Lots to do!

Whew! The container finally arrived on Monday!! So surreal to see the exact thing we loaded up in Mansfield arrive at our front door here in France! Definitely felt like we were getting a giant Christmas present!

Now for all the work! It has pretty much wiped me out the last few days as we try to make something from the mess! It didn't feel like we were bringing a lot of stuff, especially compared to what we had already gotten rid of! Now, we're trying to figure out where it's all gonna go!! In a house less than half the size of our old one...phew!

Some ways you can be praying for us... E. needs supernatural strength and patience as he deals with his boss. He just found out the all of the many guys who had his position before him, were all fired. So we shall see. Honestly, this job pays so very little that if he could find a better paying one, that'd be great. As of right now, he really believes he's there to minister to the young guys under him. So until he's removed, his goal is to just glorify God there.

Pray for the kids and I as we try to get this house under some sort of control. We chisel a little bit at a time but still have so much to so.

Also pray for us to figure out our finances/budget here. It is difficult in several different ways but we mainly need to figure out (quickly) how to live on one paycheck a month and everything is automatically withdrawn for any bills...and some are bills we're just not sure how to estimate for yet. Next month will prob be easier but we have three weeks till the next one, and I'm not sure how far our gas will go, how high the utilities will be, for instance. So there will be a lot of home bound projects so we dont have to go out. Pray for contendness during this time.

Pray for me...I get waves of loneliness which come and go. I just miss so many people, things I used to do, speaking to people, feeling useful...when you think about us, please pray for us.

Ephesians 8:18-20....
With every prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and to this end be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints. Pray for me also, that I may be given the message when I begin to speak–that I may confidently make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may be able to speak boldly as I ought to speak.

We're so not even close to being in Paul's position here. But these language barriers and cultural differences feel a little like chains to me at times. We really, really covet your prayers!

Love all of you guys!
Here's a few pics of all the craziness!

Been a long week and a half

It's funny how some days/weeks just fly by then you have the longest week ever inserted in between. That was last week. Last week, we were pretty much all in some stage of sickness...still not sure what it was but it wasn't fun. I think we've mostly recovered now though.

Let me see....some of the 'highlights' since I last wrote. 1) Being basically pulled over by the police: So, I'm taking a van full of teenagers home to somewhere I've never been before & in the dark...we pull up to a red light and my son (about killed him!) decided to have a staring contest with the policeman who had pulled over another car. So all of a sudden, he walks up to me, is shining his flashlight into the van searching it, and motions for me to roll down the window. He asked me something and I just said 'Je ne parle pas franscais!' I was kinda freaking out and was like could someone please tell me what he's asking me??!! Basically, he wanted to know why no one was sitting next to me! So one of the teenagers told him 'because we all wanted to sit together!' He continued to flashlight us all for a few more seconds then told us to have a good night. It seriously felt like we were back in time to a WWII Nazi horror movie....at least that was my impression. The kids in the back were freaking out for an entirely different reason, unbeknownst to me. One of them didn't have his seatbelt on and they were all trying to hide him, because the fines here for that are astronomical. Ugh....never again...

2) Semi-moving into the house. We still have no heat/hot water because the gas won't be turned on until tomorrow. As soon as the Internet got turned on here, the kids all moved in...and have been (bravely) taking cold showers...and boy, are they cold! E. & I finally got a bed and moved in two nights ago. Yesterday, I tried for an hour and a half to fill up the bathtub with this hot water kettle I have...very unsuccessful. Can't wait for it to be turned on tomorrow...there's basically a 'waiting list' for the bathtub tomorrow! Lol...

3) In France, it's just better not to have any set kind of agenda...you just finish the day feeling frustrated and overwhelmed. Not only does everyone take a two hour lunch break (the bank has a 3 hour one!), but on top of that, nothing is EVER simple here! Take my 'adventure' one day to try to buy a grill. Two hours later, I DID get the grill but I really regretted the process during it. (Setting the stage: I took my son and two of his French friends with me to 'help' me with the translating...BIG mistake # 1!) So, one of the boys tells the cashier we want to purchase this grill they have set up in the entrance outside. "Oh no...you can't buy that here...you have to buy that outside." Ok...so we traipse outside...."Oh no, you have to go buy that inside" (remember....I DID have translating help, so this wasn't even a language problem!) "Well, sir, they told us we had to go here"...."No, you have to go inside"....somehow we ended up buying this 40€ kit there but I still have no idea why...I thought I was buying the grill at that point! Traipse back inside...."no, you have to go around to the very back of the building". Drive to the back of the building and FINALLY find where they're talking about...go up to the pick up spot..."No, you can't buy that here...you have to go to the front of the building!" Finally at this point, some warehouse worker overhears us and tells the lady, "no, they have to buy that here!" FINALLY!! I'm sure you're even tired of the story...imagine how I felt BEING there!

There have been so many episodes like that this week that you'd never read this blog again if I wrote them all down. I've never felt more like a toddler in all my life (I imagine I didn't mind feeling like one when I actually was one). It's a terribly overwhelming feeling to not know the language, constantly get lost and in general, feel completely helpless. This has been a week that has made me want to come home. I know it will eventually get better but it has been hard to remember that this week.

Please pray for us specifically this week. Yesterday, E. had a terrible migraine and it is still lingering today. Pray that it will completely go away.
The container is supposed to arrive tomorrow...hopefully. Pray that our stuff is relatively unscathed and that we'll be able to get it unpacked rapidly as we have a two hour window in which to do so.
In general, just pray for all of our overall morale. We need a 'shot in the arm' emotionally and some rest. It's very difficult to have any reserves to try to study the language when we all feel like we do.
Love and miss everyone,
Jennifer