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Congratulations to our minister Ruth & husband Steven on the birth of their new baby girl, Grace Maureen born at 7.06am on 25th July and weighing an impressive 7lb.
In the words of her proud parents... 'She's perfect'
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WHOLE FAMILY!
It has been one of those days.
One minute you are up!
The next you are down!
It started at Dalmuir Park - time 10:00 am.
Gillian, our Children & Family Worker, was standing at the gate waiting when I arrived with my daughter, but this wasn't about us. This was about my daughter's son and daughter (the 'grand weans') and any other children who wanted to go exploring (actually my grand-daughter stayed with me, in the pram, but still enjoyed the walk in the park!).
We were ALL going on a 'nature trail' to find things that those just walking in the park would probably walk past, blissfully unaware. Others joined us and we were off. Into the jungle!
Actually, the jungle (the park) is looking beautiful at the moment with beds full of Begonias, Dahlias, Lobelia etc etc. But we were looking out for what lay hidden behind the facade... and at the top of the list was Ollie.
Gillian started by introducing 'Sammy Snail'. Sammy appeared to accept being looked at by 10 wide open eyes. He (she?) simply extended the stalks his/her eyes appeared to be at the end of... and stared back. Introductions behind us, we continued on to find what Gillian had planned for us... and a whole lot more besides. We did find Ollie (the Owl) eventually, but there turned out to be a further 8 owls hiding at the fountain (see if you can find them if you go there!) and most impressive of all - a Golden Eagle!!!
Actually it is made of Cast Iron and painted gold, but it IS really impressive sitting on top of the fountain!
Insects, more birds, toadstools, feathers, spiders' webs, we found them all and also floated things down the burn... GREAT FUN FOR ONE AND FOR ALL!
......................
The afternoon was different.
We met at Clydebank Crematorium at 3:30pm.
The good number present was a testament to the lady we were there to say a fond farewell to.
Lead, due to Ruth's maternity leave, by one of our former Student Ministers Barbara-Ann Sweetin, we celebrated the full life of a lady who was at the very heart of Abbotsford. Someone who would have backed up her church till it hurt. A young at heart 84, Sheila Brown was part of a core group of ladies who think that they are still teenagers. And Sheila had a car! If there was something on at Abbotsford Sheila was there. Quick to praise and slow to criticise... but when she did it was with grace. A big kid at heart - Sheila will be sorely missed by all at Abbotsford.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the family.
A day that made you think about a time for every purpose under heaven.
AMEN
Our Child & Family Worker, Gillian Graham has been a busy woman over the past few weeks.
A Playgroup at Abbotsford (Mon - Wed last week) got things off to a great start and more recently nature walks in Dalmuir Park have kept the children busy during the Summer(?) holidays. A dinosaur egg hunt, catching (plastic!) ducks on the burn etc etc all had the children enthralled and the adults had fun too!!!
As intimated last Sunday, Gillian would like to thank those who have come along both to help and to take part. It has been much appreciated!
More fun filled nature walks and a playgroup at Dalmuir Barclay towards the end of July are planned so please do contact Gillian or anyone at Abbotsford / Dalmuir Barclay should you want to participate. Pictures of the playgroup at Abbotsford can be found in the Photo Album on the right under 'Playgroup 2016'.
A holiday in far off places has meant all being quiet here on the blog over the past month.
Having travelled the best part of 20,000 miles over three weeks and '9 hours into the future' (only to have to travel 9 hours back!!!), the past week has been spent trying to come back down to earth and catch up on sleep. It was a great holiday with the highlights being the trip from L.A. to Seattle along the Pacific Coast and the trips out from three Alaskan towns which included seeing whales, eagles, white sided dolphins, seals, elephant seals, waxwings, deer, glaciers, the most amazing sunsets and a trip on the White Pass Railway up in the Yukon. We also met a busload of people from all over the world on the way and enjoyed every minute.
However, back in the U.K., I am sure that there is only one thing on all our minds, something that will rock the world for the foreseeable future... Patrick Thistle are looking for someone to dress up as their Mascot!!!
Seriously, the past couple of weeks have seen UK 'politics' reduced to an all time low. So low that I am not going to even think about discussing it here.
Suffice to say that we should all take a serious look at how we see the world and perhaps, for once, think about others. Watching Wimbledon highlights this afternoon it was really good to see Jo-Wilfried Tsonga help carry off his opponents bags after he had to retire with a back injury. If only we could all just stop, think and look at how we can help those on the other side of the net.
And finally...
All good wishes go to Ruth and hubby Steven. :-)
Ruth has now gone off on maternity leave and yesterday we gave her a wee 'au revoir' and wished her well for the coming weeks and months. Hopefully it won't be too long before they are back to see us as a family. ALL THE VERY BEST RUTH & STEVEN!
Meanwhile we have been left in good hands.
Robert Kinloch from Balloch will be our Interim Moderator and after pulpit supply during July (Malcolm Wright (10, 24, 31) and Eric Hudson (17), Rev David Clark will be our Locum.
Please note that David will take up pastoral duties from 12th July.
... and they will all have a new member to speak to.
A big ABBOTSFORD WELCOME to our newest member William Paterson.
William was supposed to have joined us at Easter but unfortunately could not. However, he has now finally managed to 'join up' after having worshipped with us for the past year.
WELL DONE WILLIAM AND WELCOME!
All things considered, it's good to be back!
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