We have been home in France a little over a week after all our travels this summer. Our trip to the States and then to Hungary for our annual staff conference both went really well. More on that in another post. We are trying to recuperate and re-enter life in our community here in France. There is so much to catch up on. We are really excited about this coming year and what God has in store for us and the ministry here.
One exciting thing that has occurred over the past few months is that we as a team have decided on a name for the ministry here on the Cote D'Azur. Behind every name is a story, and so I thought I would share some of the tidbits of how God brought us to the name Parfums De Vie - a multilingual Christian community on the Cote D'Azur. As God has continued to unfold the vision for the ministry here to us it is exciting to look back at some of the milestones. We have gone through many ups and downs, transitions, trials, challenges, surprises, blessings and the like our first three years here in France. We now feel like we are entering a very exciting chapter in the ministry here. We love working with Nicole and Vincent and see how God has brought the four of us together as a team. (Renee we can't wait till you rejoin us too.)
So the name story goes something like this. We have been praying for the last year that God would reveal a name to us that would symbolize who we are and desire to be as a network of missional communities seeking to live in the way of Jesus on the Cote D'Azur. Many people praying for us and the ministry here kept bringing up the passage in scripture where Mary anoints Jesus feet with perfume. Several prayed for us that we would be a sweet fragrance of Christ in this community. That really struck a chord in me and others on our team. Last fall, I began looking at some of the passages in scripture which talk about aroma, fragrance, etc.
I came across 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 which says, "But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?" So the picture became clearer. We want to be the fragrance of life here on the Cote D'Azur. Grasse, a nearby city where a part of our ministry is focused on, is the perfume capital of the world. Thus the obvious connection. We want to saturate the Cote D'Azur with the love of Christ. Parfums de Vie means fragrance, aroma or flavor of life in French. We pray that who we are and what we do as a community of Christ followers would be a sweet, life giving aroma to those arounds us.
Random tidbits:
Silas is definitely two right now. He sure gets into everything and is asserting his will.
Isaiah is going to soccer camp next week. This is his first exposure to team sports. I hope it is a great experience for him.
As a family we are trying to slow down a bit and catch our breath before school begins.
My knee is finally doing better. I have been back on the bike for the first time in 5 months!!
The Olympics are addicting!!
