The tree has been up for a while, the presents got wrapped (either proactively… last week, or in a mad rush last night, Christmas Eve), they’re currently UN-wrapped and your somewhere in your day, either preparing for or (hopefully) digesting turkey dinner.
Welcome to Christmas!
Ours has been a bit more rushed than normal, because Liz & I got back late Sunday night, from a few days away… only two full days to prepare what hadn’t previously gotten done…
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Well, it’s official. We have a graduate!
Last Saturday, we did a quick up & back to Melun to celebrate with Dominic after 2 years of hard work in France’s Bible School program. Let me tell you more…
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Friday night, Pollux went to the dog-sitter’s house so that we could get an early start the following morning. We were headed north, for youth convention.
We got Timo off to work (Yes – He’s discovering the joys of balancing work life and weekend events... he caught a train up after work Saturday evening) and then we set out on our merry way. Oddly Liz & I got to drive up by ourselves as the youth wanted to be together – what a treat!
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Yesterday was a holiday here in France. I spent the afternoon mowing the lawn down at the church… it wasn’t for the faint of heart.
Between busy schedules and a ridiculous uptick in rainy days during September and October … it was a jungle! Any free days were rainy, and sunny days were heavily scheduled – What a conundrum!
It’s going to take a couple more autumn mows to tame the beast, but it feels good to have gotten the first kick at the can!
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Unprecedented amounts of rain have fallen across much of France over the past two months meaning that as I drive between cities, there are fields of corn and sunflower crops that are unable to be harvested. The ground is too wet for heavy farm equipment to work it. Sunflower heads are so wet, that the seeds are germinating right in the head.
I suppose it is yet another way that all of creation is groaning… weary of the weight and impact of mankind’s largely having distanced itself from its creator. I’m amazed, when I look around, at the uneasiness that characterizes not any one society in particular… but all of them. Never in my life to date has it been on such a wide scale.
I’m glad to know that there is a rock that is greater than I, to which I can cling and find a measure of peace in the storm. We continue to try to be examples of that peace here in our little part of western France.
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So the title of today’s post is, admittedly, a little bit tongue-in-cheek, because no one knows the number of days that the Lord has granted us, but one speaks one’s hopes.
Even at that, I’d be happy if we WEREN’T even half-way there yet. Perhaps the Lord will grant us many, MANY more years… who knows?
But I get ahead of myself…
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Today I want to scan back over the past couple of months and share a couple of things that didn’t get highlighted on the blog, but which represent very special moments in the life of our church.
One of the events was a sad farewell … a “distance makes the heart grow fonder” kind of scenario, and this other is a double cause for rejoicing.
Are you with me?
Let’s dive in…
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Many weeks look more or less the same, but then, every once in a while… there is a week that stands out from the rest – whether in terms of activity, memorability or what have you.
This was one of those weeks…
… and it all started last weekend, on Father’s Day.
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It’s rare for me to not teach on Saturday… which made last Saturday all the more special.
Most know that I teach at a couple of French post-secondary schools during the school year, but I also do some online tutoring as well. Most are regular students that I’ve been working with for about a year. Among them, I have a number of Asian students, but don’t have many options for tutoring them, given the 6h time difference… Saturdays & Thursdays are typically my only options.
Last Saturday, I took a rare break.
Let me tell you about it…
It was hard to believe, when I looked back at the blog, that February was the last post!
(It reminds me of writing letters back in the 80s & 90s… How often we began with “Sorry it’s taken me a while to respond to your letter…” – Can anyone relate?)
Ahhh… handwritten letters – a rare thing these days. Let me, however, get to the quick of things and bring you up to speed on a few of the goings on in the interim.
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AIM Long 