Grace over Scotland

There is the trip that you plan, and then, sometimes, there is the trip that you actually have.  I will have to admit that in many ways my trip to Scotland did not go as planned.  However, so often the unexpected brings not only hard things, but great joy and beauty.  Why should a trip be any different than life?  We have returned home now with grateful hearts for the trip that we had and the memories we made and the miracles we received.  Truly, I spent much time in Scotland praising God for His goodness, His mercy, and His grace.

We attended a church service in St. Giles Cathedral that will go down as a high point for each of us.  So much so that after it was over we all looked at each other and agreed that 'we could go home now'.  We had gotten all that we came for, and more.  The homily was on 'the Blesseds' (my Cornerstone ladies will smile about that, I know.)  The pastor perfectly used Scotland as an illustration for his message - and I have thought about it often ever since.  He talked about how God's love for us is always there, just as the sun is always shining somewhere above the world.  However, there are times when darkness can creep in and we can feel separated from God's love, just as the clouds often obscure the sun over Scotland.

As he spoke I had a visual image of our landing at Edinburgh airport just days before.  We were flying high in bright sunshine with blue sky all around us.  Then, as we began our descent to land, the sunshine and blue disappeared into the thickest gray gloom that I have ever witnessed.  I was thankful for all the modern flying instruments at the disposal of the pilot, for sure!  By the time we touched ground, the gloom and gray were enveloping us and we were feeling a soft rain.  But, we knew that just minutes before we had been basking in sunshine high above where we now stood in semi-darkness.

So, as I was listening to the pastor's homily, I had a deep appreciation for his analogy.  It truly resonated.  And I thought about people that I love dearly who are, even now, going through periods of darkness... clouds obscuring their view of their loving God.  But, He is there waiting for us, for them.  And as the trip progressed, I thought often of the grace and love that God extends to us in the midst of our clouds and darkness and fears and hardships.  Truly, we felt His grace over us in Scotland.

We had learned on Thursday of the passing of Pierce M, the father of our dear Matt M. and the grandfather of Matthew, Megan, and Melina.  We were saddened to hear that news and Pierce and his family were on our minds throughout our trip.  So, when we read the title of the sacred music chorale program that followed the sermon at St. Giles Cathedral, we were overwhelmed.  It was entitled 'Sing Me To Heaven'.  The cathedral was filled with the beautiful sound of a choir of voices singing sacred music in Latin.  What worship!  What praise!  And we could almost hear Pierce's voice lifted in praise right alongside us.  We all felt we were attending Pierce's memorial service.  What a good, good thing.

I got sick a couple weeks prior to leaving for the trip.  I tried everything I could to get well in time to travel but was still quite sick when we left.  The trip over was grueling and by the time we finally arrived at our apartment in Edinburgh we had been traveling for over 30 hours.  None of us had been able to sleep much on the planes and we were all in pretty bad shape.  Unfortunately, I continued to get sicker and spent much of the trip struggling with illness.  I do so wish that I had been stronger and well for the time in Scotland, but even so, I was able to have a trip of a lifetime.  It just wasn't quite the trip I had planned.  :)

I hobbled along until late Tuesday night when I awoke having a severe asthma attack.  I hadn't had one of these in years and it was truly frightening and dangerous.  I was not able to alert the others of my predicament (it was 3:30 in the morning and all were asleep in other rooms) because I knew I just had to keep focusing on doing things to get my breathing back.  I was able to get stabilized and got through the rest of the night, but by Wednesday morning we knew I needed some medical treatment in order to make it home, if nothing else.  Julie began looking up options on the internet and found a certified herbalist who not only had great credentials, but her office was only 2 blocks away from our apartment!  AND she listed Wednesdays as the day she made home visits.  Julie called her and she was at the apartment by 11:00 am - and she stayed with me for 2 ½ hours.  A true miracle. She was able to help me tremendously but also recommended that I visit the Salt Cave.  There is only one Salt Cave in all of Scotland and, you guessed it, it was only 4 blocks from our apartment!  Another miracle indeed.  We had no idea what a Salt Cave was but are now true believers.  I will write about it in greater detail in another blog post.  But, between the herbalist and the Salt Cave, I was able to be well enough to travel back home.

We had another miracle on the day we left Edinburgh when our pre-hired taxi didn't show up, but another taxi came rushing down the road and 'mistakenly' picked us up.  I thought to myself how ironic that this dear taxi driver probably had no idea he had just been used by God to be yet another miracle for us.  :)  And the same would have to be said for the man who helped us in Dublin airport.  We were blessed by 'helpers', as Mister Rogers would say, every place we went.

I will be working this week on sorting through photos and writing up blog posts about our trip.  I plan to backdate them to the actual dates of travel, but I wanted to post this right away.  We just all felt so overwhelmed by the many miracles and grace-filled events of our trip that I wanted to give this brief overview.  We are thankful for our time in Scotland and I am especially thankful for the special time with my Mama, my sister, and our dear Jennifer.  My cup runneth over.


Complete listing of all Scotland blog posts -

Grace over Scotland -
http://lifeatwilliscreekranch.blogspot.com/2016/06/grace-over-scotland.html

Traveling to Scotland -
http://lifeatwilliscreekranch.blogspot.com/2016/06/traveling-to-scotland.html

Stirling, or bust -
http://lifeatwilliscreekranch.blogspot.com/2016/06/stirling-or-bust.html

Holy Island of Lindisfarne -
http://lifeatwilliscreekranch.blogspot.com/2016/06/holy-island-of-lindisfarne.html

Our day in Edinburgh, Part 1 -
http://lifeatwilliscreekranch.blogspot.com/2016/06/our-day-in-edinburgh-part-1.html

Our day in Edinburgh, Part 2 -
http://lifeatwilliscreekranch.blogspot.com/2016/06/our-day-in-edinburgh-part-2.html

Sunday in Portobello -
http://lifeatwilliscreekranch.blogspot.com/2016/06/sunday-in-portobello.html

Part 1 of Family History Day -
http://lifeatwilliscreekranch.blogspot.com/2016/06/part-1-of-family-history-day.html

Part 2 of Family History Day -
http://lifeatwilliscreekranch.blogspot.com/2016/06/part-2-of-family-history-day.html

Camus House to Inverlochy -
http://lifeatwilliscreekranch.blogspot.com/2016/07/camus-house-to-inverlochy.html

Highland Folk Museum to apartment -
http://lifeatwilliscreekranch.blogspot.com/2016/07/highland-folk-museum-to-home.html

The 'not what we had planned' day -
http://lifeatwilliscreekranch.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-not-what-we-had-planned-day.html

Our final day -
http://lifeatwilliscreekranch.blogspot.com/2016/07/our-final-day.html

The road home -
http://lifeatwilliscreekranch.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-road-home.html

Scotland Accommodations -
http://lifeatwilliscreekranch.blogspot.com/2016/07/scotland-accommodations.html

The many faces of Arthurs Seat -
http://lifeatwilliscreekranch.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-many-faces-of-arthurs-seat.html