Carolyn and I are just back from a 2 week break in Scotland, which was wonderful. It was great to catch up with Gran and family and our friends there. We stayed at a beautiful little unit in a place called Dovetails, in Bridge of Cally. Mike and Helen (the owners) made our stay very relaxing. I even managed to meet up with my best friend from school, Neil Mackay, who I hadn't seen for 27 years. It was so good to meet up with Neil again.
We had some amazing weather and so we drove as much as we could. Including a trip to Loch Tay, Montrose, Arbroath, Pitlochry and Braemar. On the way to Braemar we stopped in at Dalmunzie Lodge and had a nice lunch. Expecting a Scottish welcome, we were pleasantly surprised to be greeted by an Aussie waitress, and found out all the staff and owners were from Australia. What a small world.
We are back in Austria at the Castle and settling into our roles again. Things are quieter now that conference season is officially over. However we do have smaller groups staying, which keeps us on our toes.
I am teaching a study on Thursday nights, and we are currently working through the book of Philippians. It is amazing to see Paul's attitude and his complete focus on the importance of "Preaching Christ". I am humbled by his statement in V21, "To me to live is Christ and to die is gain!" Wow, how I pray I may be able to get my own life into that prespective. I often share devotions in the mornings through the week and we attend church on Sundays and Wednesay at Calvary Chapel Spittal. The director of the bible college, Robin Turner, is also the Pastor of this church, and his teaching is always good.
Austria is really beautiful and especially as it is fall at the moment. I cleared a mountain of leaves the other day and had to stay rugged up as the temperature is beginning to drop now. It is amazing to see the golden leaves and trees all around us now. The lake is as beautiful as ever, and looking very serene. Carolyn tells me we may get snow on Wednesday :-)
We do love to think of you all back in Australia and we do pray for you. It is great to receive emails, and we would love to get a postcard, just so we can get mail. It is a big event at the Castle when someone gets mail.
Carolyn, Lindsay and our friend Akos drove up to Salzburg to pick up Robin and Alison who were returning from a trip to Idaho, so we managed to pop in to the town for a couple of hours and visit the Mirabelle Gardens and the stamp shop, Akos' favourite stop.
I will attach some photos too.
We miss you all
Steve
