GOD BLESS THE USA

Sixteen years ago today - June 13th 1991 - our family entered the INS office in Terminal 4 at JFK, to be processed as immigrants straight off the plane from the U.K. Of course all the paperwork had been done in advance of the journey. We had been screened and approved for green cards (which were actually pink!) at the U.S. Consulate in London some weeks before, but as we sat waiting in the secure office at Kennedy Airport, the documentation was checked and our fingerprints were taken.

Our American adventure then began!

No matter how much time I had spent over here as a visitor, it still took a while to adjust to living in a different country. It wasn't just that Americans drive on the wrong side of the road, play strange sports and speak the Queen's English in a way that must send Her Majesty's blood pressure soaring. There were a lot of factors that stretched us as we adjusted.

+ The pastor who had invited me to replace him apparently changed his mind - sixteen years later he is still there. So after 21 years as a senior pastor, I was slotted into an Associate Pastor's role.

+ After spending the summer with us, both of our children returned to Scotland to go to college, putting over 3,000 miles between us.

+ My father-in-law got sick and died a few months after we arrived here.

+ Arriving here in the heat and humidity of summer, we endured a climate we had never known before.

As time passed by we settled, got to know folks, bought a house, became citizens, saw our children marry, had grandchildren, planted a church, saw it thrive and have been thoroughly enjoying our new life in the USA.

This is a great country and it's a privilege to be a part of it.