Let me tell you about the highlight of my (our) week…

It didn’t… have anything to do with Timo being asked to represent his school at a high-school recruitment event for middle-school aged teens.

It didn’t… have anything to do with the way Dominic has been taking care of Melanie, who has been under the weather for several days.

It didn’t… have anything to do with the way Soph‘s been making progress on her writing and working towards publishing the third book in her Grey Flame series.

It didn’t… even have to do with the fact that we arrived in France 9 years ago yesterday!

It had to with Liz & I…

Sunday Afternoon

Last Sunday was a rarity.

After church, the kids stayed at church for a youth meeting. Although Melanie wasn’t well enough to be there in person, she connected virtually. 

They had lunch onsite (a warm lunch no less, thanks to a microwave oven that Liz picked up last week… PROGRESS!), had a time of sharing, filmed some video content to publish on the youth’s Instagram account @reaction.epu, and a few other things as well.

I’m less concerned about what all they did, because I’m more concerned about Liz & I.

We went back to the house, had a bite to eat, laid down for a nap and to our surprise, the house was still quiet after we woke up.

We prepared a cup of coffee and did a fun little personality test on Arthur C. Brooks’ website, to see whether we were a Mad Scientist, a Poet, a Cheer Leader or a Judge. I already knew mine, but was curious about Liz (she somewhat surprised me).

(If you’re brave… comment to let me know what you think we are.)

After that, we dug into a book that we’d gotten for Christmas, from the kids and that we’d been waiting to get into: Sacred Marriage: What if God Designed Marriage to Make Us Holy more than to Make Us Happy. It had been recommended by Pastor Andrew Romine, in the States as well as our friends Kevin & Crystal Wallace in northern France.

Whoa! What a wonderful book!

We’ve only just scratched the surface… but what a treat to delve into our marriage, alone, in a quiet house, over coffee… a rare treat!

9 Years Yesterday

I’m a little emotional as I look back at this photo, taken on the tarmac of Charles-de-Gaulle airport upon landing.

Our friend Captain Mark Cary accompanied us over – drastically reducing our airfare costs – as his way to contribute to our mission.

When I think of all the things that we’ve been through and all the things God has done… I’m grateful for a good many things, the list of which is too long to mention here.

Mark Condon released an incredibly appropriate song, all the way back in 2010. It’s about as on-point as possible. It’s both an expression of the reality of situations that we don’t understand, as well as an emphatic affirmation of faith that God constantly takes us toward more and better.

I still believe!