- Originally posted February 7, 2010 at 9:23 PM
December 24th, 2008, we received a phone call from Alan's uncle informing us that he would no longer be able to travel to Canada as Alan's aunt was not well. This stirred our hearts to travel to Scotland with our kids so they could meet Alan's side of the family (Alan emigrated from Scotland as a toddler). We also wanted to share our music as it is an integral part of our family life. But being a stay-at-home mom, we don't have a lot of extra cash, so we knew we were just going to have to trust God would arrange it.
We told the kids and prayed about it, asking for confirmation if this was His desire for our family. We received lots of answered prayer, but notably, one Sunday got us all really excited - especially the kids. Leading worship in two different churches one Sunday, we ran into people at both churches wearing kilts!! Not a normal occurrence in any church we've ever been to, but two in one day was more than a co-incidence. We call those things "God-incidences"
So we were going, but how. Another strange thing happened - actually, it happened twice. Alan was to receive a large lump sum payment. We thought it was for our tickets to Scotland. But twice, just as we received the money, a large unexpected bill arose. We had the money for the bills, but there went our Scotland trip.
One morning after doing our accounts, Alan and I were a bit discouraged, so we prayed and asked one more time for confirmation - I am so thankful I serve a patient God. That evening there was mail from Scotland - an early Christmas card I thought, but it was addressed to only me. I opened it to find a note from Alan's aunt apologizing for missing my 40th birthday and inside was a 20 pound Scottish note for me to "treat" myself with. Well, the excitement in our house was hard to hold - this was our confirmation. The really cool thing was that I turned 40 nearly 3 years before!!
Within two weeks, Alan was offered a new job with his old employer, with a signing bonus that allowed us to buy tickets. God is good!! Scotland - here we come!!