2011 Review of the Year

What a year of ups and downs this has been!

The year couldn't have got off to a worse start when my dad died on 1st January. Because of the need to have a postmortem exam and delays because of the Christmas and New Year backlog, his funeral didn't take place until 17th January. That period of time is a strange mixture of sharp memories of certain things and a total blur of winter days that passed so slowly while we waited for the funeral.

January was followed by a difficult February as the period of mourning continued. All this happened in the middle of our trying to start a family.

Then at the end of March we found out that Laura was pregnant and suddenly the year took on a completely different complexion as we began the nine month journey towards our baby's birth (a journey we are still on as the due date of 8th January approaches).

All this happened against the backdrop of world events in which the so-called Arab Spring swept through a number of Middle East countries as popular uprisings led to changes in governments.

The same could not be said in Scotland as the SNP was returned for the first time as a majority government at the Scottish Parliament elections in May.

In May too, the minister at our church retired and since then we have been "in vacancy". However, the number and range of good preachers that have taken services since May have been great.

In June, we took our summer holiday to our favourite cottage on the Isle of Bute. It was a good holiday although Laura's morning sickness was quite bad at that stage.

The Scottish summer wasn't great this year. I can hardly remember more than a week of hot sunny weather throughout the three months of June, July and August.

From September through to December, our main focus has been on getting ready for the new arrival. It is amazing just how much needs done around the house and how much equipment needs to be sought, reviewed, bought and assembled. But by Christmas we got there. Because there's no way to know when the bambino will decide to come, you have to be on standby all the time. That makes things exciting, but it also makes things tense, especially now we are in the last few weeks.

As far as my faith goes, it has also been an up and down year, but I feel that I have grown this year in understanding of theology and in trusting the Lord. I feel very content as we head into 2012.