29 December

It's the end of 2009. It's been a year of difficult challenges and great joy for me. It started with the wedding of a dear friend and a lot of language study. The spring was a season of dying to self...not easy. The summer was a time of rest and restoration. September brought more schooling only in English this time. The fall was a time to find direction and get connected to France. I am amazed as always to see how God has transformed me and prepared me for this season in my life. He is faithful.

I want to start out by saying thanks. I will repeat what I said in my newsletter:
I want to say a HUGE thank you to all of you who pray for me and have supported me financially this year. It has been a fruitful year and it is only possible because the body of Christ has been working together. I also want to say a big thank you to those of you who have given of yourself by: laughing with me, crying with me, keeping me in your home, feeding me (this is no small task ;), taking me to the airport and/or train station...and back again, teaching me a new language/culture, helping me prepare a CV in French, answering all my questions (again no small task), helping me organize my new life in France, sending me out with love and purpose, receiving and adopting me in a strange land so that it is no longer foreign but home. You know who you are. You know what you've done. I am grateful to God for all of you reading this email. Thanks to God for His people, His family, and His Kingdom.

I will have my first job interview in France on January the 15th in Colmar, which is about a 20 minute drive from Guebwiller where I live. It is with a company that teaches English both in their offices and they give classes at different businesses. Please pray that if this is the job God has for me that I will have favor with the employer. Also, please pray that I will be at my best with French. It will be just a few short days after returning to France and jet lag could be an issue. Also, if I get this job I will need a car to get to and from work. I don't know if they will hire me without already having working papers (a work visa). All of these are also prayer requests and questions that need to be answered. I am full of faith, however, that if this is what God wants for me He will provide these things.

If God does provide this job or one like it, I will need to have wisdom on what to do with the youth that I have been working with. I really feel that the music groups and projects we have started are important and I don't want to have to abandon them completely. I just need God's wisdom on where to invest and what His priorities are.

Please continue to pray that God will bring the right connections and direction on obtaining the right kind of visa, whether it's through a job with a language school or some way the Christian school I am working with could help me get one, or another solution I have not seen yet.

It is time to do taxes. I know...happy thought. I am going to get them filed while I am here. I will have to pay taxes. Please pray that what I owe will be manageable and that God will provide, as He always does.

We will be having an informational night on Saturday, January 2, at FOC in Russellville. If you are in the area and free that evening I hope you can stop by. There will be goodies to eat as well as the usual photos and stories and worship led by Andy Moore.

Here's what I see for 2010:

God has begun rooting me to France. I see 2010 as a year to continue to be established in the French language as well as culture. I am very happy in Guebwiller volunteering with Eglise Josué and with College Daniel. It is with joy that I see how God is taking my teaching and music experience and putting them to use with the church and school in Guebwiller. I plan on staying in Guebwiller for at least the next year. God has given me a French family and good friends. All of this just confirms to me that I am in God's will and following His plan for me. Oh what a feeling !!

I will continue to seek God's face and look for ways to get a visa and a job. I now have a resume in French and feel prepared to continue looking for jobs if my first interview doesn't work out. My goal is still to look to make a living in France so that I won't always be supported by friends and family in the States.

I leave for France on January 11. It has been good to see many of you while I've been in Arkansas. I look forward to more time with you before I return.

Happy New Year to you all! May God richly bless you now and always.


**The pic at the top is from my sister's house in Oklahoma. We had 14" of snow! It was a beautiful white Christmas. Only the 2nd white Christmas I ever remember having.

5 December

In a week I will be leaving France to return home for the holidays. I will be in Arkansas from mid-December to mid-January. It will be so good to see family and friends. I will also have the joy of getting my taxes in order and other fun administrative tasks like that. I would really appreciate your prayers during this time for good health, safe travels, effective use of administrative time, and just being able to enjoy my friends and family.

My time here since the beginning of October has been rich. I feel like I've truly found a French home. It's been so fulfilling to be able to use my teaching and music experience to help the youth here as well as plug into what is happening with the church. I was warmly welcomed and included in daily life here. While I am ready to see family and friends in Arkansas, I am looking forward to returning to Guebwiller soon to continue life and the projects we have started.

The next step... My plan at this point is to return to France in mid-January. I still do not have a visa beyond the 3 month tourist visa. I will be sending out resumes and see what God might have planned in that direction. I feel my focus for now should remain here in Guebwiller with the school and church. I'm not sure how that will play out practically. So for now I am simply doing what I know to do and trusting God will make the next step clear. Please continue to pray that God will make a way through the visa red tape and give me/us the strategy on how to continue. (For example, if the school wanted to hire me it would be a long process where any possible French candidates would have to be eliminated before they could hire me and sponsor me for a visa.) I also need clarity or confirmation that for the time God wants me to focus on what I am currently doing. If He has another plan or something to add, I need to know. I simply want to be obedient.

The past week has brought me new friends and developed other friendships. I am seeing progress with the youngest music groups I am working with. And I have once again seen the efficiency of music as a tool to reach students at a deeper level. It's simply the tool that opens the door to being able to impart life.

The coming week is going to be BUSY. A guest speaker will be here from Mexico. He will be speaking at the school and there will be evening services on Monday and Tuesday at Eglise Josué. Our youth band will be leading worship on the Tuesday night. We are also having extra practices to prepare for the monthly worship gathering called the Tabernacle which is this Friday night. Please pray God have His way in all of these meetings and that the students will have all the strength they need for school, homework and all of the extra rehearsals and meetings.

Tomorrow I get to go to a Christmas market with the Chaubet family. I am really excited to spend time with them and see a French Christmas market with all of the lights and things that go along with it.

That's all for now. Thank you all for checking in and praying!