Testimony - Ray Scott

A Week In The Life Of ... Ray Scott, a British Gas Engineer

     This ‘Week in the life of ...’ is not very spiritual but the Lord is to be found in here somewhere. Sunday begins with the delights of birdsong echoing in my ears, no it’s the weekly shout of "We’re late for church again". The battle begins for the bathroom, the children usually win, then the food fight which we like to call breakfast, before negotiating the maze of learner drivers who always appear when you’re late. 

We arrive at church calm and serene and ready to meet the Lord (well we aim to arrive that way one day, we live in hope). The rest of the day is usually spent with family, which gives us a chance to relax. In Summer, Sunday afternoon tends to be spent tackling the garden. I can never understand people who say they find God in a garden, all I seem to find in ours is weeds. 

Monday arrives all too soon - another sea of smiling customer faces, amusing banter and cheery farewells. Then I wake up, load the van and check the computer to see where I am being sent. I meet my colleagues for a coffee in a desperate attempt to put off the inevitable. The laughing and joking lifts my spirits before facing the worst nightmare, the unknown customer. It is amazing what sad situations, lonely people and poverty can be found hidden behind the front doors of houses we have always admired. An ideal job for witnessing, you may think. Well, maybe so, but my own inadequacies and the fact that I have never felt the Lord speak to me or prompt me usually prevents this from happening. 

Arriving at the job I hang up my Stetson and six guns and try to look professional. Customers come in all shapes, sizes and attitudes ranging from normal to the aggressive “Where have you been until this time?” (at 9:30 in the morning!) to the person who has left his body to deal with the gas engineer while his brain is holidaying on Mars. One thing they all have is at least one quality which makes them special and makes me want to help them out. Each job brings a new batch of stress because if I make a mistake it is someone’s life that is often on the line. I can’t cope with this (especially since I had a nervous breakdown in 1994) but I am slowly learning to rely heavily on the Lord to guide me and give me the skill to leave everyone safe. 

The other weekdays follow a similar pattern with slight differences in the hours worked as 9pm is our official finishing time some days. I don’t see much of the children on these late evenings and sometimes not at all, which is upsetting - until I see the physical and emotional wreck that used to be Michelle and realise that my day was possibly less stressful than hers. 

Before turning in Michelle & I try to recover enough for a little Bible reading. I still find it hard to read the Bible and frequently don’t understand much of it. But we have noticed that the people we admire who have a real, living relationship with God, read their Bibles every day. So we have made a habit of it and try to read something no matter how tired we are (which, with two active children, is generally VERY tired). 

Friday night is always a night for catching up on any jobs that need doing (this usually includes fixing toys) so as to give us a free day on Saturday to waste as we please. We always try to go out for the day with the children. 

The decision of where to go on Saturdays is generally left to the children. The cry of ‘CHESTER ZOO’ has been measured at 100DB as far away as Glasgow. After packing a picnic we bundle everyone in the car and set off. On arrival Josh & Anna race to a picnic bench to have lunch. We finish this about 10:30am, then spend the next hour looking at the baby elephant. Next it is off to the petting zoo where Michelle can be seen elbowing children aside in all directions in order to get to the goats. We leave Michelle to play and I take Josh & Anna off to see the lions and tigers. 

After a day marvelling at creation (well, trying to in between frantic dashes for the toilet, stopping Anna from falling in the river, shouting at little people to stop whinging, etc.,) we travel home desperately trying to keep Josh & Anna awake in the car so they will be tired enough to need an early night. In our efforts to be a ‘proper’ Christian family, we always have a prayer time with the children before bed. Our intentions to be spiritual and serene are usually blown within 20 seconds of the usual “I want to pray first!”, “No, it’s my turn!”, etc., accompanied by flailing fists and feet. When we have finally wrestled them to sleep, Michelle and I have our 30 minutes per week to ourselves before collapsing. 

My 30 minutes this week was used to write this and now it is time for some sleep before the Sunday rush. 

Home   About Us   Testimonies   Links   Guestbook