March 13

You know when a song stirs something in you the first time you hear it? "Where You Go, I Go" by Brian and Jenn Johnson is the most recent song to do that for me. It simply talks about the fact that Jesus did and said only what He saw and heard the Father doing and saying. And the song declares to God, "Where you go, I go. What you say, I say. And what you pray, I pray." I'm letting this work itself into my spirit. It's what I want to do. Now to get on with it...

I've been back at school for two weeks now. I'm back into the rhythm of it. I am still adjusting, fine tuning if you will. It is so tiring to be immersed in a foreign language. I am doing well in my class. I am just where I need to be with grammar but find listening a struggle still at times. This is natural I think. But that doesn't stop me from getting frustrated. Perfectionism is not my friend.

This semester is very different from the last one. The school and dorm are very full. This is a good thing. It means more people with a heart to reach the French speaking world. For me, it means a lot of new people, less personal space and a noisier dorm. I suppose that is part of the reason I am still adjusting, the familiar mixed with the unfamiliar.

I would ask all of you to pray for encouragement for me and the students here. I talked and prayed with a precious friend the other night who also feels the strain. Here are some of the thoughts we share: ~This is hard. Can I really learn this language well enough to then live and work or study at university in France? ~How do I do my school work and do what's needed to prepare for the future at the same time? ~Am I crazy to think God really wants me to reach a people/the nations? ~Why can't I just be normal? (The last one makes me smile. We would never be content with 'normal.' Nothing but Jesus will satisfy.)

As with believers anywhere doing anything that know who they are and what God wants them to do, the enemy doesn't want us to fulfill that which God has called us to do. So he sends discouragement in many forms. I have been told that people have been so discouraged learning the language that they have given up their calling completely and gone home to do something else. I am not at that point. Grâce à Dieu. But I am fighting discouragement. And a student shared about that discouragement at chapel today. So, we the students of Les Cèdres, could use your prayers.

I would also ask you to scroll down to the bottom of the last post and continue to pray for the things listed there.

Thank you for taking your time to read this and pray for me. Prayer changes things. Your prayers are a source of great strength and encouragement for me!

**The picture above is me with Becky and Carl Hudson. These wonderful people take care of me. I couldn't do what I'm doing without them. Thanks to you both!!

March 3

The music swells, the tempo quickens and my feet shuffle to the beat. The continental dance continues...

I'm back at Les Cèdres. I have been to two days of class. I am happy to report that I was able to return to my old class. I turned in my tests and was taken in by Régine. So far so good. Mme. Freeman has me prepared for the grammar, and with a little time my ears and mouth will get used to French immersion again. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for me to do well on my tests and return to my class!

I was so happy to be in Paris again. It's just...right. That's not to say that it's not an adjustment or without it's challenges. I am far away from many special people. But God is faithful. It helps so much that I have good friends here. And God keeps reminding me to take it one step at a time and make time for Him. Isn't it funny how easily we forget the value of time with Him, being still, partaking of the Word. It centers me, strengthens me, fills me...

Christie and Andy's wedding was beautiful, moving and meaningful. It was a joy to be able to spend time with her preparing for the day and then being a part of it. I am so grateful for having been able to be there for such a special time in her life. **above is a picture of the happy couple and one of me with the bride.

I was also able to spend a couple days with my dear friends Ruth and Ralph Somerville on my way to France. They are the dear people who housed me for 9 months years ago when I lived in England. I can't imagine what life would be like if they hadn't agreed to let me stay with them while I was on DNA. They are a wonderful life relationship and a valuable connection to Europe. God bless them generously for all they've given to so many who have found respite in their home!

I am sorry it has been so long since my last post. Hopefully, I will get into a routine now and be back to a weekly basis. Thanks as always to those of you who take your time to read this and keep up with me. It is encouraging to know you are thinking of and praying for me.

Please pray for:

~encouragement daily from the Holy Spirit. I must have the presence of God with me and in me! (Don't we all need this?)

~guidance on what to do after school in June. -where I am to go in France -what I am to do there -who I am to do it with

~grace to handle the work load and not burn out physically and mentally.

~provision. I am ok for living expenses from monthly giving, but it is going to be a challenge to get tuition and housing paid off by June.

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.