If this past week was about anything, I think I’d have to say it was about family… as seemingly unrelated as that may sound once I start detailing the week…

Welcome to the month of April!

Picking up where we left off…

If you’ll recall, last week we were in Melun (near Paris) for the national Sunday School seminar. Our goal in going was three-fold:

1. Get a fresh perspective on the work of Sunday School and teaching methods even for adults; the seminar covered both. Guest speakers Rev. Jim & Linda Poitras are a dynamic team in this area: 28-year missionaries in Africa he is now the head of AIM (our program) and Education for the UPCI (including bible schools internationally) and she is a fierce curriculum writer for all levels of teaching.
2. We wanted to connect with the Poitrases as they’ve been a great support to us through the entire process, going back 4-5 years. We were interested in their input for our future.
3. We wanted to spend a little extra time as family. Rather than rushing back to Châtellerault after the Saturday seminars, as we normally would’ve done, we stayed for service in Melun on Sunday and made our way leisurely back home Sunday. It was nice to be able to receive ministry rather than do ministry for a change.

Dîner à l’Algérienne

After service we went to l’Étoile Kabyl, an Algerian restaurant in Melun, for a traditional cous-cous. There were mounds of food and it was delicious, but what I want to share with you is their mint tea…

Fresh mint is steeped in a real silver teapot and served just like you see it here. Starting low, the server pours the tea into little crystal tumblers (with another sprig of mint in it) then raises the kettle a good 40-50 centimeters (roughly 2′) to complete the serve… and the show!

When it comes to refills… of course everyone wants to try to do the same!

The Drive Home

On the way home we stopped for a walk-the-dog & washroom break at the Château de Chambord.

After the devastating 2016 floods, a wealthy American philanthropist donated some 3 million euros for the re-establishment of the gardens which had disappeared long before the flood.

President Hollande re-inaugurated the gardens only a week earlier, so the timing was good to make a stop.

We only saw the exterior as it was late in the day, but it was enough to stretch our legs, be among the first to see the new gardens… and to take a few photos.

Prayer Meeting in Tours

Since we were driving by, we also stopped off in Tours (about 1h from Châtellerault) to visit Sis. Danielle. We baptized her last year but she is often unable to make it to church due to her health. Another recent surgery had her flat on her back, but we prayed with her and felt the presence of the Lord lift her spirit and touch her as only he can. Our kids were involved there too of course… so great for them to be part of ministry here!

Moments during the week…

There were also a few good family moments during the week as well.

• Monday we had a great meeting with our fellow leaders… developing the church family.
• Wednesday, Sebastien’s mother was in service for the first time ever… this was special for their family.
• Thursday, Liz & I did a grocery date (hey… you take ’em when you can! But we also stopped for coffee and went further through a book we’re reading together).
• Yesterday I took Timo out for lunch (as I’d done with Dominic a few weeks ago).
• Last night we watched the movie “Trolls” together… very. funny. movie. Ironic, though, that much of the acoustic elements reach back to the 1980’s … takin’ me back to my youth!

“The Book”

Unless you’ve been living under a rock and not seen my social media feeds… my book launched yesterday in the Amazon world marketplaces.

There are countries where the Kindle eBook format is not available (eg. France) and there are also spots where the paperback is not available… such as Canada (Print On Demand products don’t ship to Canada yet). However, Canadians still have the Kindle version, which can be read on the Kindle APP (for iPad for example) if you don’t have a kindle reader. Prices mentioned are for Amazon.com, the US marketplace.

Thankful

I’m thankful for what God did in our family this week and I pray that he’ll do great and wonderful things for your family this week as well.

Thank you for touching base… let what you read inform your prayers for us and for France.

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