Worshiping God in Europe

Today we slept through our alarm - oops! But we still managed to make it to church by the early service - which is at 11am! We were excited to attend Hillsong London church. They meet in a theater downtown London. It was a weird experience to take the subway to church this morning. The worship was amazing, and the pastor that spoke was one of the original pastors that started the first Hillsong church in Australia. He had a powerful message from the book of Jude. He led a prayer where many came to Christ at the end of the service - that was super neat to see! It was so encouraging to walk in there and feel at home - like we were with family - yet so far from our home. It was a blessing to see Scott soak it up - he doesn't usually get to sit and take it in without any responsibilities. I think he really enjoyed it. So far this week, we have attended 2 worship services - so very different in style. One was a very traditional, old school Ireland choir driven service - where a choir in robes sang prayers and scriptures probably done the same way for hundreds of years, and the other with loud music, lights, and jumping - but both were focused on God and His goodness - and gave us a time to slow down and focus on His love for us. We are thankful for these opportunities this week - getting to worship with believers across the world from where we usually worship has been one of the greatest things we have enjoyed!

Tomorrow we leave this metropolis of London, and ride a train (under the English Channel I might add) to Brussels, Belgium.

Adam has posted some pics from today on facebook - so take a look! ~ Angela

Saturday in London

Well, I didn't get to share about our day on Saturday, so I will catch you up and then share about today!
Yesterday was a full day of sightseeing! We took a hop on hop off double decker bus to all the sights - Big Ben/Parliment, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, and many more building, parks, and sights! We also took a river cruise in the evening - going under about 10 bridges and getting a history lesson on some of the buildings right along the River Thames. It was a jam packed day - I honestly felt a little overwhelmed. Such a massive city, so much to take in, so many people, everywhere you look, you see something more amazing than the last! I kept thinking to myself "I can't believe I am walking around London, England!" We learned how to use the underground system - that in itself was so crazy - changing lines at some stops to catch other lines that would take us where we were going. We learned quickly to move to the right as we were walking, riding on escalators and so on - so we didn't get plowed over. A highlight for Scott was getting to visit Metropolitan Tabernacle where Charles Spurgeon, the great preacher from the 1850's preached from. He got to stand at a podium in the very room where the great Spurgeon preached from. We bought a couple of books at the book store there at the church. It was a thrill for him for sure! Here are a couple of pics from Saturday! As always, look on facebook for many more pictures - mine or Adam's.  Enjoy :)

Planes, trains, and automobiles!

Today was a travel day for us. We started out by finding our way back to the car rental lot with the car - we were thankful to be done with the driving! We caught a shuttle to the airport, then sat a while in the Dublin airport. We took a 50 min. flight to Hethrow - London airport, then bought tickets to the underground tube and took a 15 min. ride and found the charming little place we are staying in Earl's Court. We walked out to dinner, and then Scott, Adam, and Madi took the tube to check out big ben and parliment. Tomorrow, we will do a whole day of seeing the London sights. It will be a long and full day! I am sure we will have many pictures to share ~ Angela

Here are a few pictures from Ireland. There are many more on Adam's facebook page to look through.

ashley is talking

this is Ashley and i came to say hello today from dublin ireland and i wanted to share some thngs about being here for three days id like to say that i miss all of you and that i survived through the trip so far and i am having a great time and im not forgetting all of you and this is for you i miss you and if jackie is looking i miss you very very much little baby and i love looking at all the amazing sights that there is to see it is amzing here and so is the castles and old churches it is fun to be here and i like ireland and used to all the rain so it was fine but im looking foward to the sunny weather and i got to say i LOVE their accents here in ireland they are awesome well i guess thats it see you soon guys and we still love you

A Day in Dublin

We got to sleep in today, even the kids did; and then we marched out into Dublin. We finally got Irish weather for a few moments as it drizzled as we walked across the nearest bridge. We walked up and down the streets, ate lunch at Temple Bar (seems like the Irish call every place to eat, a bar).
We went to St. Patrick's Cathedral where Patrick baptized the first Christians in Dublin, maybe prior to 500 AD.
After more walking, a pigeon experience (see Madi's account of this), and a few souvenirs, we attended a Choir Song Service in Christ's Church - it was very formal and yet beautiful, although I love our services much more.
Dublin, and Ireland, for that matter is a very fun and friendly place. There is music playing in the streets, amazing architecture, great history; we'd love to stay here for longer.

Now the driving in Dublin is like solving the Rubik's Cube. Drive on the wrong side of the road, one way streets all over the place, I don't know how we have survived except for God being gracious and answering your and our prayers. :)
Scott

The Craic was Mighty!

It's Thursday evening here. Our time in Ireland is quickly coming to an end! We've had the most amazing experience over the past 3 days. I think we all agree that Ireland will be hard to beat when it comes to all the places we will visit. It is such a unique place where the people that live here have such a pride in their unique way of speaking, the songs that are their own, their stories, and history. It is clear that the Irish love their country. Yesterday we had an amazing day - on a 12 hour tour that took us to the Cliffs of Moher (aka the cliffs of despair - according to the movie "The Princess Bride"), and along the west coast of Ireland through many  charming villages. We saw some castles, traditional old Irish homes, lots of rock walls everywhere, and the lush green landscape (actually much like Oregon in that sense). It tends to rain a lot here, but we are thankful to have the greatest weather. Yesterday on our tour, we actually got a little more time to look around because of the uncommonly beautiful warm sunny weather. This morning it was drizzly, but cleared up pretty soon. Today was a fun day of walking around Dublin seeing more of the sights. We saw 2 very old beautiful churches that have great significance in Christian history here in Ireland. We even attended a evensong (a  tradition service mostly sung by an amazing choir). I will let Scott write more about that. We saw Trinity College, walked through St. Stephens gardens, browsed down the famous Grafton Street, did some shopping, and ate lunch at the original and historical Temple Bar.We have learned about the culture and history here. Our tour guide yesterday was Mike Murphy, born and raised in the South part of Ireland. He told many stories, gave a ton of history of religion, politics, and things that make Ireland unique. Occassionally, he would break into song - so we got to hear many traditional Irish songs and the history behind why they were written and what they mean.  He was quite funny, and shared with us many phrases and words that are used only here in Ireland. The one probably most used - was "The Craic was Mighty" which interpreted means we had fun, or we had a great time. We heard it a lot by many people.. so now of course the kids are using it constantly. Sorry this is so long, but there is just too much to say about our stay here. Tomorrow we leave for London. We will miss Ireland and are thankful for our time and experiences here. ~ Angela

We made it! We are in Dublin, Ireland. It was a pretty smooth trip, but of course we all feel a bit jet lagged and tired. In fact, everyone is sleeping right now. It's hard to figure out what time of day it is, it seems like the longest day ever, because we traveled over night but with the time zones, was like a 5 hour night in which we didn't really sleep. We are staying in a cute apartment in the heart of the city, over some lively pubs. It really is like the movies portray, lots of singing and laughter sounds coming in through our windows. It was a pretty scary for me, but stressful for Scott driving in this city. He did a good job navigating a car that drives somewhat different, and of course driving from the right side of the car and on the left side of the road. It was tricky figuring out how to get anywhere this morning - there are no typical street signs - there are some signs on the sides of buildings if you look closely and quickly you can see them - but not usually in enough time to turn onto them, and many are 1 way and not very well marked that way. It took him close to an hour just to find a parking lot that he could park the rental car in and actually get to it. So far, I've noticed little things that are different -the toilets, the streets, the noises, and the smell of this place - very different than home. My favorite phrase I have heard so far is "Thanks a million" - apparently said very frequently here. Tonight we plan to walk around Temple Bar area, and get more sleep - we have to be up very early for a 12 hour tour tomorrow. It should be fun to get out of the city and see the beauty of the countryside - and the cliffs of Moher. Thanks for praying! I believe it helped a lot - no one got sick, and the kids were great on the plane rides. We miss you all  - We will try to get some pics uploaded soon. ~ Angela

We leave tomorrow!!!

Well, here we are at a hotel at PDX, waiting to leave early in the morning. Our alarm clock will go off at 4 am - yikes!! I wanted to share some of my thoughts and prayer requests on the eve of our big trip. It was sad to say goodbye to our friends at WCC this morning - we will miss everyone so much! We had a nice lunch with the family, and then our good friend Leiah drove us up here. I have multiple feelings going on - excited - yes absolutely, but pretty anxious as well. I have never been a great traveler - planes make me sick, so I have been praying and have asked many friends to pray as well that I will not get sick and that when we arrive in Dublin on Tuesday morning that we will all be rested enough to tour for the day before checking into our hotel. I have realized over the past week how much I enjoy being at home, so being away for so long is quite nerve-wracking for me. I wanted to share some specific prayer requests for those of you that have committed to pray for us.  Here is the list (according to me!)

*Pray for safety and good health
*Pray that we will be able to find our way around countries.
*Pray for ease of checking into hotels and finding them.
*Pray for our patience with each other (especially in times of extreme stress)
*Pray for our openness to ministry opportunities God presents us with.
***Pray for building up of the relationships within our family.

Lastly, as I have been praying for myself, that we will each connect with God. It would be so easy to get lost in all the things to see and experience and forget to invite God into each day. I am praying that God will show me new and creative ways to connect with Him on this trip. We certainly will be seeing parts of His creation that we have never seen before, and we want to focus our attention on His greatness. 

Thank you for lifting us up in prayer - we need and appreciate it so much!

Getting ready to go

Sabbatical - a period of leave or rest from one's ordinary work.

First of all, I am grateful for our church leadership to encourage and allow me to take a time like this for me and my family. In a sense, it seems like just a few days ago when we came to WCC and joined the staff as the ACS Principal in the summer of 2001. But in another very real sense, it has been a busy and joy-filled ride, leading at ACS for 7 years and as the Lead Pastor at WCC for 5 years.

And it has been a difficult year as we saw my dad's health decline and then, his passing in December. He was one of my greatest friends, supporters, and mentors; and I have felt the void of his departure.

So this time away from the daily pressures of ministry will be a gift from God. We will enjoy time together as family, seeing sights, and making memories. I know that God will use this to recharge me and unite our family so that, Lord willing, we can continue to minister to Him and His people at WCC.

We will write this blog to share our experience with our family and friends. We hope that you enjoy "journeying with us."

Blessings. Scott

Trip Itinerary

Here is the much asked about trip itinerary:

June 23 - head to Portland
June 24 - early morning flight out of PDX
June 25 - Arrive in Dublin, Ireland
June 26 - Ireland 
June 27 - Ireland
June 28 - Fly to London, England
June 29 - London
June 30 - London 
July 1 - Take train to Brussels, Belgium
July 2 - Amsterdam, Netherlands
July 3 - Amsterdam, Netherlands
July 4 - Germany
July 5 - Germany
July 6 - Germany
July 7 - Germany
July 8 - Germany, Austria
July 9 - Verona, Italy
July 10 - Venice, Italy
July 11 - Venice, Italy
July 12 - Florence, Italy
July 13 - Florence, Italy
July 14 - Rome, Italy
July 15 - Rome, Italy
July 16 - Rome, Italy
July 17 - Rome, Italy
July 18 - La Spezia, Italy
July 19 - La Spezia, Italy
July 20 - Driving day
July 21 - Switzerland
July 22 - Switzerland
July 23 - Switzerland
July 24 - Paris, France
July 25 - Paris, France
July 26 - Paris, France
July 27 - Fly to Dublin, Ireland
July 28 - Fly Home

Getting ready

This morning I have been working on putting the finishing touches on our notebook that we are taking on our trip! I like to be organized and it should help with my stress level to have everything in one place and organized by date. Scott and I are going to do some errands today for our trip - to the bank, AAA, and Verizon. Once we are done, I think we will be just about ready for our trip (other than the packing). It's a day to be thankful for this opportunity God has given us. As the trip nears, I find myself getting more excited and nervous at the same time. I am trusting God to help us get around and keep us safe and help us have patience with each other!! 

The Dream

When Scott was in Middle & High School, he and his dad and brother built a 1956 Chevy together. It was a good chance to work on a project and learn about the mechanics of cars and just enjoy being together. Scott had this car for 3 decades, and enjoyed driving it occasionally. In the fall of 2012, when his dad, David Miller was losing his battle with cancer, he surprisingly said to Scott one day, "You should sell the Chevy and use the money to build a memory with your family by taking them to Europe." This was something Scott experienced while growing up, and the memories he had from these trips with his family were priceless. He began to dream about the possibility of taking a trip of this kind with his own family. He had already been thinking of taking a sabbatical as a way to refresh and reboot for more years of ministry. Watching his dad's health decline and the daily demands of the past 12 years of ministry in Albany were causing him to think a time away with the family was something that he was in need of. He decided to follow the advice of dad, and in October, he sold the Chevy. Dad got to go in one last ride in the Chevy, while Adam drove it for the first time - what a day to remember! We lost dad in December, and we believe he would be so happy to see us planning this trip! Scott talked to the Elder team at church and after much discussion and prayer it was decided that Scott would take a 6 week sabbatical in the summer. Here we are 3 weeks away from leaving on this trip of a lifetime and it is hardly believable. We are so excited and thankful after one of the hardest years we have ever experienced, that we will be traveling Europe for 5 weeks as a family - seeing and learning history - and building stronger relationships within our family. We decided to start this blog as a way for our family, church family, and friends to follow our trip. We plan to update daily while in Europe with pictures and words of what we are experiencing and learning. We invite you to follow our trip and leave comments as a way for us to stay connected to you! We also will list some ways you can be praying for us.