These past few weeks have been a blur… and then some!

Fortunately for us though, the blisteringly hot summer temperatures that you’re hearing a lot about on the news are much further south and are not currently affecting us.

This week, our temps will range between 24-26˚C (75-79˚F)… while parts of the southern coast, Italy and over East toward Turkey are all seeing temps in the low to high forties (105-118˚F)!! … Just. Un-Real!! Thank you Lord that it’s not us!

Lots of good things, so let’s jump right in!

Birthdays

Soph & Dominic both celebrated birthdays in June. When they were smaller, we often celebrated them together, then got away from that somewhat through their teen years. Their days each had a special meal and maybe a friend or two in attendance, but we essentially gave them each their own day.

This year, we reverted back to a shared birthday… and Melanie brought it together. She contacted various friends from a few different social circles and then “took them out for breakfast.” In the meantime, Liz & I decorated, pulled out food, tables, chairs, the BBQ and friends arrived at the house.

It was truly a surprise and a great return to an old tradition!

Belgium for a 50th Anniversary

The week following the kids’ birthdays, the six of us hopped in the car and headed to Belgium to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of Liz’s parents.

It was a long & quick trip…
– up on Friday
– celebrate (Sat. & Sun.)
– a visit w/friends (Monday)
– an overnight drive home…

Why the rush?

Timo was starting a 2-week summer job on Tuesday morning at 9:00am. (In theory, he was supposed to sleep in the car… it wasn’t a total success, but he survived.)

While we headed back to France, Sophie caught wings and went to Romania for a week to revisit some of the friends she’d made last year. It was a bit of a Last Hurrah so to speak… having graduated from university.

Family Day at Church

On July 9th, Pastor & Sis. Brochu along with Baptiste & Alicia Ricard, of the Paris-Center church, came down to minister and spend the afternoon with our folks.

Everyone brought a bite to eat for themselves, plus a little extra and we spend several hours at the church following the service… playing badminton, chatting, singing, etc.

The threat of rain held off and we had a beautiful day!

New Horizon Campus

The Monday after Family Day, the kids loaded into their car and headed down to Bordeaux for the summer outreach & growth event “N.H.C.” (New Horizon Campus).

They spent the week there with about 100 other young people from all around France and a few from Spain. Timo Coordinated the photography team and Sophie assisted him, while Dominic & Melanie hosted and looked after the Spanish Youth President.

Liz & I went down Wednesday and returned home on Friday as I took part in a Q&A for pastors of small churches. Many of the young people are from large churches with oodles of people to help out with just about anything that could be going on. In many cases they’d love to do more but just aren’t aware of the opportunities that await them, from time to time, in smaller churches where personnel is more frequently in small supply.

The goal?

Raise awareness of the needs elsewhere in France.
… let’s see what God will do!

5 & 18 years… our Friends

Liz met Bart & Wanda in the early 1990s and I met them a year later when the four of us all sang with The Continental Singers (Francophone Tour – which toured through France, Belgium & Switzerland – this is where Liz & I met).

Since Bart was one of only a few people to know both Liz and I, and since we’d hit it off so well during tour, I asked him to be my best man at our wedding.

I saw Bart back in 2017, but aside from video-calls, Liz had not seen them (in person) for roughly 18 years! 😳

They were going to be vacationing in Paris for a few days, so on Thursday we drove up to spend the day with them. It was a long day (5:00am departure and a 1:00am arrival home the next day), but gracious we had a lovely time together visiting Chantilly Castle, just north of the Paris airport.

Some friendships drift and have ‘seasons’, but what a joy that others do not and you just pick right up where you left off last time. #Thankful

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A bit of a rushed run-down, but there was a lot to catch up on. There were other things in between, but I’ve just chosen some of the highlights.

Thanks for stopping by today to get caught up.
Let what you read, feed your prayers for us & for France.

Please pray…

…for Timo & Soph who will be traveling to NAYC this week in the USA