Report: Bill & Kathy's Visit.

It was full of laughter. That's one way to sum up the Anderson's week in Dornoch. Anyone who knows the Anderson's knows that you can't get away from them without smiling or laughing. That's a great thing if you ask me. They kept everyone in stitches while they were here. The funniest conversation had to be when Bill was explaining to a group of Scots what the phrase "Bless his heart..." means when you live in the southern states of America. I wouldn't be surprised if that phrase was adopted in the Highlands of Scotland.

We didn't have them come all the way here just to work, we made sure we did some fun outdoors stuff with them too.

Here we're at the top of Ben Bhraggie (proves my point about the laughing!)

All those little blobs on that first sandbar are seals.

They came to Youth Club with us and joined right in.

Bill and Kathy came up with a great idea to have the Youth Club kids sign banners for Coleman and Spencer and let them know they're thinking of and praying for them. The HBC won't be the same without you this year Coleman and Mel!

These are some of the attendees of one of the training sessions Bill led.

It was awesome having them here, they were a huge help to us!

Year of the Visitor: Part Eight

First of all, let me say that I think it is awesome that in the past 7 months we have had 8 sets of visitors; all but one of them have come from across the ocean. It's been so fabulous. And we're looking forward to many more before we leave in July!

Next on the list are our friends Bill & Kathy Anderson. They are great friends of both of our families. We've known them for years, ever since they started coming to our home church in Richmond, which was what feels like ages ago. As it typically goes with good friends, they seem like they've been around our entire lives; it's hard to imagine a time when they weren't a part of our lives!

They've both been a huge support to James and me in more ways than I can count. The trend continues as they are coming to train and instruct a large group of people, from the church we work with, to transition into teaching and leadership roles. They are perfect for that role and we're looking forward to seeing how God uses them.

Year of the Visitor: Part Seven

The exciting saga continued last weekend with another special guest in the Murphy house.

Stacie and her husband Kyle moved to Edinburgh, Scotland last fall for Kyle to start grad school and for Stacie to be a lady of leisure. j/k, j/k, she's working very hard in the HR department of a large accounting firm. James and I have known Stacie for ages from going to the same church when we were younger, but I hadn't seen her for about 4 years and James hadn't seen her since high school.

The Sale's had planned on taking the train up to the Highlands for the weekend, but at the last minute Kyle was informed of some mandatory school meetings he had to attend, so Stacie braved the long train trip on her own. We were sad that Kyle couldn't join in on the fun of the weekend, but his meeting could possibly land him a new job after graduation, so we totally understand why he couldn't come!

I was a slacker and didn't take any photos, but Stacie did, so check out her blog post for photos and the description of our fun weekend.

One thing Stacie was kind enough not to mention was the fact that we had NO HOT WATER OR HEAT the entire time she was here. Geez, why do these things have to happen when guests come!

We're not used to the whole using oil as the main source of heat and hot water, so we forgot to check the tank and see if it was time to refill. Wednesday night I said to myself, "wow, it's kinda chilly in here, and I wonder why the dishwater isn't getting warm." It didn't take too many more thoughts for me to realize that we'd run out of oil.

I had to laugh when we woke up the next morning to SNOW. The oil company estimated that the oil probably wouldn't be delivered until Monday. I didn't explain that we had a visitor coming because I didn't think the lady would care, can you imagine how many stories like that she hears from people hoping to have their oil delivered super fast? Many prayers were said for the oil to come in time so our friend wouldn't have to spend a weekend in the frigid cold.

Prayers were answered when the oil was delivered as we were on the way home from the train station!

But, the celebration was premature. There were more problems, most of which I don't understand, but the short of it is, we didn't have heat or hot water until Monday. Stacie was such a trooper. Thankfully, we have a gas stove and borrowed some space heaters, electric blankets, hot water bottles, and friends shower.

Lesson learned: make sure all utilities are in working order before visitors arrive.