When I was about 11/12 years old I took a class with Mr. Zube that was a bicycle maintenance & repair course. We had even competitions in skill riding and were taught about repairing and maintaining bikes. I loved the class. I lived on my bike. In fact, I was so good at riding, when I was a paper boy I could deliver my entire route no-handed. I would roll papers as I rode along skillfully (and not so skillfully). I used that class to repair many a flat tire!

Today my son Harrison and nephew Aidan were riding bikes. Aidan we thought had lost some air; in his tire that is not from his backside (hey we are boys and boys do that stuff!). Anyway, when they returned from a brief journey, it was certainly a hole in the tire. We rolled up our sleeves and repaired it the old fashioned way. Immersed the tub in the sink to find the hole, I taught them which tools to use, even had my proper repair kit to show them how to take the tube out (a back tire nonetheless which is trickier due to the brakes and chain). With a little elbow grease and some patience we had a mighty fine repair job.

I enjoyed the effort of teaching them what I consider an invaluable skill but also life lesson. Many good things get thrown away as we don’t know how to repair them. Or we don’t take time to learn or be taught. It has been a good week for repairs. Last night I even saved my desktop PC for the moment; floppy drive failure, unable to boot, unable to even start. Aside from the practical aspects, it is good to learn new things. It stimulates the mind, we build relationships and hopefully we do are part in being good stewards of what God has provided. I feel like a boy on a roll!

Scottish Breakfast

I prefer many foods. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, late snacks, coffee in the morning, wine in the evening. This post is dedicated to the morning breakfast tradition of a full Scottish breakfast. For me it must include the following:

• potato scone (when eating out, otherwise toast will do)
• square sausage – also know as Lorne sausage. Carol calls it forlorn sausage – super fatty and peppery
• 2 eggs over easy – need to be able to dip into
• baked beans – for the Americans this is an anathema as there isn’t a hot dog and a bun nearby!
• blood pudding – extra crispy on the outside, soft and warm on the inside
• cup of joe – i.e. coffee
• skip the tomato
• hashbrown square
• Lastly, I know it is bad, but I love to add extra salt. If you are going to eat this you might as well kill yourself with more salt and fasting later.

There are of course variations on this – mushrooms for example – but if I had my way this would be the true Scottish breakfast (or American with Polish background living in Scotland).

Mike’s random post for the day

Our English class had a great start to the New Year. We were not sure what to expect as some members (two Spanish couples) went back to their home country and the New Year is a time for many of our student participants to recover from exams. I spoke with Saied, our Iranian brother in Christ, about meeting every two weeks until numbers increased. The first night we had 3 new participants and 8 of our regulars back – and we were missing many! We decided their wasn’t a need to start slow therefore. I had the privilege of leading the bible study portion the last two weeks and decided to take a step back and teach how to study the bible; even discussing basics of the history of the bible, the contents, reliability, and basic facts and figures. This week I taught on Philemon and how to be a detective – who wrote the book, why, main characters, purpose, application. It seems to be helping as many have never read the bible before. Now if the Holy Spirit can convince them to read it on their own and seek God’s truth for their lives – that is a prayer we can all start this New Year.

Carol and the kids have started back with the kids bi-weekly club at the Annexe. While I am at the English class, they are either at the Annexe community centre where Mosaic meets each Sunday, or in a discipleship group with a couple from our church. Please pray for this to grow outside of Mosaic as the kids invite their friends to come along. Being part of a small faith community has its benefits, but being part of a larger community, and the youth activities that this enables, is something our kids miss out on. Please pray for growth in our kids ministry. That our children would be witnesses for Christ and be bold in inviting their friends to experience the love of Christ (and the joy/fun) through the youth activities that Mosaic does offer.

This month we also welcomed my niece Emily to our home for the next 5 months. She is studying at Glasgow Uni and living with us; the kids love having a big sister to play with. Frodo also likes another person to seek affection from:) This adds a new but easy dimension to our lives as family is always fun to have with us. Today we visited the new riverside Transport museum – £74m in cost! It was certainly enjoyable but I am not sure worth this amount. The old museum was adequate and I think a simple refurbishment of some of it would have been fine; perhaps just more temporary exhibits would have sufficed. I think the money could have helped so many people during such a difficult time economically that it wasn’t well spent on this museum. As I think about our business and the pressures it faces with people being very measured in their purchasing, I can imagine this is the same for all businesses and households. It gives me pause when these sums are spent as ‘investment in the future’ when the present is so needy.

The next few months should be more of the same with the added twist of deciding schools for Lily – she starts high school next year! Hopefully as we move into Spring, our next update will be about flowers, birds and warm weather

• Seeing our children grow in their faith – each a little differently but as I came into the living room this morning, I found Sophie having her quiet time. Each o our children are keen on reading and their time reading scripture is a regular part of their lives now. Harrison is a night time reader of scripture and Lily a morning like the rest of us. I pray these habits will lead  into absolute faith in Christ as Lord and Saviour of their lives and that Carol and I can be more effective in their discipleship.
• Almost 24 years with my wife! Not necessarily all of it married but we have been together since we were 18 years old. She knows me like no other person. I see how God has entrusted to her my heart and through her I see Christ and she sees (or doesn’t see) Christ in me. She is a beautiful women spiritually and I think on the outside as well. I love her more and more!
• The changes in Mosaic, our church. A few years ago things seemed rather shaky to me. We started a business, Wes began teaching full-time and a colleague left our team abruptly. We put things before God and to Mosaic and He has rescued us again. We have a leadership team in place, new CAI teammates and Mosaic has grown spiritually and numerically. It has changed in its ethnic and generational makeup and we see abundant generosity and care for others in an outside our community. People are growing in their faith and coming to faith. Amen!
• Our business has weathered an extremely difficult economic and business climate. Our costs have gone up by 20-25% if not more – business use tax has gone up 110%!!, packaging 50% in some cases, currency rate has dropped 20-25%, etc. However, we have remained on target with our forecast, reduced expenses to keep up with the increases, focused on more profitable lines, marketed differently, seen internet sales grow and improved our efficiency. I believe we have honoured God with our efforts and we give Him the glory for encouragement, strength/perseverance, wisdom and faith.
• My USA family – we got to see them over the summer and I multiple times due to business and my grandma’s Kurtyka & Grandma Lange passing away. Each trip I got to connect with family in deep ways. They are so generous toward us and we miss them so much. Now that we are citizens and have fully settled here, I feel the call to move back and be nearer to them!
• We are grateful and have been blessed by new friends. Saied who lived with us for almost a year helped us experience Persian culture and became a part of our family. Although he has a place of his own, he is still like a brother/uncle! Peter & Natalie a young couple have blessed us in many ways. They lead a discipleship group with Harrison & Lily, Natalie does a kids club every other week, Peter leads the English course we run at our shop, and both are members of Mosaic. Natalie has also started working at the shop! They are great with the kids as they love games and we hope to get to know them even more in 2012. Mark, a member of Mosaic’s leadership team, has a passion for Christ and took me on my first walk in Rannoch moor – July and it was almost freezing that night! He also is a baker, a chef and a connoisseur of fine drink. Paul, Claire & Daisy, Tarin, Paul, Mirren & Carley and others from our girls school. We have also be blessed to know our neighbours the Thomas’, Lynch’s & The McKenzie’s better. We don’t have much available time and that we do spend with friends is hopefully enriching their lives as much as they enrich our lives.
• Personally, all the above has grown my faith. I find myself more reflective and seeking an internal peace more and more. The hustle and bustle of family, shop and ministry has driven me inward and I have sought solitude, prayer and God’s word more than ever; in some ways counter to my extroverted nature!

I close with a simple prayer that I have found strength in and kept me focused on seeking Him.

Lord Jesus, have mercy on me a sinner, Mike