We’ve done it.  We’ve had one of the quintessential French culinary experiences. You know those hard-shelled things that you peel off of garden walls or off of leaves in the garden, the ones that leave a slobbery trail of slime in their wake… we can now say we’ve eaten them!

A Very French Dinner

They call it escargot and it’s much better than I’ve described. Last Saturday we were invited to dinner with friends (from the Burgundy region) who served us escargot as an appetizer, fondue bourguignonne as the main meal and cherry clafoutis for dessert. This was followed by a mean game of Monopoly where Dominic cleaned house & bankrupted us all!  How? …with his hotel on the French version of Boardwalk…. “rue de la Paix” (except it was anything but “peaceful” to those who landed on it!).

What a wonderful, wonderful evening… we’re thankful for their friendship which has been a blessing to us.

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A Culinary “Did you know?”

Ever wonder how snails came to be such a phenomenon in France?

Story has it that the king paid an unannounced visit to the home of a nobleman who, with so little advance warning found himself short on food. Since the 24hr supermarket was not “a thing” then, his kitchen staff went out into the garden to find the only source of protein they could… snails. They prepared them delectably and the king was delighted.

With such a royal debut… it’s no wonder eating snails became fashionable!

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Missions Giving makes a Difference

Now onto the main thrust of today’s post. I want to show you how your giving impacts our daily life in a practical way.

Here you see an overview shot of our church (thanks Google!) which sits on roughly 5,ooo square meters of property (1.2 acres).

Photo #1: Last year I spent the summer mowing the lawn with an electric push-mower (forever juggling the cord) as the old lawn tractor had kicked the bucket. It took me roughly 3 hours and I could only do the portion you see in yellow (the reach of the electrical cord). That doesn’t include any whipper-snipping.

Photo #2: This week however, Bro. Brochu was able to purchase a new ride-on lawn-mower thanks to your giving and the faithful giving of people just like you all across North America.

Is it carnal to say “Thank you Lord!” for a blessing as practical as a lawn-mower? I hope so, ’cause we’re saying it!

Here you can also see a brother from the church riding the new John Deere. He was not able to help with mowing last year for health reasons but with a ride-on, he was able to help this week… allowing me to get all the weed-eating done around the edges and junk up a tree that had fallen over in a windstorm.

Thank you for giving to missions!

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Daily life this week

Other than the lawn… Bro Brochu was in town for a day and we were able to catch up on a few things that were outstanding and discuss a some of what the future holds all ’round. Pray that God guides our steps with regard to the next year.

The kids have said repeatedly how much they enjoy finally being a “dog family”.  It’s also visible in their interactions with Pollux… our furry little Tibetan Terrier (a rescue dog from the local pound).

This week, we saw our first day where temps reached up as far as 20 degrees (68 fahrenheit)… it was heavenly and as a result, some school work may have happened out of doors! One of the perks of homeschooling.

Today is a Bible School day so I drove up to Melun last night, am teaching on the Book of Acts today and will drive home later this afternoon. Pray for safe travel if you would… the entire round trip is roughly 650km.  I’ll also make a quick stop in Tours on my way home to visit with Danielle, whom we baptized a short while ago.

Tomorrow we’ll have Bro & Sis Brochu with us in service, which will be good for our church people. Also they will stay over a day to spend time with Liz reviewing the church finances of the past year (a reminder that Liz has been the church treasurer their absence).

Thank you for your support.
Because of you, the gospel is being spread in France.

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The definitive poll on French Cuisine!

OK… to end today’s post on a fun note… You’ve heard OUR impression of escargot (even Timo loved it… although it took some coaxing to try the first one), now let’s have YOUR impression…

Help us make this the ULTIMATE poll on Escargot … one of the flagships of stereotypical French cuisine! Make your choice and immediately see the results…

Let the fun begin!