February 10

T minus two weeks and counting....

My two France sharing nights went really well. Thanks to everyone who made it and made it special. I was really encouraged by the support and the prayer times. It has helped to prepare me to return full and full of faith to France.

It's crunch time. I am still keeping up with my studies while getting last minute things done to return (like taxes, oh joy) as well as last minute prep for the wedding. It's busy.

I am so thankful for the time I have had at home. God has been good. And now I begin to turn toward France once again while keeping my head in the game here.

I am reading a couple books that are inspiring and challenging me. "Living as a People of Hope" by Jeff Fountain. It's a look at the people of God getting a vision and hope for Europe in the new millennium. I was moved to tears by the realization that the church, the people of God, are irrelevant to those looking to shape the future of Europe. This must change!

The other book is "The Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Claibourne. He issues a challenge by the life he lives to be followers of Jesus on a daily, real, and gut level. Good stuff. I recommend both books.

Please pray that God will raise up His people in Europe/France and give them a strategy to reach the lost and help shape society.

And pray that God will add to the people of God by sending believers who will go but especially by multiplying those that are becoming believers and being discipled in France and Europe.

Please pray for me that God will keep me healthy and help me get prepared to return to France in two weeks.

Please pray for continued provision, especially with tuition and housing costs coming due this spring.

Thanks so much for your support and prayers!!

**The picture above is Mme. Freeman, my wonderful tutor.

January 27

I can't believe it's just 4 short weeks until I get to return to Paris. As always the time is just flying by.

This past weekend I spent time with my dear friends as we celebrated with my friend Christie who is soon to be wed. I have known these young women since they were 16 and now there is a baby on the way and an upcoming marriage. It is good to see how God grows and matures us. They are beautiful and faithful women of God.

This Saturday, January 31st and the following Saturday, February 7 at 6:30 at FOC we will be having times for people to come and hear about what God has been doing with me in France and what is coming up. I hope those of you who are in the area and available will come. I will share pictures as well as stories and we will have refreshments. I am looking forward to seeing those who can make it and sharing my heart. We will also have a time of worship led by Allie and CJ. I am really looking forward to that. We want God to show up and be with us. Come ready!

My studies are coming along. I think with some work I will be able to catch up with my class when I get back to Les Cèdres. The biggest draw back to being here is being surrounded by English all the time. But Mme. Freeman and I seem to be keeping up with my class assignments from France.

God is filling me up and stretching me out. It is a good season. I ask you, like I am asking myself, how big do we dare to dream...

All things are possible with God.

January 18

Get ready, folks. I usually shield you from my circular thinking by planning out what I'm going to say before I start... Well, not today. So here are my random thoughts. Hope they come out somewhat understandable... :)

Do you play on a team? Work on a team? Have a team in place to help you live life? Well, as for the last one, if you don't have a team in place to help you live life, GET ONE! They may be your family. It may be your friends. It may be your classmates or workmates. Odds are it's a combination of all of these. They are the people who get through daily life with you. They see you at your best and worst...and still love you. They are the encouragement that made everything better. They are the truth that stung but lead to freedom. They teach you, care for you, play with you, pray for you, sharpen you, cheer for you, correct you, and always love you even when they don't necessarily like you at a particular moment. This is the core team. There are always those wonderful people who enter out lives for a season or a particular purpose and move on. They are valuable. God brings them into our lives to accomplish His purpose in our lives. There are always the team members who are the support team or enjoy playing the game with us and we love them. They are valuable. God enriches our lives with them. But it's the core team who shapes us, motivates us, and keeps us going. Who is speaking into your life? Who is helping to knock off the rough edges? Who is there to pick you up when you fall? Who believes in you and helps you believe? Who is it? Who are they? Because that core team doesn't need to be big, but it does need to be more than one person. We are made for community. I am blessed to have a wonderful team. Thank you, God.

Part II:

This past week I went to Danville High School to visit all my former students and friends. It was a wonderful time to see everyone and reconnect. While I was there I got to speak to the Jr. High FCA (a student Christian organization). It is made up of 7th and 8th graders. I issued a call to be available to God like Isaiah was when he said, "Here am I. Send me." I was really encouraged by the response. One student raised their hand to receive salvation for the first time! And all but 2 or 3 raised their hands in response to the call to be available to God for whatever He would ask them to do. So I prayed for them. I was so encouraged by their response and I really could feel the presence of God with us. One of the students has since emailed me and told me how he and his friend had been encouraged and gave me examples of how he had all ready reached out to others to help them! God is so faithful.

In this season I am feeling lead to issue a call, especially to young people, but to all people to understand that God has a plan and a destiny for them. Now the fact that Carl came up with the name "Clarion Call" for me is making even more sense. It is my heart to see people overcome the things that hold them back and be released into freedom. If we can understand how much God loves us and that He chooses to use His people, we will begin to believe He can use us and we will want to make ourselves available to Him for whatever He dreams up.

January 11

Hello from beautiful Arkansas. It is nice to be home. I didn't realize how much I missed the sun and stars! So being home in the "Natural" state has been a treat. Of course the best part is being with family and friends. God has been filling my 'tank' with good fellowship and people pouring into me. I am blessed.

I have been home for three weeks now. I spent most of the first two weeks sleeping! It was much needed and appreciated. My time started out with a bang with my dad having chest pains and going to the emergency room the day after I arrived. He ended up at the Heart Hospital in Little Rock and had a stint put in an artery that was 95% blocked the next day. We had him home in time for Christmas Eve dinner. I am so thankful for God's grace and the medical technology we enjoy. I quickly understood why God changed my plans to have me home for the holidays. And I am happy to report that my dad has been feeling stronger each day since then. Praise God! And thanks to all of you who were praying for him.

I have a lot to process. It was really intense the first two weeks home, especially since I was so exhausted. I have begun a dance between two continents that was prophesied to me ten years ago by my pastor, Wayne Drain. He said he saw me with a foot on each continent and I was dancing back and forth like I had a dual citizenship for a time. Sounds cool, exciting, and romantic, huh? Well, one doesn't anticipate the stretching and tug of war that goes on in one's heart. I now have two places, and even more emotionally attaching, people in both places that I love. And I am confident as I spend more time in France the attachments will grow.

I began French lessons with Mme. Freeman this week. She is so generous with her time. I am so grateful to have such a good teacher available to me as I would fall behind with my studies otherwise. My other 'duty' while in Arkansas is to help and support a dear friend as she prepares to marry a wonderful godly man. I am staying busy between the two.

I will return to school at Les Cèdres in France at the end of February. I plan to attend the final two trimesters and will be there until the end of June. I look forward to returning to France. I am still confident that God has called me to France and I am doing my best to lean into this time of training. After language school I am uncertain of where God will send me and how He wants me to serve. But I am certain that He will make it clear in time.

Please pray for me that:

this time at home will continue to be a time to rest and be restored.

my French studies will be productive.

God will help me process and prepare for what He is calling me to do.

provision for tuition and living costs.

God will make clear the next steps after June.



**The picture above is my lovely family on Christmas Eve.**

December 20

This weekend another chapter of life closes. It's been an amazing experience. You will all be glad to know that I've passed my course and been moved up a level to B1, which I'm sure means nothing to you unless you know the rating system. But it is an accomplishment I am proud of. More importantly though, God has added to me precious people, shown me more of Himself, and deepened a call that He is still revealing to me. It is an odd feeling to be drawn to a people and a place and so natural all at the same time. I have so many questions still and am so confident of God's leading.

Please pray for me:

that during my time at home I will be able to effectively continue my French studies.

for God's continued provision through people's generous support.

that God will reveal more of His plan for me. In particular, what I should do at the end of my school term in June.

that I will know my Father better each day.

So, this is it for a while from France. The blogs for the next 2 months will be from good ole Russellville, AR.

Merry Christmas, everyone!!
Joyeux Noel!!


**The pic is of me and Hannah at her fancy birthday dinner at Le Ciel de Paris. It's at the top of a 50 story building overlooking beautiful Paris. She got us all dressed up and we had a great time. Thanks to her dad for providing for such a wonderful experience.

December 2

Happy Thanksgiving, a little late. We had a great Thanksgiving feast here the Wednesday before. Here are a couple pics from that day. I hope everyone enjoyed family and friends. We did the traditional giving of thanks around the table, international style. It was wonderful.

(Pics: Lauren and me; Deborah, Elizabeth, Hannah, and Katie; table decorations by Katie)

The big news, if you haven't gotten the newsletter, is that I will be home for Christmas. I am very excited about this. It will be good to be home. I love it in France. I know this is where God has me. I also see my need to be restored. So, I will be home for 2 months and return to France at the end of February and attend Les Cédres until the end of June. I will continue to study while at home with the help of books and friends to keep me up on assignments and the ever generous help of Mme. Freeman.

My friend, Amy Coonagh, came to visit this past weekend. We know each other from when we did our DNA year in England 10 years ago. We had a great time. It's always so encouraging for me to see the ease and goodness of the God-connection. We had a time of worship on Friday night. It was so refreshing. Something I really needed.

It was my day to give the meditation or devotion for our class chapel yesterday. It was my first "message" in French. I shared about our complete dependence on God. So many times we know what to do and we just move along without really paying attention, and then... God is faithful to remind us of our need for Him. I mean isn't it nice to just get on and do what needs doing. Isn't it nice to be strong and independent. hmm... But the truth is He is our source in all things. And we will always run out of strength, energy, resources at some point. The good news is "ma grâce te suffit," "my grace is sufficient for you." Isn't it good to know that we have an unlimited source to plug into!? It's not always fun or comfortable, but God is dependable and life giving. Merci, Dieu. So, I encourage you, if like me you're at the end of you and all your resources, trust in God for He loves you. He is faithful. And His grace is sufficient. And then there's the whole life abundant thing, but that's another topic...

November 23

This blog is going to be an attempt at giving a little perspective on the French people. Please keep in mind that these blogs are simply that, blogs, made up almost entirely of my opinions. However, I will add a few historical facts to give what I say a little backing.

The French Revolution began in 1789. The monarchy had bankrupted the country, in part by funding the Americans in our revolution. The people were starving. And "the philosophes of the Enlightenment had provoked hope for the improvement of people's lot and provided the philosophical template for a new political order."* The result was a bloody and violent revolution. The guillotine was invented and anyone who had an enemy with any kind of influence lost their head along with their family.

Protestant Chritians had been severely persecuted and massacred. The idea of separation of church and state was born in France. I think this was the removal of God from society. Not that there are not always believers and lovers of God in France, just that as a society I think this was a major turning point.

Something maybe more familiar to all of us are the two World Wars. Just think, these wars were fought on French soil. They were pounded again and again on their home soil. Two generations of men were lost. Americans can't understand this, not on a gut level. So, if a stereotype of the French is that they are cynical, one can begin to understand why. If I don't see a lot of hope, one can begin to understand why. If the French think we are too happy and not based in reality, one can begin to understand why. We need to be ever thankful for the hopeful culture we have. Don't misunderstand me, we have plenty of problems, but as a nation we can usually have hope for a better day. We even have a holiday for giving thanks!

++Pray that God will bring hope, healing, peace, joy, and true freedom to France. Pray that God will raise up laborers for working the soil and bringing in the harvest. Pray that God will visit France with the power of His Spirit.++

*quoted from "Instant European History" by Robert P. Libbon


just for fun:

Please understand that I don't associate the following with what I've said above.

Elizabeth and I visited the catacombs under Paris. There are the bones of around 6 million Parisians from several centuries decoratively arranged there. One must descend 20 meters below Paris and then wind your way through the catacombs. Being the nerds and generally odd people we are, we loved ever minute of it. I'm going to add a couple of pics from the catacombs with this blog. Enjoy...