After 24 hours of travel, any ground level view of the lovely Scottish landscape was welcome, but none so beautiful as the castle that emerged as we drove up the path to Overtoun House. Built in 1859 for James White and his wife, the historic house has seen many avenues of life. After being given to the surrounding community in 1939, Overtoun House served as a military hospital during WWII as well as a maternity hospital. Now the castle is under the direction of Melissa and Bob Hill, and is currently the home to several ministries. Since 2001, the Hill and Haney families are using the Overtoun House as a church, tea room, and soon a home for young, single mothers.
Alaina, Grant, Luke, Tommy and myself have all enjoyed exploring this modern castle. The tower is by far my favorite spot. If you can draw your eyes away from the aerial view of turrets and carved stone, there is a magnificent sight of the Clyde River, Dumbarton Castle, and surrounding landscapes. Last night my mom and I hauled our foam sleeping pads up all 8 flights of stairs and spent the night up there. I felt like a princess =)
On Tuesday, we all hiked up the "mountain" that sits out front of Ovetoun House (it's not really a mountain but I'm not sure what to call it otherwise). It was quite the hike but Michel, who is from Virginia and spending the summer working at Overtoun House, and Grant helped us find the safest way up. Michel said that you know you've gotten to the top when you reach a pile of ancient rocks. Apparently, a long time ago farmers marked the highest point of their land with rocks, and sure enough, after about an hour of climbing (almost vertically at points) we reached the pile. And believe me, what we saw is the definition of wonderful, however, we had to begin our descent quickly in order not to miss lunch. On the way down, Alaina and I were talking about how well the climb was going- we hadn't fallen, tripped, or anything like that- but that didn't last long... right after I finished saying that we both stepped in huge mud puddles and had to walk the rest of the way back with muddy shoes and squishy socks. It was worth it though!
Overall, the beauty of Scotland amazes me the most, not only visually, but also because it is a perfect illustration of God's beauty. Even if you can't always feel God's perfect beauty, you can always see it. You just have to be willing to climb the tower.
-Joyce Hankins
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