So our trip to the States went really well. It really seems like a blur at the moment. We arrived home last night to France after more than 24 hours of travel including the time change. The kids did really well on the plane. Right now it is 5am and I have been up for 3 hours already with Isaiah, Thea and Silas. Oh the joys of jetlag.
Anyways, it was great to connect with friends and family in California these past couple weeks. We had a great time sharing about what God has done with us and the ministry here on the Cote D'Azur this past year. We had so many praises to share! It was fun to catch up on many of your lives as well. Ashley and Curtis' wedding was a real joy to be a part of also. Thea was such a cutie as the flower girl. I think we ate a ton literally of Mexican food.!
This year, Samantha and I made a concerted effort to spend more time with our kiddos and not run ourselves so ragged like we did last year when we visited the States. We are still learning how to say "no" and have a sustainable pace:) I think by God's grace we were more successful with this. We took the kids to the beach a couple times, went to Legoland, Sea World and more. The hard part is that we never have enough time to see everyone we would like to in San Diego. For those of you we didn't get a chance to conect with, we hope to see you next time we visit. Or better yet, come see us here in France!!
Thanks to each of you who prayed for us and encouraged us in so many ways. Thank you to those of you who spent an evening with us at one of our desserts hearing about us and the ministry here in France. God used each of these gatherings to speak to us in different ways through you. We have come back to France with a renewed vision for the ministry here. Gosh the list goes on and on for who we would like to thank. Thank you Jane, the Bolts, the Petersons and Cipriani/Hornings for hosting us in your homes. Thank you to each of you who gave financially so that we can continue doing what God has called us to here in Europe. Thank you Linda and Gary and Babak for the use of your cars.Thank you Carole and Cliff for watching our kiddos and giving us space to process with you. Thank you Renee, Katy, Gracie, Linda, and others for watching our kiddos while we had speaking engagements.
So we are back in Le Rourent for two days and then we head to Hungary for our annual staff conference called, Connect. We look forward to reconnecting with our fellow CA church planters and hearing God speak in new and fresh ways to us. After that, we look forward to being back in France and resettling into life here. Ok, I am getting a little loopy. It's late or really early actually so time to try and get these kiddos back to sleep.
