On one hand… it’s hard to believe.
On the other… it’s unbelievably calm!

Should we be worried?

Civil Ceremony

This time next Saturday we’ll be headed to the Mairie (city hall) to see our middle child and first son be married. Here in France, pastors are not considered extensions of the state with the authority to perform legally recognized weddings, so the responsibility falls to municipal or other elected officials (usually the Mayor or their designate). Church ceremonies, in the eyes of the state, are considered the religious blessing of the legal civil marriage.

This was the case when Liz & I were married in Belgium as well. We had a civil ceremony at city hall (we were almost late… the beginning of a long trend! 🤣) before having a wedding at her local church. I remember there were discussions about whether or not we should travel from city hall to the church in the same car, because although in the eyes of the state, we were married, in the eyes of some of the Christians… it could be a bit unconventional.

Spoiler Alert… we ended up traveling together... but I digress.

Rooftop Views of Châtellerault

(if you missed the post about their engagement… it’s here)

Dominic & Melanie will be living here in Châtellerault and picked up a reasonably priced, furnished apartment in the pedestrian zone downtown.

Though they won’t live there until after the honeymoon, they were able to get the keys ahead of time and we helped them move a few things in this week.

They have a lovely spot on the top floor. It is bathed in light with a number of skylights, but it also came with not one, not two, but three fans, so we suspect that it’s a warm spot in the summer (not surprising given the increasingly hot summers we’ve had). But these two are frugal and resourceful… the price was right and they’re up for the challenge.

Here are a few pictures taken from their various skylights… looking out over the surrounding rooptops.

They won’t have to worry about any loud neighbours above them and they have some lovely views.

Full House

Last weekend there were lots of mouths around our dinner table on Sunday.

Helen Valencia (who is from Chicago, but who is studying in Angers this semester), was here for the day, and missionary Brochu was with us for the weekend as well.

His visit was a little longer than they normally are, so it was nice to be able to spend a bit more time together. He will be performing Dominic & Melanie’s church wedding so that Melanie’s dad and I can attend the wedding simply as dads, with no particular responsibilities or details to manage. His visit allowed them to connect and discuss plans for the day as well.

Perhaps that’s one of the reasons it’s still rather calm at this point.

Two “Quickies”

Appreciate your Prayers…

As we’re in the final stretch, there’ll be a lot going on this week:

• A couple of fellow MKs are arriving from the USA this week for the wedding, along with family & friends from around Europe.
• Dominic has an X-Ray on Friday (the day before the wedding). They’re trouble-shooting some abdominal pain he experienced last weekend.
• Dominic & Melanie really desire that their wedding be a witness to a number of their friends who will be attending… young people who themselves come from homes marked with either tragedy or marital breakdown.

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Thanks for sharing a bit of time today!
God bless you & yours!