live. move. be.

I'm supposed to be writing a paper right now, but I couldn't resist writing about my night because it was so wonderful. I made my first solo walk across Glasgow in the dark tonight. I was headed to a bible study at my church, which is about a 25 minute walk from my university. It was pouring rain, but I didn't even mind....I got to walk past all the enormous displays of Christmas lights through the city center and listened to happy Christmas music on my headphones. It was just as people were getting off of work, and I felt like I was in a scene from a movie, walking through the rain and twirling my red umbrella through a sea of bustling city dwellers, peering in all the shop windows and walking past all the cozy coffee shops and cafes where people were deep in conversation.

But the best part of my night was at my church. If there is one thing I will take away from Scotland, one lasting impression to carry with me, it will be the incredible hospitality and love of the people at Glasgow City Free Church. I have been offered lunch and a long afternoon of chatting at someone's home after every service. I am always welcomed with the most sincere and hearty delight to see me return through the doors, even after I am away for a weekend or two traveling. Tonight I had so many people ask me about my time in Paris who I'd never even told about my travel plans, and they were all genuinely interested in hearing about my experiences. Meals and fellowship seem integral to any church gathering....tonight we had a young adult bible study, followed by a huge meal of delicious lasagna, garlic bread, and cheesecake, then we congregated with the larger church body for a prayer meeting. As we were singing together tonight, I remembered how strange it felt on my first Sunday there to only be singing acapella Psalms, and now I love it. There is a deep passion and reverence and beauty in the way these people sing this simple Scottish Psalter that I rarely see accompany the drums, guitars, mics, and amps of most American worship services I've been in. Tonight was the first time I had ever been to one of these prayer meetings, and here's what I find wonderful: everyone is bowed in silence, and after one person prays out loud, the everyone in the room says "Amen." I didn't expect it the first time it happened, and the loud, echoing resonance of it struck me. It was as if after every prayer that was offered up , the body of beievers was saying "Yes, we want that too. We affirm your request and we join you in asking." It was beautiful.

Before the time of prayer, an older couple from the congregation shared their testimony, asking us to pray for their ministry to international students. They go out almost daily to the various universities in Glasgow to fellowship with students, offer help with English language, and share the gospel when an opportunity arises. They keep their home totally open to have huge groups of international students over for meals and bible studies. They also go to pray with asylum-seekers and prisoners throughout the week. As this gentle, kind woman (who was probably in her early sixties) shared their stories, I thought, "This is what I want to be when I am her age. I want to be able to look back say I have opened my home to strangers and friends, that I have fed meals and shown love to people who are lonely and far from home, that I have prayed with those who have little hope, that I have given freely of what I have, that my life has been marked by serving rather than taking." She was so inspiring to me, and I told her so after the service.

I used to think that so many detailed aspects of a worship service were really important to get church "right"....that music had to be a certain way, that the atmosphere had to set a particular tone, the decor had to get people in a certain mood, that style of preaching had to sound just right to my taste.....but the more I travel and experience so many different types of church services and worship styles, I am increasingly convinced that none of those things really matter if the love of Christ fills a group of people who gather to worship Him.

For the first time tonight, people started asking me how much time I had left rather than how long I had been here, and it made me a little sad to think how short and fleeting the next few weeks will be......but for now, I am full of thanksgiving that God has led me here, to this loving, welcoming little family of believers in Scotland.