15th February 1946 was the day I first inhaled Scottish air and although I have been privileged to travel around on holiday and mission trips, my roots are firmly embedded in the north east of Scotland. On my travels I have visited all the UK countries plus Spain Italy, China, Philippines, America, France and the Canary Islands, some of them several times. Part of the joy of growing older is interacting with grandchildren and along with my wife Mary we are grandparents to seven beautiful children, born to our three sons and their wives. Family is a high priority, having spent many years in leadership, when I have to admit church and family were sometimes in the wrong order. God is gracious and in spite of me getting it wrong many a time, all my family are serving the Lord full time. My local church is still close to my heart, as is the very successful Power House Kids Club that I am involved in. Like many fisher boys in this area in my youth I lived for the day I would leave school and go to sea; that was the day I was fifteen, and for eight years of my life I experienced life as a deep sea fisherman. Life took an unexpected turn and I bought a shop and for around fifteen years I was in the retail business. For almost eighteen years I worked with a Local Authority Social Work Department as Home Care Manager. The Home Care department is responsible for providing Homecarers (Care givers) to enable older people with physical and often mental illness to live in their own homes. I retired in May 2010.