and early twenties, I was plagued with sickness after sickness. Nothing serious, usually just the flu. But I would catch it often, sometimes up to four times in one year. These bouts would floor me and leave me with no energy, resulting in weeks off sick from work and, most disappointingly,…
The Repeat Examination
Since moving to Germany last year, money has been tight. It has been one of the greatest tests of my faith, yet the provision of such has been at the heart of the majority of my testimonies. I wrote about a particularly challenging need in August of last year (you can read about it in Um,…
The Depth of a Hug
In 2014, I participated in a four-month Internship with Metro World Child in New York City. The experience was one of the most challenging, exhausting, but rewarding of my life thus far. But one instance, one moment left a crack in my heart like no other during those months. Every Saturday I rode Bus 19…
The Ache of Unrequited Love
I’m sure we’ve all been there at one time or another; we fall hopelessly for a man or woman who does not share the same feelings for us. We lose time day-dreaming about them and imagining a life together, making all sorts of plans for the future, while they live their lives without us in…
The Mathematics of Generosity
I recently FaceTimed my youngest brother and we were chatting, as we often do, about our next steps and what God is calling each of us to next. At the time of the phone call, I was facing a number of challenges myself and was a little preoccupied by them as we spoke. But then…
It’s a Marathon, not a Sprint
The life and death of Jim Elliot has always been a great source of inspiration for me. Indeed, it was his biography, ‘In the Shadow of the Almighty’, written by his wife Elisabeth, that played an instrumental role in confirming my call to Germany. Jim and Elisabeth, along with four other missionary couples, were positioned…
Trust: Active or Passive?
At the turn of the year I decided it was time to switch my daily Bible readings from English to German. By that time, I had had nine months of language study under my belt and I was spurred on by my desire and goal to begin ministering in German this year. Progress has been…
New Name, Same Story
If you have followed my blog for a while, you’ll notice that it has undergone a little facelift over the past couple of weeks, including the adoption of a new name. Allow me to explain. I began my personal blog back in 2014 as a means of mass communication with friends and family while I…
Are You Sitting Comfortably?
I was sat comfortably, as it happened, in my economy seat onboard the British Airways aircraft that would take me back to Germany after a fortnight of reunions and precious time with family in Aberdeen over the Christmas period. The flight roster was quiet, gifting me an entire row of seats to myself. The safety…
Facing the Flame
Just a day after I published Um, Where’s my Miracle? (Part 2): The Overflow I was invited to interview for a job as a cleaner of a local Kindergarten and I began that job less than a week later. It is the perfect wee money-earner for my current circumstances: it doesn’t require a high-level of the German…
Dear Twenty-Something Me…
With my 31st birthday just a few weeks away, I have been reflecting on another year of God’s grace and faithfulness. What an incredible year it has been! However, more than that, I have come to recognise just how many needless concerns or insecurities I was burdened with throughout my twenties. So much worry and…
Um, Where’s my Miracle? (Part 2): The Overflow
Last week (on Sunday) I posted Um, Where’s my Miracle? and the response has been quite overwhelming. This is what happened next… On Monday afternoon, I received an email from former missionaries offering wisdom and guidance, having faced similar challenges themselves. I’m so grateful that God’s provision is not just financial; finance is only a means to…
Um, Where’s my Miracle?
I began this week with 1p in my bank account. I knew this day would come eventually, having had no regular income since I quit my job in Scotland in March. But, I was also confident that God is a God who provides, therefore I had no reason to worry when it did arrive. However,…
Choose Your Hard
I’ve been exhausted the past couple of weeks so last night I intentionally went to bed early. Ninety minutes later, however, I was still awake, having lain in bed thinking up a wide range of social scenarios and rehearsing German dialogue, should I ever find myself in such circumstances. But this delay in falling asleep…
Today I Cried in Public
Yesterday marked two months since I moved to Germany. For the most part, it has been a relatively smooth transition and God continues to be faithful every step of the way. But this weekend I feel like I’ve hit a wall. I suspect hormones and tiredness have something to do with it, but that does…
A Series of Unfortunate Events
It has been a funny ol’ week. Nothing has gone to plan… ahem, my plan. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know that I began my new job this week. Well, at least I expected to. What appeared to be an incredibly promising job opportunity teaching English to children was not quite all it…
When the Honeymoon Ends
Gosh. Moving abroad is not for the faint-hearted. It’s been 20 days since I moved to Germany from the U.K. A busy, full 20 days. It actually surprises me that it has only been 20 days because so much has happened in such a short space of time. I have settled into an apartment, begun…
His Plan or Mine?
I was challenged by the book of Jonah this week as I read of his response and subsequent actions following God’s call on his life. You may know the story already – Jonah is called by God to go to Nineveh and declare God’s judgment on the people for their sin, however Jonah chose instead…
The Ten Year Wait (Part 2): Still Waiting
In The Ten Year Wait I shared just some of the journey God has taken me on in the last 10+ years as I sought, and continue to seek, His perfect will & purpose for my life. But throughout that journey, there has been a second wait; an often more painful and difficult one. Namely, the wait…
No Longer a {Control} Freak
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I’m a control-freak. Well, at least I used to be. My sanity revolved around carefully constructed plans, determined to the smallest detail, with every possible outcome weighed and accounted for. And if not? Fear reigned. Because of this, I used to think that being so…
The Ten Year Wait
I remember the night well. I was sat in Deeside Christian Fellowship Church in Milltimber, Aberdeen – It was 2006 and I was part of the Senior Youth Fellowship (SYF) group, sitting on the back right of the dimly lit hall. One light shone brightly, illuminating the gentleman speaking at the front. He shared his…
The Uncertainty of Change
For most people, change is scary. Perhaps, for you, The Change has manifested as marriage, a new baby, a career change, or facing an illness. Navigating change takes hard work, expends much energy, and raises many questions. “How will The Change affect me?” “How will life be different for my family after The Change?” “What…
On the Shoulders of Giants
New Year’s Eve always causes me to reflect on the year gone by and inspires hope for the new year to come. This year my reflections are full of wonder and awe at the incredible work God has done in my life and the stark contrast of how I felt and where I was (literally…
Thirty Lessons to 30
351 days ago I turned 29 years old. I spent my birthday at the wedding of two friends (congrats again, Gareth & Alison!) painfully aware of my singleness and confused, reflecting on that year and how differently it had turned out from what I had expected; feeling directionless and purposeless. Determined to make the last…
the unrivaled road 