leaving home, for home

We're settled into our hotel near the Paris airport for the night. We need to be up and on a shuttle by 7:30am for our 9:30 flight (that's 2:30am CST).

What an amazing last week in Europe we had. We were in Italy for 5 days and were soooo loved on - by the people and by Jesus! Mitch taught all day for 4 days at a Prophetic School. In the evenings we spent time perusing the nearby mall and then dinner at the pastor's home. ITALIAN food for 5 days! :)

The Italian people were so loving and we felt like family. The last couple days, Jesus began lavishing His extravagant love on me through those beautiful women - I have several new pieces of jewelry, including some diamonds! :) Amazing!

Monday was cleaning, laundry and packing day. And that brings us to the train ride to Paris today - 3 1/2 hours on a fast-moving train, dropped off at a station, hopped on a bus and arrived at this Novotel Hotel.

And so here we are, nestled into our hotel rooms for the night. We have 2 rooms, as is required in France for more than 4 people (so frustrating) but it's kind of a blessing for tonight. The kids are in one room watching "Monsters vs. Aliens and Mitch and I are about to watch "Robin Hood" in our room.

In a few short hours, we'll be off and on our way - headed away from 'home' to home. Until next Spring...

our last week abroad

We had a wonderful weekend in Pontarlier. 4 services in 2 days... people were really blessed and ministered too. Jesus is so faithful!

The family we stayed with had a 'petite maison' (little house) behind their home which we stayed in. It's always nice to have your own space when you travel as a family. We have been so blessed by the church body here!

We were just 10 minutes from the Swiss border and there was a group of believers that came over for the weekend meetings. They blessed us with A TON of Swiss chocolate! 20 bars... yikes. Between that and my container of olive oil -fresh from this southern region- I will have a 50 pound bag. :)

Today is again a 'regrouping' day - laundry and clean up. We also will be having lunch with the pastor of the Istres church here shortly. Him and the church have been such a huge blessing to us!

Tomorrow we drive to Torino, Italy - about a 5 hour drive. Thursday begins a 4-day prophetic school which Mitch will teach at all day all 4 days. Unless he pulls me into it. :)

Then we rush back here to Istres to 'regroup' and then take a train to Paris to fly out next Wednesday. It will be quite a week!

Nice in November is nice!

Two weeks from today, we'll have landed back in the States from our 3-month adventure in France... and Mitch & I will be on a flight to Houston. Gotta love a traveling ministers life!

We had a great weekend here in Istres last week. The Lord showed up strong in the Sunday morning service as Mitch preached and our family prayed for nearly everyone in the service.

Sunday evening Mitch went to pray for a man and his wife- separately, because their marriage was a mess and they not even living together anymore. The Lord encountered both of them strongly and the next day the man moved back in with his wife. Their marriage being restored in a glorious, supernatural way!

Tuesday we drove to Nice and ministered at a church there. We had an awesome time of worship as the pastor led and Mitch moved prophetically before preaching. It was a wonderful time in the presence of the Lord with our new friends! A pastor from another church was in the service and would like to have us in his church as well - it won't work this time but next year... The Lord's connections are so amazing!

We stayed the night and then spent the next day visiting the downtown and the beach. The kids even got in the water for a while - it was a nice day but too chilly for me! Nice really is a beautiful city and we're blessed to have connections there.

Today we regroup with school and laundry and then get on a train tomorrow to Pontarlier. It is in the northeastern part of France, near the Swiss border and is COLD right now! The forecast even shows snow over the weekend. What a dramatic change - in the ocean one day and 2 days later in snow. I suppose it's the Lord's way to prepare us for our return home. :)

As time is winding down, the excitement in the kids builds. They are so ready to see all their friends and family again. Mitch and I will be ready to be in our 'homeland' again as well!

and 2 weeks later...

Internet time has been limited - will be happy to be back to my 'internet-on-demand' lifestyle in a few weeks. :) But wow, life is good!

We had a great time in Strasbourg with our new friends. Wonderful hosts they are! We had a great time with their homegroup a week ago Thursday night and were spoiled with their hospitality through the rest of the week.

Also, Mitch ministered in Germany last Saturday and Sunday. The Lord again, visited and released His power and love, to His people. He drove back and forth from Strasbourg because it was only 1 1/2 hrs drive, so the kids and I joined him for Sunday morning. It was fun being in a primarily Ugandan church with a few German people as well.

We were able to be in a service with our good friend Jeff Collins on Friday night and then have dinner with him on Sunday before he returned to Texas on Monday. Beautiful fellowship...

Before we came home on Tuesday, we visited the European Parliament building - not the inside, but we walked around the outside and released the Kingdom of God in the area. Powerful time!

Once again, we are back in the 'laundry-cooking-cleaning' season for a week before we go back North to a small town near Besascon. This weekend, though, Mitch will minister for a second time at our host-church. We are so blessed to have had this apartment to call home for these three months and pray that we can be a blessing to this church family!

Also before we head north again, we will minister at a church in Nice. We are very excited for this new connection and pray that the Lord will minister His power and love to this group of believers!

Yesterday, we spent the afternoon with our dear friend, Pierre-Daniel - the one who has connected us here in France. We spent some time looking at a potential schedule for another extended trip for our family in Fall 2011, as well as a shorter trip for Mitch and I in the Spring. Then he took us on a beautiful hike right near the Mediterranean Sea in some rocky hills. Beautiful!

We are praying to finish well and strong in these last weeks and are looking forward to being back home for the month of December to reconnect with family and friends before jumping into the new year!

a touristy weekend

After 5 days at 'home', we decided to get out for the weekend and visit the western area of France - the only 'corner' that isn't scheduled into our lives for ministry.

So we drove toward Toulouse, where we had a room reserved for 2 nights, but made a stop at Carcassonne. The upper area of Carcassonne is preserved from medieval times and is still a functioning city - shops, homes, restaurants, etc. We loved seeing this part of the city and enjoyed an AMAZING dinner at a restaurant there. It looked like how a medieval inn is portrayed on TV and had live music. The meats were grilled over an open fire right near our table! Excellent time!

When we arrived at our hotel (which was labled as an 'apart-hotel' online), we were very impressed. For the same price (or less) than a 'normal' hotel room, we had a 3 story apartment - two-bedroom, two-bathroom, kitchenette and dining area and a huge living area. Awesome! We loved our 2 nights and were sad to leave on Monday.

Monday, on our way home, we stopped in Narbonne and walked around the downtown area. Beautiful city!

Today we are doing laundry and packing, preparing to leave for a week in Strasbourg. We travel by train tomorrow and minister there on Thursday evening. Then Mitch will minister in Germany over the weekend, while the kids and I stay in Strasbourg. We will take the train back to Istres next Tuesday.

We have just 28 days before we fly home and it's a bittersweet feeling. We are loving our time here, as God's heart for this nation continues to grow in our own lives. Yet, we are missing family and friends and our life in the States as well.

We know God has our time and seasons in His hand. And we are excited for each step!

daily living back in our French 'home'

We arrive back in Istres on Sunday evening after our week up north. Ministry in Normandy was great! And we loved getting to know the pastor of the churches in Dieppe and in Eu - God has something great for them and their ministry!

Now we are back to the land of laundry, cooking meals, grocery shopping, schoolwork... It's all good! I made sloppy joes yesterday - a very American meal in the heart of France. :)

This weekend we have decided to go to the western part of France for a couple days. Mitch will get to watch the football game and we will visit the area of France that is not yet on the ministry agenda. Because of this weekend, we will have been to all 'four corners' of France at the end of our trip. We feel that's very significant and God-planned!

Next week, we head to the eastern part of the country - Strasbourg. And then Mitch will minister in Germany that weekend while we are in that vicinity. After that is a recently scheduled church in Nice. We are thankful for the Lord directing our steps over this 3 month time!

Right now we are sitting in a coffee shop in the downtown area of Istres. Laundry has finished up at the laundry mat down the street and it's probably time to head 'home'.

Continue to pray for us - we need grace to finish well and not kill each other in the process. 91 days in consistent company of each other takes an abundant grace for sure! :)

speeding by like the TGV

This month seems to be rolling by pretty quickly... the girls are thankful. They are doing well and are having fun but definitely missing life in America with their friends and family.

We arrived home from the Cevennes on Monday and have been doing school and taking care of normal life stuff all week.

On Thursday, we visited Nimes - the arena and an amazing garden in the city. Beautiful place but a little sobering, thinking of the early Christians who were martyred there so many years ago. May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering!

Mitch is ministering here in Istres (at the church where our apartment is) in the morning. Monday, we leave bright and early for Normandy. It will be an adventure of all day getting on and off trains until we arrive in Dieppe, Normandy in the evening. We have services Tuesday through Thursday evenings, then will spend a couple days in Paris before coming back to Istres next Sunday.

Mitch has been foiled at every turn, trying to get access to internet while in Istres. So we continue at MacDough... and the BIG GAME tonight is iffy since the time difference makes the game later than even McDonalds is open. Oh, the suffering of living for Jesus. :)

The kids are getting antsy so my time here is up. Au revior for now!

the house of bread

We've had a powerful and beautiful weekend here at "The House of Bread". The Lord released His Spirit in a 'breakthrough' way yesterday and we and the pastor's believe that a new season began for them this weekend. Very exciting! The Lord has plans for France!

The pastor's hosted us in their home all week and they have beautiful hearts of hospitality, making us feel welcome and comfortable. We are blessed!

Tomorrow morning, we will head back to our apartment for a week 'off'. I think we're ready for it - 10 meetings in 8 days is a little wearing. :) The Lord is faithful to maintain His grace though!

We won't travel again until a week from tomorrow, when we take the train up to Normandy(actually a region), to the city of Dieppe. We're very excited, for not only the opportunities of ministry but to be able to see an area so significant in our history. It will be a field trip week! (Maybe ending with a trip to Disney Paris...)

For those that are praying for us, here's our schedule for the next few weeks...

Sun. Oct 17 - Istres (our 'host church') we are in need of a translator at this point - please pray!

Oct. 19-21 - Normandy

Nov. 6 - Strasbourg, France

Nov. 5-7 - Mannheim, Germany

new experiences...

So our time out started by leaving Saturday morning and arriving in Perpignan, where we attended our very first French wedding. It was quite the celebration!

They started at the courthouse at 1pm - which we didn't go to. Then on to the church at 3pm, where we joined. The ceremony was a little longer than the tradition US 20 or 30 minutes and included some worship. Which was really sweet ringing out in a old Catholic cathedral! I see revival in the old denominations!

Around 5:30 we headed over to a beautiful vineyard where the reception was to be held. The beginning hors d'oeuvre/mingling time last for about 3 hours before we headed inside for the dinner around 8:30.

First course served around 9ish, main dish about 10ish, lots of dancing, finally cheese about 12:30am and we left. I was told things would go til 5am - after talking with a few others, I'm certain that's for real. And it's not just 'the partiers' who stay - most do, including the elderly grandparents and families. My only disappointment was dessert wasn't served before we left. I saw the table set up (sans the desserts) and am sure that it would have been AMAZING!

Thankfully, Sunday's meeting wasn't until 2:30 - it was at a church and included people from several congregations, including 5 pastors. Wonderful time!

We drove into the mountains that night - fun times in the dark, in a foreign land, in the mountains. Mitch is a brilliant navigator and we had no problems. (I have yet to drive...)

Now that we're here in the Cevennes, we have nightly meetings in different homes (small groups of the church mostly). Another cultural difference is that often services begin at 8pm or later so that makes for late nights.

Jesus has been meeting with us each night and Mitch has been releasing a fresh passion, encouragement and a new hope, as well as releasing healing into each group. We believe we are here to release what God has given us - so that's what we're doing. And the Lord is so faithful!

I've probably lost most of you, so so long. We continue our week here in the mountains for the next 5 days before we head 'home' for a few days before heading north to Normandy.

enjoying our holidays

So, for two weeks we've been chillin'. We thought we'd have ministry this past Sunday but it was rescheduled. We've had a great time resting, visiting great places - especially the beach, but I think we're all ready to get moving again.

Yesterday was probably the hit of the last 2 weeks, with a trip to Nice. The waves are amazing! And the kids had a ton of fun. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the water and the city - "Promenade des Anglais" is a place I could get used too taking a daily run on. :)

The weather is getting a little more chilly - the wind has picked up. Not sure we'll get any more beach time. :(

We have a few more days of 'vacation' before we head to Perpignan on Saturday. We'll attend a wedding, then minister at a church there on Sunday. Then we're off to the mountains for a week! I really enjoyed our time there last year, such a sacred setting where the Hugenots lived hundreds of years ago.

I guess our time here at MacDough's is up. Happy Fall everyone!

one week later...

So we had a wonderful week last week! Monday through Thursday, we did some sightseeing. Tuesday we spent back at the Med Sea - we can lounge around on the sand forever. :)

Wednesday we drove up to Avignon. The GPS took us a through a beautiful scenic route up over the mountains. We stopped and saw some remains from a Roman built place - we couldn't read the signs but that's what I gathered. :) Also it was right by where VanGough painted some of his most famous paintings. So amazing.

Avignon was an adventure. It's quite a large village and Mitch got the experience of driving in a city! All roads are narrow but we took one that was like a sidewalk, praying we could get through. Fun stuff. We visited the pope's palace there. Amazing but also quite an atmosphere of darkness. The spiritual dynamics in this country are not the same as the States, for sure.

Friday we took the train back to Valence for the conference with Pierre-Daniel. Mitch preached 3 services on Friday, 2 on Saturday and on Sunday morning. A grueling schedule but the presence of the Lord was off the charts! People were healed physically and spiritually, they were encouraged and challenged by the Word and encountered by the beautiful love of Jesus! I love this part of our lives!

Now we're back in Istres, sitting at 'our' MacDough's, catching up on life and getting you caught up on ours. :)

This week we'll tour around southern France some more before things get more consistently busy. We'll start October off by attending our first French wedding!

settled in our 'home'

So we still don't have internet at the house, although a great friend tried to help us out - and that would have been free. Darn. So we are still making daily treks to MacDough. And the internet connection here is even slow and sketchy. Arg. Wouldn't be a HUGE deal, except this is our only way for people from the States to get ahold of us. Ah well.

Otherwise, things are going great. I finally got the laundry caught up and the few things bought to get us settled into our apartment.

This morning, we didn't minister anywhere so we attended church here in Istres. (Our apartment is above the sanctuary :} ) A kind lady who speaks a little English sat behind us and gave us the 'main idea' of what was going on. :)

This afternoon, some new friends drove us over to the Mediterranean Sea and the kids got to swim. A great time relaxing on the beach! We are blessed!

Besides the internet, we are still working on renting a car for the next few days and then possibly purchasing one for the rest of our trip. To either sell at the end or leave here with a family so that we could use it again when we return... whenever that would be.

The kids will have a full week of school mixed in with sightseeing around the area (trusting we get a car!) and then we take the train back to Valence to minister at the Master's Net conference next weekend.

The kids seem to be doing better now that we have a 'home' to call our 'own'. They miss everyone at home but it's nice to have a place to settle. So settled we are, doing life in France. Some things are much the same as America - others very different!

a few adjustments

Woowee, I got to sleep in today! And not feel guilty about it! Great first night in the apartment. We are blessed with a wonderful space.

I got a good start on laundry so we're not the stinky fam we used to be. The process is taking a few days because there's no dryer and we are hanging things throughout the apartment. :) Ah, adjustments.

We have about a week 'off' and are looking into renting a car so we can see the area. Including going a short distance south to visit the Mediterranean Sea. Cool stuff. Hopefully we can get a car by tomorrow.

Biggest adjustment we have at the moment is no internet in the apartment. We can walk a short distance to a MacDough but that won't help Mitch with watching the Huskers in the middle of the night. :) We have a friend who is going to help us figure out a solution - he says he has one - so yay!

Better let the next person have their internet turn...

time to sleep

Another awesome service tonight here in Valence! Jesus never ceases to amaze me! His presence has been so near and I so feel like I'm 'at home'.

This morning we were able to visit a village near Valence that was established during the Middle Ages - several stones had dates, one from the 1500's and another from the 1700's I think. Mind blowing, ya know?

This afternoon we spent time with another Pastor's family. Their home is a farmhouse - atleast 200 years old. Beautiful! They had an indoor pool the girls were blessed to enjoy. Lovely dinner, leading to a lovely service!

Tomorrow we leave for 'our apartment'. I'm ready to do laundry! It's been over a week x 5 people's clothes. Yuck.

We have about 7 days 'off' and we are ready for the break. We had a very busy traveling week right before we left. And then had just a day and a half to get over jet lag and see Paris before ministering the last 5 days straight. It's time to sleep!

And speaking of sleep, it's now after 3am and we leave on a train tomorrow. Definitely time to sleep!

the best icecream they've ever had

We are settled in Valence for a few days. We are staying with a lovely family- the son knows English and the mother has the gift of hospitality! Little gift baskets on the beds for the girls and some goodies for Mitch and I as well. We are so blessed.

Last night's service was wonderful. Such an atmosphere of the presence of the Lord. Mitch ministered healing and also prophetically. The kids had some words of knowledge as well. Very cool. Tonight and tomorrow we minister in two different fellowships. And then on to 'our apartment' in Istres.

Yesterday, we got to visit some castle ruins dated back to 900. So surreal. The kids could have stayed there all day I think. We walked through the village center and got some icecream - which the kids dubbed as 'the best icecream they've ever had'! It was very good!

Paris is ... well, Paris. It's breath-taking and amazing. But I could live in southern France. I love it here. Now if I could just speak the language. :)

last day in Paris

We slept in until after 10 today since there was only an afternoon service. It was nice, though I don't think it really helps our bodies figure out this time difference very well. Maybe by the time we leave, our bodies will have adapted - then we'll have to start all over again in America. :)

On the way to the service this afternoon, we ate at McDonald's with our host family In French they say "MacDough" - from now on it will be MacDough to us! Love it!

Today Mitch preached an excellent message on holiness and we prayed for the few people that hadn't already received prayer this weekend. Mitch had several prophetic words and the people were blessed and encouraged. Awesome!

In the morning (Monday), we will take the TGV to Valence. We have services Monday through Wednesday there. We didn't go to Valence last year, so we will be meeting new faces. Always a little exciting, especially when you are trying to meet them at the train station. Ha!

I'm not sure if we will have internet there so if not, we will be reconnected on Thursday when we reach 'our apartment' in Istres (near Marseilles). Au Revoir!

first day of services

So we began a weekend of ministry this morning. Service, eat, service, eat. That's the way to do it!

We met with the Oasis believers today and were blessed with the presence of the Lord. We prayed for a few backs and saw the Lord bring relief to a couple of the people! I love the season of miracles we are in - the reality of the power and love of Jesus is really amazing! Also we prayed for many just to be blessed and encounter the love of God. A woman testified to having an encounter with Jesus - dancing with him and feeling so free. Thank You Jesus!

It's 11pm and has been a beautiful but long day so I'm ready to RELAX! Mitch is going to watch the Huskers in a couple hours. Bless the Lord for internet and the slingbox!

Paris day 2

Wowsers! Long but great day! Chandler tried to start our day 3:45am when she was wide awake. Thankfully we all went back to sleep but not before Mitch watched a bit of football via slingbox. ;)

After a few more hours of sleep, we checked out and left our luggage at the hotel to walk to McDonald's for breakfast. A new experience was ordering via a touchscreen kiosk....niiiice.

Then we walked a few more blocks to the train station and headed into the center of Paris to site-see for a day. Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triompe, Champs-Elysees, and somewhere Mitch & I didn't get to visit last year, The Louvre. What an amazing place! We didn't have near enough time to see everything but we did see the "Mona Lisa" - totally surreal experience!

We were exhausted when we walked back to the hotel this evening to meet our friends. We're staying in a beautiful home, in the northwest area of Paris with a family with 2 beautiful boys - who, though we can't understand them, are a kick in the pants. :)

Tomorrow, we'll start the day off with the first of the 3 weekend services. Praying the kids' body clocks have done some shifting and we can get around early in the morning without much of a hitch.

The Lord is faithful and so near! Lord, encounter Paris with Your extravagant love for them!

Paris day 1

After staying with our lovely friends on Tuesday night, they drove us to the Omaha airport and we flew over without a hitch. Kids did great on all 13+ hours of flying/airport time. No lost luggage, no delays - praise the Lord! :)

We rode a couple city trains (1+ hours of travel) through Paris to get within walking distance of our hotel. We had, what seemed like, easy instructions but could not find street signs and ended up walking for a LONG time, not really sure where we were going. We were finally rescued by a "Chinese Angel". She stuffed all 5 of us and 14 bags into her little car - like a small Toyota. We truly were like the clown cars from the circus!

Once at the hotel, our 'big' (for Europeans) family required 2 bedrooms (because you cannot put more than 4 in a room) so we have a 'luggage room' and a sleeping room. Now we have all rested a few hours and are ready for dinner. Praying our bodies think it's time for sleep again at a decent bedtime.

Our first service is on Saturday morning (which would be middle of the night Friday in America). We have 3 services this weekend in Paris. Pray for the Lord to meet with us!

countdown to a new stretch of road on my journey

I'm leary of clicking that "create post" button. It's been a LONG time since I blogged and I'm hesitant about starting another one now. But here I go....

In just over 60 hours, my family and I will be boarding a plane to Paris, France. That's exciting. We will be staying for 3 months. That's a little scary. But very exciting at the same time! We know the Lord has divinely set up this season in our lives and we're diving in.

We have a heart for the French, a heart for Europe. And we know God's heart and love are much bigger than ours could ever be. We are being sent on a mission to love and to sow seeds of revival in Europe. I'll be blogging about that journey over the next few months.

Join me on our journey!