Sarah's Adventures In Scotland: Sept 21-25: Scotland, My Heart

My heart belongs here. It really feels like everything I think the world should be, it is here. All my dreams and hopes, all my fantasies of moss-covered castles and strikingly beautiful places - all of it, converges, in this one little corner of the world, and they decided to call it St Andrews. I can't imagine a place more beautiful in the entire world.
God has sparked renewal inside me. He took my thousand-year-old, weary heart, and He delighted and strengthened me. When I look back at my life, and I look at the restoration and wholeness I see now, I am overwhelmed by God's lavish grace and work in making me whole in Him. God has given me all the desires of my heart.
God loves to bless His children - and truly, when He is our delight, He will never deny us more of Himself. He delights to make us smile, the way any loving Father would. Anything I could ever desire and more, more than I even know how to appreciate or show thanks for, God has lavished upon me in the wisdom of His character. There is little else to say than this - my cup runneth over.
And God didn't need to do this! God is unchanging and good - He was good in the worst of times, and He is good in the best of times.

When peace like a river attendeth my way -

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot; Thou hast taught me to say,

"It is well! It is well with my soul."

There have been bad times - and for them, I praise God all the more. I hope I can encourage you... that when it seems like nothing good can ever grow from the barrenness of your life again, that there can be no restoration from such a state of brokenness - just when you are tempted to despair, God reminds us of His continual work of healing with a simple foretaste of the infinitely good things He has for us.

All this earth

Could all that is lost ever be found?

Could a garden come up from this ground at all?

You make beautiful things

You make beautiful things out of the dust.

You make beautiful things

You make beautiful things out of us.

The weather here is wonderful. It's eternally autumnal, and the rain makes it all the better.

Our libraries are beautiful.

St Mary's Library and King James Library has a long history. Founded for Mary Queen of Scotts, this library has been the recipient of donations from many historical figures. Parts of the building have been used for parliament and even as the workshop of scientist James Gregory, who helped discover calculus, create the reflecting telescope, and calculate the distance to the sun. The pictures really don't capture it, but it's very inspirational and old-feeling in there.

View out the library window

Entrance to St Mary's Quad

Secret back way to get to my dorm, overgrown with ferns and trees.

Note the greenish tint to the ground...

Because moss is everywhere -

Just as it should be!

You can get a peek at the sea from the end of this street.

There should be more moss in America. It adds a magical wonderment to the atmosphere of life.

Yorkshire pudding!

Wine and Cheese night

These lovely, classy ladies make me smile :)

Dorm fire drill at 6:30am... well, it is still college.

I don't know if you can tell, but there's a beautiful rainbow hidden in that cloud.

Beautiful skyline on the water

Waves rolling in

Beautiful shore

You can't totally tell what's going on here, but the wind is so strong that it creates currents of sand rushing into the sea.

I love the little grassy hills beyond the beach.

It wouldn't be St Andrews without continual golf tournaments!

Quaint turn on my walk back to my dorm

I found St Andrews' most hidden gem of the town - Toppings and Company. They serve tea to their browsers, they have really cool rolling ladders that make you feel like you're in Beauty and the Beast, and the store is filled with nooks and crannies and places to sit and read for hours!