Hello again!
Firstly, thank you all for
your support and lovely comments on my last post. It was so encouraging! And a
big thank you to Fiona from Scottish Island Mum who encouraged me to start a
blog in the first place.
I mentioned on my last update
that I live on the lovely Isle of Arran and thought I’d share the story of how
me and my family came to live here as I like to think it’s quite amazing.
I’ve lived on Arran since I
was 7 years old; we were destined to live here as my parents have always loved Scotland and
even eloped to get married here. They said that when they had a family, Scotland would
be the place they’d like to live.
Fast-forward a few years and
there are my two younger sisters (aged about 3 and 5) and me (about 6). Now that
my parents had a family they began to think seriously about moving to Scotland .
Now around this time they
decided to buy a new car for my mum (this is relevant I promise) and amazingly
after buying the car they realised that the license plate included “ARR4N”. No.
Really! They had been thinking about Arran as
a place to live around that time so this was truly amazing.
A few months later and my
parents, sisters and me all embarked on the long drive to Arran
and loved it from the moment we stepped off the ferry-even my little 3 year old
sister. I remember on this visit that we found a go-cart track and went cycling
through Brodick-me and my dad on a tandem (with me just sitting on the back, my
legs dangling above the pedals) and my mum cycling with my two sisters attached
to her bike on a little cart. I was sold. I would have moved right there and
then!
(From left: Me, Emily, Megan and Mum behind us)
(Us with dad)
On returning from our first
visit we had already grown attached to this beautiful little island and going
back to England
didn’t feel like we were going “home”; it felt as though we were driving away
from it.
A few more visits by my
parents and they grew more and more in love with the island and more determined
to move here and overcome any obstacles that might arise.
After visiting one of the
island’s attractions my mum thought long and hard about our potential move and
prayed about it asking "Is it the right thing to do?" as they pulled out of the car park. To her amazement when they
began down the road a car drove past with the license plate including the word
“YES”. Once again, not kidding! We seem to have a thing with taking advice from
license plates.
After this miraculous
happening things just fell into place. My dad who works as an IT Consultant
managed to get permission to home-work from the island (after going through
almost all the levels of management), my parents found our first house and
despite the housing market at that time forcing properties to be sold up to 40%
over the asking price, they managed to buy the one we wanted for less than the
asking price. Another cool coincidence (or as we like to think, a nudge from
God) was that as me and my sisters were only just beginning school we’d need to
find a suitable one on the island and even though my parents visited one during
the Easter holidays, the moment they arrived the Head Teacher walked out and so
she could answer their questions there and then. This is the primary me and my
sisters ended up attending and led us to find some really amazing friends who we’re
still close to.
We like to think that us
moving to Arran wasn’t just a coincidence or
good timing, but that God intended for us to live here. And I’m so glad He did! 10
years on and I love the Island just as much as
when I first saw that go-kart track. It’s strange to think that I’m now in my
last year of high school and will soon be leaving here. I couldn’t have asked
for a better place to live. One thing is for sure though, when birthdays and
Christmas’ arrive I will have no hesitations in returning to this humble little
beautiful island.
Mollie
♥
A really lovely post that says so much about you, your family and your faith. Thanks so much for sharing. Xx
ReplyDeleteThankyou:) xx
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