our fall letter

Well, here I sit in shorts, a t-shirt and flip-flops… cooking hot!!!

Let me tell you how many times I've asked myself "where am I?”

I’d love to take you on a journey with me through what it has been like to move from cold rainy Scotland to always-sunny Golden Hill, San Diego!

To start off, let me first say that we as a family have been so blessed and loved by you all. This last furlough was a real challenge as we came into it exhausted and emotionally drained. The entire 2 and 1/2 months were filled with encouraging coffees, tons of hugs and words of affirmation. It made it one of the most rewarding and encouraging furloughs ever! Thank you for blessing us.

We left Portland with only an offer on a house, the bags that came with us from Scotland, a 6-person tent (no joke) and our amazing new/used van!!! We stayed with good friends in Fresno and then headed to Rob and Laurie Yackley's (our boss and wife) for a few nights. As we reacquainted and talked future we still had nowhere to live in Golden hill. On one of the days Tim, Rob and I went to find a place and it was that day we saw the only rental house. We said, “yes” to it that day, hoping to be in it short term (rent is very high here), because our hope was to get into the house soon. In the meantime, we had a good friend donate a week at a Hilton about 20 minutes from Golden hill… it was perfect. We left Rob and Laurie's after 3 nights and spent the next week at the hotel till we could move into our cute rental house. And so, after 3 long days of driving, a few stops along the way, and a week in a hotel we made it to Golden hill, San Diego our new home!

It has been quite a month and a half as we have tried to settle this family. We started with a few lawn chairs, 2 blow up beds and a bench for a table for the first 10 days. Tim and his dad then flew to Lynden, WA and picked up our stuff that we had been storing for over 7 years, drove to Portland picked up all the wonderful things people had give us and headed back to San Diego, this all took only 3 days!!! They were amazing! And what about our shipment from Scotland? Well, it only took 100 days but it finally came and we could unpack all our belongings… now the settling begins. Tim's parents came to help us and we are so thankful for the work they did to help us get set up and put some roots down. Are you still wondering about the house? Well so are we! With the market the way it is, it has become a waiting game. We have prayed hard (as many of you have)… and about 10 days ago received an answer. The Lord in His sovereignty has removed it… and so, we keep praying. We know that the right affordable house will come where we will be able to do ministry AND raise our family. Keep praying for that house that is out there somewhere.

What is Golden Hill like? Well, it has a funny feel about it that we have yet to fully understand. At times I can look at the beautiful Victorians (a bit rundown), gorgeous palm trees and views and think back to when this part of town hopped with wealthy, upper class people. But, 90 years is a long time and much has come and gone since then. The other side to Golden Hill feels very inner city! We live on a corner right beside a main road that is the entrance to Golden Hill. It's truly amazing how the city never sleeps, between fire-trucks, police cars, car alarms, people fighting, wandering drunks and airplanes roaring over us (you have to pause your conversation while they go by) we are finding it hard to stop and have peace in this city! We lived in the city in Glasgow for 5 years but the noises were different, the feel was different. Amidst this, God has opened our eyes once again to a completely new set of cultures and we have experienced more culture shock than we could have ever anticipated… but it is exciting AND it is growing on us. We have done lots of exploring in the area and will continue to watch, listen and settle where God has asked us to pour our lives and extend His love to this community that needs His love so much.

How are the kids adjusting? Well the school really took us by surprise when we started. We knew our kids would be a minority, but there are maybe a dozen “white” kids out of 400-plus… including ours... its pretty great! Parts of this we love and are so thankful they get this chance to live so cross culture. Rarely do you hear English spoken outside the classes. It's been a mental shift as we wade through expectations of what we thought it would be like and the reality of what is. Each of our kids has handled the transition in their own way, some with excitement and some with tears. The school system is so different here that the kids have had to learn a completely different style of learning and rules! It has been about 5 weeks and everyday seems to become more natural. They are making new friends and have been really blessed by the teachers they have been given. We would appreciate your prayers in one area specifically… the system is so different than in the UK, we have found they don’t know some of the styles of learning and therefore are behind. Especially Duncan, as he is the oldest – it has been a hard start for him. God continues to fill them up in the areas we are weak in and watching them take another step in their faith has been truly amazing! Some really exciting news for us as a family is that McKenzie asked Jesus into her heart about 2 weeks ago and has been so excited. What a blessing to be a part of our children’s walk as parents, we feel truly blessed by these kids of ours. Over all they have been incredible troopers and done it with smiles on their faces (most of the time!) Tim and I are enjoying this new season of life with them entering childhood, although I’m so thankful that I still have one at home. God has sure been clear to me that right now my place is with them and creating a place of safety and love. We truly would not have it any other way… to pour what God’s given us into them and teach them what a life lived fully in love with JESUS looks like is a GREAT calling!

With great blessings,
The McDonald clan

roller coaster

It's been an interesting few weeks. Here our latest update...

To our supporters, friends and family,

What a roller coaster this last week has been. In the midst of the financial "meltdown" on Wall Street we have been in a emotional and financial tug-of-war with the sellers of the home and the company giving the loan (the two companies are connected). Depending on what hour of which day we either had the house and were moving forward or were never going to be able to get it... Thursday night we were called by the mortgage guy saying that he might be able to lend us the mortgage after all because the foundation was not as bad as we had originally thought. He was going to go to his boss and give it a try and let us know today whether they would take us. Well, in the midst of this, we began processing what the bottom line had become for us financially over these last days. With the Canadian dollar now so low we have lost 15% of our monthly support in 9 days and then lost thousands of dollars bringing our deposit across to the US from Canada. What this meant was that we were no longer in the financial condition we had started the process AND as we processed that we came to the realization that God wanted us to pull out of the house! We have asked God to lead us through this whole deal and I think that is the hardest part about it. At times it has felt like the doors were closing and then all of a sudden the door would open in amazing ways.

I (Britany) think we are dealing with a whole lot more than just losing a house offer. When I was writing in my journal this morning I realized that it had become TOO important to me that I settle me and this family ~ I think God has wanted me to surrender settling to Him. I think that it is all mixed with culture shock, moving back to the US, Tim learning a new job role, relearning how to do community and trying to find a home. We have come through the last 2 years and realized we are different people. We have grown, matured and also have to relearn who we are. God has been faithful and to be really honest I know that He has spared us from something.

I (Tim) have realized just how focused I had become on getting into a house. Partially I think I was looking for some of those settling pieces like Brit but also I think I was hoping it would solve some of our financial situation. I had begun to look to this house (or any house) as an answer to the big question of "what do we do now?" I believe God provides... I have said it before AND I believe it BUT it is always tricky to find that balance between doing all we can to make up for lost support AND waiting on His provision.

So this is where we are...

housing saga

For those of you keeping up with our housing saga... I thought I might include Britany's latest update!

Hey everyone,

Well, yesterday we finally got some amazing news... they accepted our offer!!!!!!!!! Yesterday morning our Realtor called and said that they had another offer and that the other offer on the table was greater than ours. She asked the inevitable question... "did we want to raise ours?" After a quick prayer (and some quick math) we said yes and then waited. Well, about 1 hour later she called and told us that they had chosen us AND at our LOWER offer, AMEN! Both Tim and I were a bit emotional because it finally feels like we can really put down some permanent roots (God willing... as aliens and strangers). It is so much better of a deal and in better shape than the last offer we had in. It is still a BIG fixer upper and a lot needs to be done before we can move in - but we LOVE it! We have an inspection on thursday to make sure all is well with the house, please send up some prayers for that inspection (mostly that they will find the house in good order).

This house is significant for us for a few reasons. First, it moves us closer to the school and closer to many of the families at the school that we have begun to build relationships with (we have already had opportunities to share our faith). Second, it will bring our monthly amount spent on rent WAY down and put us back into a financially stable position (all the while actually BUYING something). Third, it will give us a place to finally unpack all of our boxes with space for everything... praise God!

Well, we have a peace that surpasses so much of our understanding as we look over the past 5 months of surrendering this area to the Lord. He has been incredibly faithful as He has led us the whole way. He saved us from many other properties to prepare us for this one (God willing). I'm so thankful we have a God that looks at all the details, small or big. We can't thank you all enough for your never ending prayers for us. You have stood with us along this entire journey of leaving a home we loved to finding a place for this family to settle.

Many blessings to you all and with thankful hearts,
the McDonald clan