'How's My Bonnie Loon?'

I feel quite close to my next-door neighbours, Agnes and Jim. Agnes feels it her obligation to
make sure I am well taken care of. I enjoy being on the receiving end of her cooking: Scottish
Broth, mince and tatties, and fish cakes. When they heard I was shopping around for a new win-
ter coat, they bought one for me. I am deeply grateful for what they did and I feel well cared for. Throughout the years, I have been royally blessed by people like Agnes and Jim and many of
you who have been so kind to me. This love I receive staggers me and gives me pause to ex-
press my gratitude to the Lord who has been so kind and merciful to me.

Through our frequent comings and goings from our homes, Jim and I often cross paths. His fre-

quent greeting is how's my bonnie loon? When I first heard him say that to me in the autumn, I
didn't have a good sense of what he was asking me. Were they 'fighting' words? I doubted it:
his tone of voice and his manner did not convey that in any way. Agnes talked to me about
Jim's question to me. She heard it as a term of endearment expressing what she and Jim feel
about me. The word loon refers to a boy or a young man. Even though I haven't been a young
man for quite some time, I will certainly take it as a compliment. It's a tender stroke to my ego.
The adjective boonie can mean beautiful or good. I can't say that I am or ever have been beau-
tiful. I sense that Jim uses bonnie in a wider sense than good; sort of like bonnie Prince Char-
lie of Scottish history and lore. The use of my, I sense, makes the question from Jim more per-
sonal.

It seems to me that Jim is not really expecting me to give him an answer about how I am. It is
just a nice greeting to receive. So I very well might be reading too much in it; but it is fun to
speculate to my advantage. I have other things I must do other than thinking too deeply on Jim's greeting. Moments ago I heard a knock on my door that I knew was from Agnes. She uses a
broom handle to reach over the fence to poke on my back door. She always cooks for two, her
and Jim. But she has to go help with her ailing mother at tea time; so I get her portion tonight.
She handed me a large plate of mince, tatties, peas, and a carrot. It should provide me with two servings. Now I don't need to cook tonight, and I can enjoy Agnes's tasty mince and tatties. I
am looking forward to it!

Blessings to you and yours,

An Eye Update

I have been taking a daily regimen of antibiotic pills and two different eye drops since Thurs-
day evening. I see substantial improvement in my eye and in my sight already, only three days
later. For several months there was a constant redness in the outward corner of my right eye.
The redness is quickly receding. No longer do I have to wipe away grit that forms in my lower
eyelid. The frequent teariness has stopped. I had not been able to read print with my right eye
since late last year. But my ability to see print with this eye is improving day by day. I am grate-
ful to the Lord for caring for me and to you and others who have been praying for me.  

I learned something about myself during the last few days. Some people have told me that they
are amazed at the patience I exercise. I am well-known for my patience. But I am realising that
I can overdo it. I went to see a doctor about my eye in early October of last year. He said that he
would write a letter to an eye specialist to look at my eye. I was told to expect an appointment in
six weeks time. I never heard anything. I continued to be patient and wait. Finally early last week
I made an appointment at the local health clinic. I was seriously concerned about the eye and I
planned to follow up on getting an appointment with the specialist.

I had my appointment last Thursday morning. The doctor who saw me was what I took to be a
British-born Pakistani woman doctor wearing a head scarf. The hint that she was British born
was a splendid English accent and a proper English way she handled herself. She was half my
height and probably a little older than half my age. But she knew her stuff and she expressed
that she was concerned about what she saw. She was so concerned that she got me an appoint-
ment with an eye specialist early that evening in Aberdeen Royal Hospital. It seemed that she
had to call several times because no one answered the phone. But she persisted. I asked if I
could meet with the specialist the next day because I had a session meeting scheduled for that
evening. But she would not hear of it. She insisted that I had to be seen that day. I am grateful
to her for finally getting me seen that evening. I can see the process of my eye and sight being
restored day by day.

I will post more in the next few days about my visit to the specialist. Meanwhile I covet your
continued prayers concerning my right eye.

Blessings to you and yours,  

A Down Time Prayer Request

I have been having good down time this week. It is nice not to have to prepare a sermon and an
order of service for this Sunday. I am taking next Monday and Tuesday off as well. Although I en-
joy the time of rest, I am looking forward to getting back to pastoral ministry at St Fergus Parish Church. I've been able to catch up on things the last few days that I haven't had time to do before
now. There are certain tasks I do at the beginning of each new month and the end of each month.
Plus I still hadn't set myself up for 2013. It takes a lot of time to do the tasks, and with spending
the New Year with some dear friends, conducting two funerals, and attending a conference, I just
did not have the time; now I do.

One thing I wanted to get done during this time off was to have my right eye looked at. I first saw
the problem last year when I was home in the USA. I saw a doctor and received treatment for an
infection. In the autumn I again started having problems with my eye. In October I went to see a
doctor about my eye. Fortunately she consulted with another doctor who knew more about eyes.
He referred me to an eye specialist in Aberdeen. After twelve weeks I still hadn't heard anything
about an appointment. So, I made another appointment to followup on the October one.

Today was my appointment at the local health clinic. The doctor I saw was, I think, a Pakistani
medical doctor. She was very good. I explained my problem, she read previous reports, and then
she made appointment for me to see an eye specialist that very day in Aberdeen (about an hour
away). She was very concerned about the state of my eye. I was very grateful for the way she
dealt with my issue. I am very concerned about my eye and am relieved that something is being
done.

I asked a good friend of mine, an elder at St Fergus Parish Church, to take me in. We had a good
chat about things as we drove into Aberdeen. I saw an eye specialist after hours and received
great care. I think that he is also a Pakistani. He is concerned about my eye and wants me to see
his colleague tomorrow morning. So, things are happening. I am putting this all in God's hand. As always, I covet your prayers on my behalf.

Blessings to you and yours,

Catching My Breath

I have been mindful of how I have been avoiding the blog. I don't like it when I do not post any-
thing, but I just ran out of steam after nearly two months of being on the go all the time. Since the middle of December through this last Sunday I was stretched by a challenging schedule. During
that time I prepared and delivered over two handfuls of sermons and messages, and conducted
three baptisms, two funerals, and four prayer meetings. Then there were a number of other meet-
ings, dinners, and a conference that I attended. Even though I enjoyed the activities, I got a bit
worn out and worn down.

Now I am actually taking some time off. Finally I have planned the first string of days off since I
came back to Scotland in early June of last year. Since that time I have spoken or preached near-
ly ninety times. The good part of those occasions took place between early October and this past Sunday. I put nearly eight hours of preparation time for each sermon I do.  It will be refreshing
not to do that for this Sunday. This week and early into the next I plan on sleeping in a bit, read-
ing for pleasure, watching history and travel programs on the BBC, taking long walks, and enjoy-
ing naps in the afternoon. I also plan to do more unpacking that I've avoided since I moved back
to Scotland. But at the top of my list is posting more on my blog. I covet your prayers: that I will
truly take time off and rest. I long for a concentrated time of refreshment and communion with
Jesus.

Blessings to you and yours,