Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Staying in Scotland

Warm Christian greetings from wet and windy Edinburgh!

Angela and I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you that we will be staying in Scotland a little longer than we anticipated. While this may come as a surprise, I can assure you that it is not because I have taken a call to a Scottish church or that Angela has decided to make a career at the Royal Infirmary or that I have had to extend my coursework. The reason for our delay is that we are expecting our first child!

This news brings closure to what seemed like a never-ending period of ‘waiting upon the Lord’ and ‘leaning not upon our own understanding.’ Thank you to those who have harboured us in your prayers. As always, God’s timing is impeccable. He faithfully ‘directs our steps’ at every intersection of life. And he does so with fatherly care and flawless wisdom. This baby is his—a heritage from the Lord God Almighty (Ps. 127:3). To him all praise and glory!

Angela has just begun her twelfth week. She is due in mid-September. As I have come to expect from my beloved wife, she has adjusted to her new role as an expectant mother with (tough and tender) grace. The little one has already caused a fuss, as Angela has not only endured ‘morning sickness’ but 24/7 sickness! Nevertheless, she steadily continues her duties at work, weekly serves the little children in her Sunday school and others at church, and has even made a trans-Atlantic round trip flight to Florida. She is scheduled for an ultrasound on 10 March and her first meeting with a mid-wife on 12 March. All-in-all both mother and baby seem to be doing well. I am a proud husband and father-to-be.

Angela and I have decided to stay in Edinburgh to have the baby. We are fully covered under the National Healthcare Service, so we do not need to return stateside for the delivery. American friends who have had children here in Scotland have enjoyed excellent maternity care. We are confident that we will receive similar treatment. Our provisional plan is to move back to the states approximately in late November or December. This should give us a wee bit of room to adjust to family life, allow me to finish my thesis, and provide some time for us to visit family. In an ideal world we hope to start our new post (wherever that may be!) in January of the New Year. But as they say, this schedule is subject to change!

Joy overflows in the Tweeddale home. But how do we even begin to express it? While singing with the congregation at Buccleuch this past Lord’s Day (on 2 March 2008) from Psalm 22 I was struck deeply by one particular stanza.

Posterity will serve the Lord;
And generations still to come
Will tell a people yet unborn
The righteous acts that he has done
(Ps. 22:30-31).

These inspired words summarize well the burden of our hearts. Our chief prayer is that our child will know Jesus. We long for our baby to serve the Lord from its earliest days. We long that he or she would be able to tell a people yet unborn of the righteous acts that Christ has done. We long for our baby, like John the Baptist, to leap for joy in Jesus—even in his/her mother’s womb (cf. Lk. 1:39-45). “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Rom. 11:36).

As for a few matters of prayer and praise:

  • Pray for the health of mother and baby. Pray also for the conversion of this child. Praise God for his covenant faithfulness and for the little one he has given us!

  • Pray for Angela’s work. She was finally approved at the end of February for a job she was promised over a year and a half ago. This will give her a measure of greater liberty to practice in her field as a radiographer. A start date however has yet to be determined. For now she plans to work until mid-August—the time of her birthday! She has done an awesome job executing her post at the Royal Infirmary amidst a demanding first trimester. I could say much more. She is an excellent wife and is far more precious to me than all the jewels in the world (Prv. 31:10). Praise God for the strength he has given her to perform her duties with excellence, and praise him for the new job.

  • Pray for stamina and mental clarity for me as I try to finish my thesis. Praise God for this rare privilege to study, live, and serve in Edinburgh. We love this great city. We want to make the most of these remaining months as we anticipate taking the lessons learned over the past three years back with us to the states.

We appreciate and cherish your continued prayers and support. Please drop us an email at your convenience. We would love to hear from you. And, if you would be so kind, spread the news!

With grateful hearts to the Lord of all life,

Blessings in Christ,

John, Angela, & Baby Tweeddale


Picture: John, Angela, and Baby (at 10 weeks) at Grandpa and Grandma Tweeddale's home in Eustis, FL. Click on image for a better view.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

John and Angela,
Congratulations! I will definitely be praying for y'all about the baby. And I will continue to pray about your post-doctoral plans. The Navy always needs good chaplains!

Unknown said...

John and Angela,
Oh I am so happy for you guys! Angela and I were on the Anastasis together John so it's been a long time since we have communicated. However, I see your Blog often and am so happy to see my dear friend's life in such an up close and personal way. We are expecting our 3rd child in August so Angela if you want to e-mail me about anything at all please don't hesitate...pregnancy is so over romanticised but having a little bit of your heart run around next to you isn't. It's challenged my faith and theology in a way no experience or book ever has! I hope your morning sickness ends soon...I'll keep you in my prayers! So much love to you both and the little one to come! Trisha Regehr (used to be Renfro)

Anonymous said...

John and Angela,
Congratulations! I'm delighted to heart the good news. I would love to catch up with y'all sometime. Please email when you have a chance at sppcpastor@aol.com. We have one little boy Brad who is 20 months old and are planning to adopt our second child.

Rob and Megan

Lisa said...

Hello Tweeddales! I am so excited to hear your news! I'll be praying for you all as you "wait" for baby! Praise God for his many blessings!! Will you find out if you are having a boy or a girl?

Anonymous said...

John and Angela,
Congratulations! I am so excited for you. You are going to be wondeful parents! What love you have for this baby and he or she is not even here yet! I will be remembering your specific needs in prayer. Our children are growing fast. Nate is 3 1/2 and Ava is almost 10 mon. I don't know where the time goes. Seems like yesterday we were all plugging away at RTS. If your ever in Jackson and time allows we would love to see you!

Jeremy and Terry Smith

Anonymous said...

Dear Angela and John,
How marvelous are the Lord's gifts to us!!! It thrills me to learn of your pregnancy. This child will definitely be blessed with the two of you as his parents.
We pray that Angela will soon find relief from her sickness and if not, that the Lord will continue to give her grace. John, may you be able to focus on your work and see it to completion in a timely manner.
We wish you God's best.
With love,
Jill and Vince Franz

Anonymous said...

John and Angela:
We rejoice in God's goodness in blessing you with a baby, we are trusting that the birth may go as smooth as possible, and that this child would grow to know and to love the God of his parents. We are anxiously awaiting to see God's next step in his preparation for your lives. All of those of us in Florida are praying for you. We hope that you will be able to meet with us all at Billy's house in Nov.

A wee side light. I could hardly believe that our pastor left open the door that Christ could have sinned. The doctrine of the impeccability of Christ has just been a re-affirmation of the fact that Christ is Truely God. Well John it just affirms again the importance of a first class education for a pastor. Again congratulations. Love in Him Aunt Carol and Uncle Bill

Anonymous said...

Hi guys

Every so often I stumble across your blog and today was one of those days. I just wanted to leave a comment to say congratulations!

Is there still a 'Mia' sign on one of the doors in your flat? If so, you might have to get that changed - especially if you have a baby boy!

Congratulations again -

Catherine Pearson
(married to Andy - we're the ones who had our lives changed by Josh!)

Anonymous said...

Dear John and Angela,
I am so happy for you, and I hope we can visit you one day when you are back in the states. John, you were the little baby brother that has now grown into a daddy. What a tremendous blessing and I am beyond excited for both of you!
With great joy I celebrate this time with both of you!
Your friends,
Angela (and John) Ventry

Troy said...

I see this post is well over a year old, congratulations to you both! I hope you are enjoying being parents! I hope this message makes it to you, too, I lost touch with you not long after I left Mississippi. May God bless you and keep you,
Troy S.

A more recent new father ;-)