If things kind of stalled after my 30 days of Gratitude, it’s because I was away in Romania (as you know) and left my computer back in France.

I was able to continue posting the #30Days posts because I’d pre-made draft post templates that I simply needed to type up – doable via iPad. For the longer, less standardized posts… a bit tougher. So here we are 2 weeks later.

Let’s dive in…

My Birthday

On the morning of my birthday, Liz texted me in Romania and said that she expected it would be a near perfect day for me to celebrate since I’d be travelling, with old friends, and visiting castles.

She was right.

I’ll do a separate post, at one point, on the trip to Romania… it certainly warrants it, but for now here’s a pic of Soph & as well as the two castles we visited together: Castelul Peles and Castelul Bran (Count Dracula’s Castle).

I’d visited both before, in 2012 when I was in Romania for a friend’s wedding. It was special, though, to take Soph. One reason is that Peles Castle’s profile is part of the cover for Soph’s second book in The Grey Flame trilogy; Elemien.

More on Romania in another post… promise!

Speaking of Books

I’ve been fortunate this year. Not only have I had a chance to help Soph bring her second book to life, and help publish some of my student’s stories.

I also did final editing, pagination and cover design for Melinda Poitras’ latest book: Warrior Princess – Put On Your Identity, Pick Up Your Sword.

Let me tell you that that book ministered to me. Melinda Poitras can write!! Don’t let the princess title throw you off guys… there’s stuff in there for you as well.

There’s More…

I’m currently in the process of final editing and publication prep for a soon-to-be-released book by Cylinda Nickel, former director of M.K. Ministries and currently executive director for Compassion Services International.

I won’t steal her thunder, but it’s the story of how God miraculously healed her after a devastating brain aneurysm back in 2017. Her faith journey is incredibly edifying and as was the case with Melinda’s book, Cylinda’s is an encouragement to me.

So not only am I helping a friend tell their story, but I’m being blessed in the process… a true win-win!

A Night Away

You know… it’s kind of crazy, but Liz & I tried to think when the last time was that we were able to get away for a bit… and it went back a couple of years.

Oh sure, we’d gone out for coffee & dessert a couple of times, or even dinner once or twice… but between COVID and just overall busyness… it’d been a loooooong time coming.

We were gifted an evening at this local inn, back at Christmas and finally found the opportunity to use it.

Château du Clos de la Ribaudière is an absolutely perfect spot. Only about a 25min drive from our house and with a lovely supper menu as well.

Interestingly, one of the things we remarked was that the rooms were really North American sized AND had wall-to-wall carpet (something you RARELY see here in Europe).

Again… I’ll do a separate post on it at some point because supper was a true treat to the taste buds!!

National Holiday

Well… yesterday was France’s national holiday… and a good friend’s birthday.

We spent the day puttering around the house, headed out to our friend’s house for supper and then made our way back home around 10pm.

It would have been early enough to go see local fireworks, had we had the energy to do so, but we didn’t. The heat of these recent days drains us of most energy. That being said, we could see the bigger ones from our house as we’re up on a bit of a knoll.

For the more close-up, spectacular views… I had to rely on local instagrammers like @JulienBerth37.

Church

The boys were able to take part in conference down in Bordeaux where Dominic both brought morning devotions one morning and helped translate into Spanish (!). Timo helped out with photography and lent a capable hand wherever it was needed. Soph was able to attend the final 2 days after returning from Romania. It was a grand ol’ reunion!!

Last night was Zoom Prayer and we had folks from a little bit all over… including from the State of Washington where one of our youth is vacationing for the summer. There’s a lovely little core group who are becoming more faithful and consistent with prayer… awesome!

That’s all for today…

Thank you for your prayers for us… they are NEVER wasted and we are always in need!

God bless you & yours today.

---

Thrown into a bit of a tizzy by all that’s going on in our world?
Give Psalm 46 a prayerful read and let the LORD minister his peace to you.

He IS in control!