Sophie @ l’Université de Poitiers

Well… for a day at least, let’s not put the cart before the horse. She only came for a day but the uneasiness soon gave way for a confident, well-spoken girl to address the class!

Let’s work our way up to that however. I want to take you back to last weekend first… Can I share a bit of magic?

A Piano in Paris

As you are aware, I was in the Paris area last weekend to teach at the Bible School. It was the first time I’d been back up since December so it felt good to be with the students again. There are some very keen & bright young people who put a ton of effort into training themselves to be better workers in their local churches.

After classes and following lunch I headed into Paris for a couple of hours before hitting the highway home (some might consider it “being indulgent” … I like to think of it as “doing research” 🙂 ). It was a beauuuuu-tiful spring day in Paris with temps in the low 20’s (70’s) which brought out throngs of people…. and more than a few musicians. Here’s one on the Saint-Louis Bridge…

41 seconds of great, Springtime, Parisian energy!

Dominic & High School

Before I get to Soph at the university I’ve got to mention Dominic & his look at high school. On Monday we met with the Vice-Principal of a local high school who makes a practice of meeting new students and their families as part of the application process. Dominic is 90% sure that that’s the school he wants to attend next year. Later on in the week he spent an entire day there… an open house of sorts, meeting other new students, teachers and getting a feel for what life will be like there. Pretty neat process actually!

Now…. on to Sophie!

Monday morning and Tuesday were my last teaching days at l’Université de Poitiers and Sophie tagged along on Tuesday when I have my performing arts students: 2h in the morning and 2h in the afternoon with a three hour break for lunch. (KFC & a bookstore during lunch – we may have had fun).

Before the students came into the classroom, she was nervous, but it wasn’t long before someone, in each class, introduced themselves and put her at ease.

Students in the afternoon class surprised us by bringing snacks & drinks. Whether anticipating a light load for the final class or simply wanting to “create a diversion” we’ll never know… but Sophie got a kick out of it; and one student even brought a guitar.

They had an English Q&A with Soph and the question came up about what had originally brought us to France so we were able to talk about our work with the local church in Châtellerault. Very neat!

… it’s neat. Both of those Tuesday classes created a bit of a mini-petition that they submitted to their administration, asking them to ensure to re-hire me for the fall. Great feeling … thank you Lord for helping us find favor with men… may it benefit your kingdom.

Marking!

Oh yes… there’s one side of teaching that had slipped my mind… Marking.

Between these courses at the university as well as my course at the Bible School… this was also a marking week.

While Dominic was at his open-house, in Poitiers, I headed over to the university library to start the process & am very satisfied by the progress.

The Book

I was admittedly excited last weekend. On Sunday, Paris 3 Days No Stress had ranked as 1st, 2nd & 4th Hot New Release for the three categories in which it’s listed.

Rankings change daily, even hourly so while it held rank for several hours, it’s no small thing to have gotten there in the first place. Thank you!

Do you know someone planning a trip to Paris? Let me help them get their planning off the ground.

Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow

Yesterday was another lawn-mowing day both at the house and the church… trying to make it look spic ‘n’ span for the Easter weekend.

I am thankful, this weekend, for Easter weekend. It is the power of the risen Saviour that gives us:

The promise of eternal life for those who walk in his salvation.
The power to have hope beyond the circumstances of the day.
Limits… I don’t know about you, but I need limits (all things, according to Paul, may be permissible but not all things edify or are useful).
The assurance of continuity… Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (tomorrow, tomorrow’s tomorrow, and so on….)

Thank you for visiting today.
Let what you read inform your prayers for us and for France.