My other blogs

Jud & La’s South African Adventure – Basically a journal from March – July 2009 of our adventures preparing for and taking part in Soul in the City Durban.

Grace Note Showers – A blog about using music and singing to praise God, but also a journey into learning about worshipping God with all our lives, and using the arts to inspire people to think about the bigger picture. That’s the aim, but I’m nowhere near there yet!

People I know ‘in real life’

A Year Away – Anthony is one of my fantastic uni friends, and currently working as a doctor in one of Australia’s best named towns! He’s also the most ticklish person I know, just say ‘tickle’ and he practically levitates 10ft into the air.

Bring on the Joy - BOTJ is an artist, married to TSTIAI, mum to Miss S., a fellow chocolate lover & my smallgroup leader! She’s one of the most sensitive and caring people I know.

Dan on music – Dan and his family were part of the church I’m part of in Edinburgh. They now live in Austria, where they say the hills are alive with the sound of music. Appropriate since Dan is a very talented musician. And he’s an Alexi Murdoch music fan! Woo!

Electric Thoughts – Yes, another Aberdeen uni graduate…we’re everywhere! Jo has been one of my friends since our 2nd year at uni, and he is a very talented musician otherwise known as DLDown.

Fran Brady – A Scottish author, one of the many ‘Barnabus’-like people in my life and volunteers with the pregnancy crisis centre I work in. She’s lots of fun. Read her book!

From South Africa, With Love – Caroline is from North Carolina, married to a South African and they have a son who was born in Scotland. How’s that for international?! They were living in Edinburgh, but now they’ve jetted off to Cape Town where they are working with a charity called Samaritan’s Feet.

Help, I work with children - Lynn is a Childrens & Families Pastor. She’s pretty awesome with a huge passion for God and the work she does.

Kilau Coffee – Well, ok, I don’t know them well, but we’ve met…lots of times…because when I wasn’t at Foresterhill,  you’d likely find me in Kilau. Best crepes ever.

Liam and Rachel.com – Liam went to one of the best universities around, you know, the same one as me? He studied Divinity there. He is now married to Rachel, and they are about to embark on an exciting adventure working abroad with YWAM.

LUX USA SCO – THE LDR – EDI – Lincoln is another MBCer. I sit near his family in church most Sundays. He’s one of the few people I know that are taller than my brothers.

New Life From Old - Gavin was one of my first friends at MBC. Several people used to think we were dating, which we find very funny. Recently, Gavin expressed his huge relief when I confessed to our smallgroup that I am determined never to marry an Englishman.

Pastor’s Blog – Another sassenach, who happens to lead an ever growing church in Edinburgh. Some say he looks a bit like the Hoff, but he really is very lovely, a great preacher and likes randomly bursting into song when preaching and Haagen-Dazs ice cream.

Rebekah Tait – Becky is one of my friends from City Church Aberdeen. She’s an incredible artist and photographer, having had her work displayed at exhibitions in some of London’s most prestigious galleries. She’s also a risk taker and has a huge passion for loving people like Jesus does.

The Rogge Family – The Rogges live in California now (I think!). Jessica spent a year at university in Aberdeen where I got to know her through a university CU smallgroup a bunch of us started in our 2nd/3rd year of uni.

Stantonia – Works with students, is super-intelligent and a gifted teacher. A fellow City Church-er and married a lovely lass and very talented guitarist/songwriter I went to uni with.

The State That I Am In – TSTIAI is a drummer, surfer and married to BOTJ, Dad to Miss S. He’s my other smallgroup leader, and the leader of one of the worship bands I sing with at MBC.

What we do in life echoes in eternity - Weegie Gill is one of my friends from my university days. She dried my hair when I had CFS (thanks Weegie Gill). She now lives in her homecity of Glasgow (again, we try not to hold it against her…we all know that the east coast is best! )

Walk for CF- Emmet came from Ireland to study in Aberdeen and lived in the halls next door to mine. He does an incredible amount of fundraising for Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in Ireland by running marathons. This year is walking 500 miles.

And so on to the people I don’t know in real life whose blogs I read…

…living in Scotland

Doctor Keats –  Is the honest blog of a Junior Doctor working and living in the UK. I have many friends who are medical students and doctors (its what comes of being a Christian and studying at a medical school). His name is a pseudo name.

Initial Conditions - Andrew knows people I sort-of know. He does things with maths. He’s another Norn Iron dude living in Edinburgh (seriously, they’re trying to take over!!). His flat’s cooking habits scare me a little. Ask him about the pizza competition thing.

Keepfishing - Apparently keepfishing used to go to MBC before he went travelling again. I think I saw him once, but was too scared to say hello in case it wasn’t really him. He likes marine life and from what I can tell is one of these scarily fit people because he’s mentioned triathalons and climbing massive mountains. Oh, and he loves to fly with RyanAir

Learning to Love… – Lindsay also goes to MBC, but I’ve not met her yet in person. I’ve just started reading her blog, and loving it so far. Go take a wee visit!

Ruthy’s Ramblings – Ruth is another MBCer who I’ve not yet met in person. Oh dear, this seems to be a habit. I was very excited to discover though, she works in the only other place you’ll find koalas in Edinburgh…Edinburgh Zoo!

Thinking Out Loud - Tony lives in a town in the Borders, where he is the Pastor of a church.

Voices I hear – Josiah is another American living in Edinburgh. He works for the Grassmarket Mission. I met him once when I went to help out there. His wife is an urban farmer. Cool, huh?

…living in England

Blue Soul – Ben is a priest who lives in North East England. He does crazy things like giving up wearing shoes for lent.

Deep Church – Jason Clark and Paul Mayers have a really cool blog for all the deep thinkers who like debating theological things. In 2008 I wrote a few guest posts for Jason’s previous blog on Emergent UK. They both live in Surrey (I think!). Apparently, Jason knows people that I know ‘in real life’.

Innocent Drinks - If you’ve never had an innocent smoothie you’ve missed out my friends. They were the first company to use 100% recyclable materials for their plastic bottles their drinks come in. Good quality, healthy, fresh and ethical…

Linusandco – Linus lives in Newcastle. He knows people I know and bizarrely one of his friends was also part of Soul in the City Durban at the same time as me!  He’s very encouraging person to have comment on your blog.

Looking for Something Deeper - Lucy lives in Southern England with her husband and has a very sweet rabbit called Charlie. I was first drawn to Lucy’s blog when I discovered that she  has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) which I was diagnosed with when I was 19, and later recovered from. Lucy is another photographer!

Making Memories - Rebecca is a student nurse. As someone who studied in the health care world and worked in the NHS, it’s a real encouragement to see someone giving an honest view of how they live their faith out in a secular healthcare world.

The Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Jesus - You know, I don’t know much about Jon or his wife Clare, other than they have a dog, go to Greenbelt and Jon makes very thought provoking and cool cartoons! He’s even done one for me based on me and my friends commonly used phrase “I feel like I’m an alien on Planet Christian”

…living in Wales

Musings of a Scot - Carolyn is a Scotswoman living in Wales. As she’s already said, us Scots have to stick together. She’s pretty cool, and shares my dislike of all things Nestle.

D Train – Jeff and Christine Gill are part of a really cool church I want to visit in Conwy, Wales where they do lots of childrens and youth work. Jeff gives me good computery technical advice and Christine is another incredible photographer and generally all round creative person with skills I’m in awe of.

…living in Northern Ireland

5enses - Connor is another Northern Irish person, only he’s not trying to take over Scotland (at least I don’t think he is). A very talented photographer who loves to travel.

…living in Ireland

Alastair’s Blog - Alastair lives in Dublin. He’s another person that knows people I sort-of know, and I did meet him once very briefly!

…living in South Africa

Carl’s Blog & Michelle’s Blog – Had the blessing of meeeting Carl, Michelle and their family while I was in South Africa in July 2009. They are working with Seed of Hope Community Development, a project that will always have a special place in my heart!

…living in Australia (so not fair!)

Love will bring us together – B lives in Western Australia. He’s working on having an attitude of thankfulness and has some Scottish roots.

My life as the good twin – Prue is my cool Aussie blogging friend and she gets to live in Sydney. She’s very creative. She can even make clothes, where as I can’t even sew on a button. She also knows lots about plants and flowers.

Numpty Blog – Diane is married to David and she is a Northern Irish lass living in Sydney. She has a cat called Maebh who is getting a passport. We share the same favourite word (‘miscreant’). And she gets brownie points for having a Scottish word as her blog title. Woo!

Shaping the Space – David and his wife, Diane live in Sydney (seriously it’s sooo unfair!!!). He’s a Jesus follower too, and is passionate about using music to lead others in worship to Him!

…living in Japan

Fearfully Made – Kamsin is English, and has a very cool name. She teaches in Japan. She’s also a pretty rockin’ photographer.

…living in Canada

65_RedRoses – Eva Markvoort was the star of the documentary 65_RedRoses. Eva and I are the same age, and she is one inspirational woman. She has a genetic disease called Cystic Fibrosis, and 65_RedRoses followed her as she waited and received a double lung transplant. 2 years on, she is now back on the list as her body is rejecting the donated lungs.

A Living Alternative – Jamie and his wife Kim head up some very cool ministries in Winnipeg. Our smallgroup were somewhat wishing we could have a place like The Dusty Cover, and recently they’ve started a community called Little Flowers.

Journey of a Lifetime - Another inspiring woman who has Cystic Fibrosis, Natalia is a strong and courageous wife, daughter, sister and mother who got a lung transplant at the eleventh hour. Similar to Eva, Natalia & her family hope by sharing their story it will encourage people in Canada to register to be an organ donor.

…living in the USA

The Art of Living – Brad Ruggles lives in Indianapolis with his wife, Lisa and 2 daughters. He writes lots of funny but also (sometimes) serious posts about life, church, culture and social issues.

Brandi and boys – I described Brandi once as a Southern Belle, and I think she is. Brandi and the boys (husband & 3 sons) live in Nashville. I love her accent and find her love for her family pretty inspirational. Oh, and I take credit for teaching her a fast way to put on a duvet cover…!

Bring the Rain – The story of Audrey Caroline, who died on the same day she was born, as chronicled by her Mommy, Angie Smith (wife of Todd Smith from Selah). Audrey is another April baby too (they’re the best!). A true testimony of hope, faith, struggle, pain and most of all…love.

Carpe Diem – Ally lives in the South, and works in the world of Law. Her posts sometimes just totally crack me up with giggles and I just love how down to earth Ally is!

Catchin’ Some Waves – Rick is the pastor at Nags Head Church, NC. I came across his writings via his son’s blog. Rick is another Southerner, but his writings challenge me in my thinking. I also love hearing about what’s happening in other churches. Especially ones which have surf camps!

Coffee Shop Journal – Marla is an honourary member of our smallgroup. She lives in Florida and loves Jesus, coffee, family, friends and community. Marla is another Barnabus, and again such an encouraging person to have commenting on your blog. Hoping we’ll meet the Saunders clan in the not-so-distant future…!

Confessions of a CF Husband – If you haven’t read Nathan’s blog, where have you been? Wow is about all I can say as I’ve followed the incredible rollercoaster journey that Nathan has been on with his wife Tricia (who has Cystic Fibrosis) and their miracle baby daughter, Gwyneth. Possibly the only  blog that has brought me to tears more than once.

Don Miller blog – Donald Miller is one of my favourite authors. Full stop. He also has been working to start  a very cool organisation called The Mentoring Project. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Endo Sucks! - Chanel started blogging about her journey with Endometriosis and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome during March (Endometriosis Awareness Month). It’s a very honest reflection of one woman’s struggle with this disease.

Gavin Owens – Gavin’s parents Karen and Adam regularly update about the ups and downs of 3-year-old Gavin’s journey with Mitochondrial Disease. His blog’s tagline is that Gavin is ‘puttin’ the cool back in chronic‘

inProgress – Tam lives in Oregon (?) and has a husband known as inWorship, and 2 lively and musically talented teenagers. Tam just generally cracks me up with her comments and tweets on a daily basis!

Our Little Footprints – Megan is the sister of Tricia. Her tales of life in NJ with her family often make me giggle, and she has enlightened me to the world of funnel cake which I’ll have to try and find next time I’m ‘across the pond’.

Dancing Barefoot on Weathered Ground - Lynnette is another woman with a truly heart wrenching story of loss and healing. Her family (1 husband, 6 kids) live in Kansas. Their everyday family life is so different from anything I’ve ever seen (big family, homeschooling, living in the country) as a Scottish city girl. Lynnette also started 2 cool blog things – Wednesday’s Walk and Getting to Know You.

Leading and Loving It – Lori and her husband Jud head up a church in Las Vegas. Yes. Las Vegas!! They have 2 kiddles and a fun sense of humour. Lori writes a lot about being in leadership.

Mandy Thompson - Mandy is a singer, musician, songwriter. She also loves chocolate. Yum!

This One Goes Out To The Friends I Never Had – Sarah is married to Billy and she was the first blogger I really felt a connection with. Sarah also has a real passion for reaching out to people facing unplanned pregnancies and is now a pregnancy counsellor in Alabama! Woo hoo! She has 2 beautiful daughters too.

Without Wax – Pete is married to Brandi, and has 3 sons. He is the Pastor of Cross Point Church in Nashville, TN. Been really encouraged by both Pete and Brandi over the last year, particularly with their involvement with Compassion in India and some of the other exciting things going on that Cross Point folks are involved in.