Time flies!

Is it already almost March!?
WHAT? Where the heck did time go?!
Bon soir, mes amis!
Well, where do i start?
...Man, blogs are hard. I think i've been blankly staring at the computer screen for about 15 minutes trying to shuffle through my mind all that I've been doing this past month. I don't know where to start!


So i guess i'll just start talking about whatever comes most prominent to my mind...Bear with me!

Well, February 11th I went to an amazing Worship Concert at a beautiful Catholic Cathedral in Paris. (See pictures on the side). Tim Hughes was one of the main worship leaders along with a few other French and British artists. The whole youth group went along, so a team of about 9 youth (including me) and Francis and Tim got into 2 cars and drove two and half hours to Paris! By the time we arrived at Francis' old church to drop off all our stuff, we had only about 3 hours to spare before we needed to be at the concert waiting in line. So we headed for the nearest attraction to us....SHOPPING! But before you get all excited, we didn't have enough time to buy anything or really browse around :( WE DID, however, walk through this MASSIVE, CROWDED, LOUD and most popular shopping mall in Paris... it also happened to be underground. When you first turn the corner to get into this mall you think that you've reached a dead end. Then you will find yourself on a long escalator down into what feels like journeying towards the center of the Earth!! But instead you've got all these opens shops and a huge cinema! ..oh and for those Americans who like their coffee...Starbucks!!! (but of course there was a line out and AROUND the corner, so none for me!) Dommage! (Bummer!)
By the time we reached the concert it had fallen dark and FREEZING! It wasn't snowing anymore, but i couldn't feel my hands. We stood outside waiting for about an hour eating the picnics we brought and shaking from the cold. Once we got let inside it was still cold, but amazing. They transformed the stage of this church into a light show with a huge screen and musical instruments everywhere. Lives were transformed that night. We forgot about the beckoning cold and began to heat up with an amazing God worthy of praise and glory! We listened to a great message from a French pastor about living a life for the glory of the Lord and what it means to be a worshiper. The conference ended around 11 and a few of us (including myself) took one of the cars with Tim back to Lisieux that night, the others stayed the night at Francis' old church that he was going to be preaching at that next morning. Yeah, i was beat. But it was so worth it!


Since then, it has been two weeks of vacance (vacation), which was pretty self explanatory. Pretty relaxing, not too upbeat. Since the kids are out of school, mothers at Hauteville needed to have a place to go for the kids and didn't want to be bored so we let some of them take over the coffee. They took control! It was awesome! They really took it on as a responsibility and made a whole itinerary for the week of free activities for anyone to do upstairs during the winter vacation! I worked with the kids, helping with activities the 15th and 16th and it was so fun! Kids were everywhere! But they were the usual kids that came for activities every week before then. It was really nice because this time it seemed different than most activity Wednesdays. I really got to connect with some of these kids and teach some important lessons. I was looked up to. It felt really nice to be helpful and be a blessing to these kids that don't have the privilege to get out of their house all the time or don't have the perfect family situation. on the 15th i was in charge of making and decorating boxes that could be used to put money in or jewelry in for the girls and no body really wanted to do that... then i was in charge of making necklaces and bracelets and there came some kids and they helped me with my french. The next day i came back for the last day of activities we were offering and as soon as i walked into the room upstairs all the same kids from the day before shouted, "BONJOUR EDEN!"
To be honest, i wanted to cry. For some reason this warmed my heart so much. I felt like i was a teacher, someone they looked up to. I was helping Chris, a very lovely British woman from the church, create puppets with the kids. At first they were kind of shy to play puppets in the make-shift cardboard theatre, but after a few minutes of thinking up funny stories we spent about an hour listening to different stories about a king and his friend and a bear.
One of the little girls that was there that day really touched my heart. She and her sister were the only new kids in the group (or at least i didn't recognize them from before) but she was the most animated and excited to be there. She was constantly asking questions and showing me all the stuff she made making sure that i was always up to date on the newest thing she created. As i watched several of the kids tell their puppet stories she pulled up a chair next to me and grabbed my hand. Then she asked me to do a story with her and we contemplated a funny story about a golden king whose daughter was about to marry a boy that the king did not like, so the king sent out a bear to devour him. But in the end the bear and the boy become friends and the bear tells the King that the boy loves his daughter with all his heart and that he is worthy of her. Happy ending. Sharing that moment with that little girl melted my heart. She was SO excited to have someone be with her and spend time with her. At the end of the day, as we were packing up, she came to me and gave me a picture she created then she reached up and kissed me on the cheek and wrapped her arms around my waist and squeezed me saying, "thank you for playing with me!" Her picture is still on my fridge.


At that moment i began to think about my brother and sister, Camdyn (7) and Kincade (5), how i wished they were there with me. They would have loved to play with all these new kids and do these activities. I missed them terribly. Who knew that spending a few hours playing with a kid could make them so happy? That's all they want. The don't want to be preached at, they just want relationship and someone that will give them a few minutes of their attention to look at the drawings they made or play puppets with them or read them a story. I will never take a moment like this for granted again.


For vacance my host family went to England and i stayed in France and had a nice week to do just about whatever. I spent most of my time going to the park, reading, studying french. I used the lavomatique (laundromat) for the first time... i loved it!! It was a great excuse to get out of the house and i got to enjoy the company of a few older folks and talk about the sunny and beautiful day. Then a few days later i went to stay a night at another family's house and she took me with her daughters to visit Caen to do some shopping and to get out of the house. Not only did i buy 2 shirts from H&M for 20 euros (an amazing deal by the way!!), but we visited the castle of William the Conqueror. Of course i forgot my camera, but her daughter took plenty of pics, she'll email them to me soon hopefully :) We also went to a British inspired and owned tea shop/diner. I had amazing fish and chips and a few bites of cheesecake that was to die for! Oh how i do love France.


It's only almost been a month and i am learning so much about my life and my relationship with people and the Lord. I wouldn't trade this time in for anything in the world. I am truly blessed to be here, it has it's hard times, for sure, but when does life ever not have hard times? It's what you do in those hard times that really matter.
Alot has happened back at home too! Daddy with a job, family has got a new car, mom and her best friend, Angela, are coming to France for 2 weeks at the end of April to see me (!!!), my cousin is engaged to the love of her life, my amazing boyfriend is becoming youth pastor at his church today...couldn't be more blessed that not only am i being taken care of here in France, but my family and loved ones are being taken care of as well. :) God is good! Amennnn!!!


So today i write to you on the last day of vacance and i am about to make amazing spaghetti for dinner. I definitely need to go grocery shopping tomorrow though. Church was really great today, Francis talked about the first chapter of Jonah, i had the privilege to pick out the songs for worship as well! Tim, Robert and I played this afternoon and i am excited to get more acquainted with them musically because we seem to all work together very well! Trying some new dynamics to make glorifying God sound even better :)

In a quick sum up, things are going great! It's beginning to warm up a bit as well! Thank God! Not quite California weather, but i'll take whatever warmth i can get!




Have an amazing day! Thank you for keeping up with me everyone! Be blessed!
Love,
Eden Christine

New seasons cause for new rain!

Bonjour tout le monde! 
After my 2 month sabbatical back to the States, enjoying my family, the sunshine, old friends and new ones, retrieving my long awaited visa; i am now back in France! It's about minus 9 degrees celcius here and the first few little flakes of snow has fallen on my fourth day being here. This is the first sign of snow Normandy has had all winter! Last year it began pouring down snow in the beginning of November! It has been quite freezing here though, as you can tell! Anyways, the journey here was again peaceful and favored. Got onto all of my flights without a single thing going wrong, Thank you Jesus for your favor and provision! Was blessed with Business class for the flight to France, only 9 people were in there! 6 of which were flying for their first time across seas, 3 older couples, laughing and drinking and taking many pictures of themselves with their disposable cameras. Who says you can't have fun on flights?! I only wish to be like them when i grow older: travelling and enjoying it with good friends with lots of money ;)! But then again, who doesn't want that?


WELP! It's my fourth day in, mes amis (my friends), it's bitterly cold, but beautiful as ever! Did my first bits of work in the coffee shop on Friday afternoon and enjoyed the company of a few of the mothers from Hauteville (if you don't remember that's sort of the "projects" the cafe assocatif is planted) who were explaining to me how to make beaded rings. They were very patient with me and i made 2 rings, one with white and yellow and the other with black and green! :) 


I'm really buckling down this second time being here. Not saying that i didn't take anything seriously before, but it was an amazing time where I discovered a lot about myself and getting acquainted with how things work  around the church, getting acquainted with the families... Now i'm back and it honestly feels like i never left. It is a great feeling that i don't have to go through all those awkward stages of meeting everyone and can hit the ground running into the destiny i am heading towards! 

FYI: It gets a bit more deep from here on out. :) Just warning you so you're not like, "Woah, where'd that come from!?" 

But destinies come with their hard times... mostly due to jet lag and an over-pacing mind set (that i so despise!) i have been waking up every night (well, morning, if you would like to get technical), since arriving on the Feb. 1st, at 3 am with anxiety and a heavy heart. Fairly, everyone has come across these feelings in their lifetime and everyone has battles, but man would i just get panicked and think that my life is about to fall apart! 
cause i mean, following God doesn't come with any attacks or hard times right!?
AU CONTRAIRE!

As i was studying through the book, "Mirror Ball" by Matt Redman (for those who have a heart of worship, and even for those who don't, i encourage you to look into investing in this book, definitely wonderful words of wisdom for the deep places of worship), He quoted a passage by a man named Graham Tomlin saying, "...yes, Jesus promises [us] His rest, His provision, and many a blessing for those who seek first the Kingdom and righteousness... The more intensely we follow Jesus the more joy and laughter there will be, but likely the more tears and struggles also. Carrying  His name in this world is an awesome and enjoyable adventure, but one that will require much endurance and courage." 

There's the truth for you. For me. For the world.

Usually we say, "if you love something, fight for it." I love walking in complete surrender and my every action and move glorifying the God who created the universe, Alpha Centuari, the farthest galaxy that we've just recently discovered, and all of creation itself. And through that act of surrender we get blessed and get to give blessing to those around us, but the Devil doesn't want that of course. So he'll hit you right where it hurts, bring up past insecurities, try to tear you down from your foundation... but how can he do that when one is standing on the firmest rock that is known in heaven and Earth? He can't! It's simply just that! So instead of me sulking in my fear of being in a new place again, fearful of what the future may hold, fearful of the unknown... i counteract fear with declaration with the very thing God is... truth. As a very lovely woman in my life (my mother, if you didn't catch that right away) said, "Fear is just a lie, right? And your mind is convincing itself that it is truth, when you know in your heart it is, in fact, not. So how do you counteract this? Begin to declare and know the truth. Speak the exact opposite thoughts that are weighing heavy on your heart!" 

Speaking truth until your mind finally gets it, speaking truth so that your spirit is nourished and the mind succumbs to the spirit filled with the truth, by the time that happens you have no choice but to believe that fear is a lie and was a thief in your home. It will be a fight and will most likely get harder and more tiring, but once i fully grasp that God has given me the power to conquer the most tiniest form of fear, oppression, sickness, anything not from heaven...i can begin to walk it out in confidence. 

Wow, double reading this passage over, i quite realize that it's a bit of a heavy subject for having just arrived in France. But i hope this is also not just me externally processing (and perhaps being more vulnerable than i should be), but yet, touching the heart of someone who needs encouragement in the fact that just because you are following the Lord and are experiencing the very opposite (so it seems) that the Word declares... combat it with what the Word actually says... Nourish yourself in truth until you receive that breakthrough. And even then continue to declare and praise God, cause he has won all battles, has never set you up for failure, only for victory! 

Other than that, im enjoying being back in this country and i am really going to try to keep these blogs updated once a week. I am going to mark it down on my calendar, cause i forgot how much pleasure it gives me to share with the few lot of you that want to know what's going on 4,000 miles away. :) I appreciate you all so very much! Thank you for those who have been standing by me every step of the way, you know exactly who you are, and i cannot express how deep my heart and appreciation goes out to you! 

I'll be writing next Sunday, but until then!

Bon soir, mes amis! 

When the going gets tough...

You can only imagine why i named this post, "When the going gets tough..."
How'd you know!?
Yup, its getting hard.


October 30th, Sunday afternoon. First time leading worship, was told there was going to only be about 20 people at church that day, practiced and it all sounded great..what could go wrong?


EVERYTHING! 


About 60 people ended up cramming into our small salle de culte (church service room) that afternoon, i missed a ton of words, i froze up... God, what happened!? I've done this before, why didn't work this time? 
So many questions, and once i quickly walked out of that service and collapsed on the couch in the room below my flat i began to think that i was a huge screw up, what was i doing there?, why did this happen? I humiliated myself! Everyone was expecting this amazing singer who's got it all together and can sort of speak french... now i'm just the girl who misses words and can't pronounce anything. I will never sing again...
NO!
I stopped myself right there.
That's a bit drastic, that's not right.
Everyone makes mistakes, everyone trips up sometimes, no one is perfect. 
Then i felt optimism run through my veins.
I ushered in the spirit as much as i could, it was my first time singing in front of the church...
Holy spirit fell upon me and comforted me like never before. I will never stop singing... i don't care if they thought it was bad, it was bad, i accept that. BUT, i did what i could to the best i could do it.
I needed my mom though, i needed a friend. I wanted to tell her so bad how i was feeling, if only my internet would work in my flat! 
But God has not left me, i have family here. It's a safe place, and so i let it out and go. 


Youth tonight, went, well, okay. Not great. All of my great games that i was going to do just came falling through. No one liked my question game with M&Ms. It was a little boring, i admit, but still a downer. But then we played some other games and it was okay. 


WHAT DOES THIS MEAN!? why did everything fall through? 


But then i remember... when the going gets tough, just keep going.


The enemy loves to see us encounter hard things and get discouraged and then give up on something that could turn out to be amazing if pursued just a few more times. I say we laugh back in his face and tell him to get a life, because "NO, we're not gonna take it! We're not gonna take it anymore!" We will fight the fight and get back up and do the things we love because they make us happy. And maybe through our perseverance someone else will catch on to it and then someone will catch it from them... and so on. 
We were created to do the things we love, the things that help people, the things that makes our world a better place...If we give into the lie that when we mess up or can't seem to do something right a few times, how are we going to prepare this Earth for the "age to come"? God is waiting for us to stand back up and say, no in the devil's face and show him who's boss. 


I encourage you today to not feel bad for me, but rejoice with me that i will overcome these language barriers and these stirrings in my heart, so i can reach out to the very people God has put me with here in Lisieux! 


And remember, When the going gets tough, just keep going!!!


Thank you everyone for your prayers and for your encouragements. I miss everyone desperately. I'm excited to see everyone in December. I hope you are all doing well! 


Love always,
Eden

It's been too long...

October 20, 2011

It’s been a while since I’ve posted hasn’t it? I apologize for such a large gap of not writing… Well there’s a lot of information to spill on my part so you’ll be absorbing lots of what’s going on right now.

 Well, to start, I still love being here. My French has been coming along…slowly. Understanding the language has been difficult but I am now at a point where I can understand about 85-90% of what people are saying and I might miss a few details. But I’d say I’m making lots of progress on that. J Right now I am writing to you from the comfort of my little flat (which I just reorganized a few days ago, LOVE the fact I can say I about 4 days now… not going to lie, it gets boring really fast without internet.

 Facebook where art thou!?

No, but seriously, this has been an amazing week just focusing on God; I’ve got lots of opportunities to minister coming up.

1. Right now the Coffee Shop, “Café Connect”, is coming along just swimmingly! If this my first time mentioning the Coffee Shop for some of you, let me rewind a bit: So this shop is in the middle of what French people call “the projects”. Let’s just say it’s not the nicest part of town, but there is a HUGE community there and already we have passer-bys looking through the windows and constantly inquiring when the shop will be finished. Anyways, so what the heart is behind the café connect is to create a safe place for families and people of all ages to enjoy a nice place to drink coffee, connect, and become more educated. We will be hosting many classes for all ages, such as teaching them how to speak English, tutoring classes, art classes, and ALFA class (for those who want to come to the Lord). I’m very excited to see how many are blessed by this and I know we’ll be seeing lots of people changed. So that’s that, and what part I play in this is I will be one of the main baristas and also be helping with the English conversation (I’m pretty avid at speaking English I think.J). The inauguration date for the grand opening is November 16^th…or 19^th? Either way it’s very close to my 18^th birthday!

2. Next on the list of events, I have been praying about how I can play a larger part in what God wants to do with the Youth. And right now I am organizing a Study Night with just the older jeunes. It will be EPIC! I’m so excited to see these guys get deeper in Jesus and experience him from a new perspective than just hearing about Him in church and following the mundane order of things. I want to see them prophesy and have dreams and encourage them in the passions they have in their hearts that they just can’t figure out. Joe 2:28—“…I will pour out my spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, you young men will see visions.” This is the verse that I was first shown when I was talking to God about what I should base these nights on… Dreams, he said. I’m so stoked, all this is coming together and all this time without internet has given me time to just dive into my bible and talk to God about what more He wants me to do.  This night won’t take place until the first week in November, but I definitely need this time to prepare and seek the Kingdom.

3. Finally, October 30, Will be my first time leading worship at the church and be my first time singing at the church. It will just be me singing and my friend, Joel, he will be playing guitar. So I’m preparing for that as well, making sure that I have all the pronunciations down so I don’t totally butcher their songs. Although, you’d be pleasantly surprised to know that most of the songs they sing are songs we sing at church in America… I mean it doesn’t sound as good as English but it’s familiar and that’s very nice for me so then I have a head start in getting the songs down since I already have a knowledge of how they go.

So there’s that for you. A little update on what’s coming up for me.

On another random note, it’s been getting REALLY cold here… thankfully I’ll be leaving for California before the intensely cold part of the year, which is in December/January. I have now decided to come home the beginning of December than the middle of November; this is great because if I had left at that time I would miss out on the opening of the coffee shop and getting established in that. Now I get to come home for the Holidays and that will be nice. I’m excited to see everyone again; I can’t believe it’s already been a month! Time flies by WAY TO FAST!

I’ve been receiving some very lovely letters from friends and family and I appreciate all the love J I am sending you all letters back soon!!

Thanks for your patience on the updates; hopefully I will get better at making these updates a weekly basis. I have posted a bunch of pictures from Paris and Caen and some church events that are happening in Lisieux (such as bowling) on Facebook when you have a chance check them out. J

P.S.--If you're looking for a good read or maybe you're bored, i encourage you to look up Rob Bell's books: "Love Wins" the questions about heaven and hell that will literally BLOW your mind... i've never read anything like it before, and i've heard the heaven and hell story too many times and THIS, this is what God means by living. I promise you won't be disappointed. And also "Velvet Elvis", just amazing depth into the words of the Bible and a true revelation :)

Love you all, have a blessed week!

Eden

Je Parle Francais mais Je Suis American

CAUTION: YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ A VERY LONG WONDERFUL STORY, BUT BEFORE YOU DO I ASK THAT YOU PLEASE SILENCE YOUR CELLPHONES AND DO NOT DISTRACT YOURSELF FROM THIS AWESOME TALE OF MY LIFE....
THANK YOU AND ENJOY THE ...er.......NOVEL :)


Well, right now i'm writing to you on day 5 of my journey, the last three days i have been in France and the 2 days before that we've covered. ;) Anywho, let me finish up quickly my last sentence from the post before when i said i was then waiting for my "fateful" plane to arrive. Well, to sum up, God was amazing and put me on that flight from Minn. to CDG and i happened to be the last standby to take the last seat! Favorrrrrr! (can i get an "AMEN"?!) especially since i had 9 standbys ahead of me and only 12 seats. (Hallelujerrrr!) After my flight on the "767 AirFrance" airplane, and sitting nice to a promising retired couple (Pat and Warren, with 2 daughter and 1 son with 6 grandchildren) who were stopping in Paris to meet a few other couples and travel all over France staying in Villas. She also told me they were stopping in Normandy, it might be funny if we ran into each other then! Anyways, after that i came to CDG and waited for 15 minutes through customs...so here's the awesome thing (and almost scary thing if you really think about it): So i get to customs right? waiting for a booth to open and then two policemen open a booth specifically for US passports. 
(I'd just like to add that i now really do believe in American stereotypes now because i witnessed them first hand, for example the large couple in front of me with their "I <3 Texas" hats, their crocks on their feet and the most affirmative part... their American Flag T-shirts) 


So i walk up to the police man I said, "Bonjour", his glazed-over eyes fluttered up at me as he took my passport from my hand and said in a raspy, French-y voice "erm, Bonjour". Then (this is my favorite part) he looked down at my passport (didn't even look up to see if the picture matched cause you know how i change my hair a lot) flipped a page stamped it quickly handed it to me and his harsh face turned back up towards me, i smiled daintily trying to not seem suspicious or have any reason for him to question an innocent American teen. He handed me my passport slowly and i snatched it out of his hand, he said "au revoir", i said "au revoir" and bam i was done. Literally, going through customs to a different country took about 30 seconds (at most). Once i passed through, i immediately phoned my mum and said i got through customs (i was talking to her before, while i was in line waiting) she replied, "already?" It felt pretty awesome not gonna lie. 


But what didn't feel to awesome was after collecting my baggage (which was right there on the baggage claim conveyor belt as i came down the stairs) was waiting 5 hours to be picked up, by the sweetest French couple you will ever meet in your entire life! Lisa and Rene, bless their hearts were over at the baggage claim 40 and i was at 32...all of us disoriented it took a while for us to find each other but i was dead tired. 


After that Lisa, Rene, and I went for a little pit stop at a small cafe (thinking we're just getting a snack instead we got a full meal). So of course, everything on the menu is French and at this point i'm not in a mood to think French, so i sort of closed my eyes and chose. maybe i should have opened my eyes, cause a disaster of ordering came to my table. First on the table was what they call "the entree" which for you Americanos is "the appetizer" or the "food before food",  which for me was a "terrentine de campagne" ( i probably butchered that name cause i'm going off memory) but basically it's a mixed meat "pie" although it wasn't a pie at all... no it was a slice of meat with lost of herbs and mixes of meat inside it... interesting not too bad but nothing i eat at home.
Then, came my "plat principal" or in other words in America "the entree" or "the food after the food before that". And that was "Saumonette (salmon) en sauce a la creme avec brocoli", i know what you're thinking:"Salmon in cream sauce, right? What's wrong with that, that sounds kind of nice, a little heavy for fish but okay." Erm, yeah no it didn't really work that way, i know that's what i was thinking too. What i did end up getting though was a white-fleshed fish, cooked with its skin and bone still in tact, with brown mushy broccoli in at least a pound of assorted melted cheeses. It was a little heavy for just getting off a 8 hr flight and a long wait with only a few granola bars. But they were so wonderful to make conversations with (Lisa and Rene, not my food). They instantly took me under their care and i did the same. Sweet, marvelous on fire for God people. 


Later i got home to my little apartment where Diane and Francis greeted me for the first time  ! It was so exciting to finally see their faces (the one time we skyped their microphone worked but their camera did not). She had decorated my room with pink things from Ikea :) 
After that they sort of let me alone to settle down and sleep for a few hours before i go to the home of Tim and Fiona Fung and meet them (well not Tim he was out of town) and their 3 daughters; Danielle, Jasmine, and Caroni. So then i woke up and went to their house for supper, she served mashed potatoes, steamed-buttered cabbage, parsnips and pork loin. it was really good, nice homey meal. Meeting the girls was interesting, making small talk here and there but all the while the room was filled with awkward silence. Fiona and i hit it off really well as the girls left the room to watch TV. They were super sweet by all means, and i also understand what it would be like for them to have a stranger appear out of no where and eat their food. Totally understandable. Any who, that was might first night/day in France. Not too shabby but i was ready for bed. 
The first sleep in my apartment could have got on a lot better for sure...a stick on mirror placed on my wall crashed down onto the floor at exactly 3:00 am and woke me up, scared half to death i thought it came from the attic or something cause looking all over i had seen nothing changed (apparently it fell behind my clothes rack). Then at 4:00 am the mirror that was next to the first one on the wall fell off and woke me up again... this time i was REALLY scared. But i finally found that the mirrors were gone and i felt much better that it was a ghost. Unfortunately, after that i couldn't go back to bed so i stayed up grabbed a "how to speak and write French" book off the fridge and read till 7:30 am. From there i skyped my mom and my friend, Sam and i was good to go. 
To be honest i can't really remember what i did the two days after that ( Thursday and Friday, Sept. 15th & 16th) so...i'll skip that for now. 


OH! i remember now (can you tell by now i just continue to write whatever is going through my head, bear with me, you're doing just fine only a few paragraphs more i think), on Friday i wandered around the town taking pictures of all the old, rotting yet beautiful houses, the churches that surround Lisieux, and everything else architectural. I spent about an hour just circulating around the little back alleys and large streets and dodging in and out of crowds of smoking teenagers and outside diners. 


Saturday and today, Sunday the 18th i spent in the country side in the town of Bethanie, i was surrounded by green, lush fields, creamy white and brown spotted Normandy cows and old cottages that shone in the delicate sunlight in all their prideful and retired glory. I met the people of the organization L'Eglise works with, Bless. They are wonderful people indeed.
So on Saturday all the people from the church were gathered here to fellowship and worship all day long. I love how in France the church has a 30 minutes coffee break in between sermons. :) I have a new found love for Breakfast Tea with a dash of milk and 2 cubes of sugar. (Yes! The French use CUBES of SUGAR! brilliant! I love it!) 
During the main sermon i went in with outside with the youth group and played a game sort of like capture the flag with a mix of soccer and other things. I don't have the brain power to explain further on how the game operates. But anyways, after that we all came in for lunch and i had a sandwich with ham, salami, and a cute but sad little piece of lettuce (which they call "Salade") on this MASSIVE baguette.... FRENCH BREAD IS AMAZING! I mean people always said that France was known for their cheese, wine, and bread...and pastries. BUT MAN, are they really know for their bread!! Fresh crunchy outside and white fluffy yummy-ness on the inside. 


The whole day Saturday was wonderful by all means, everyone really took to me well and made my feel at home. The youth group boys are quite fun to be around and the girls are especially sweet. I still have to get used to the "faire de bise" the cheek kisses. (which FYI, don't actually kiss their cheek, just touch cheeks and kiss the air, you know what i mean jelly bean?) anyways, i usually just waited till they kissed me cause it's awkward you are trying to go one way and the other person is going the same way. 
I'm especially stoked to work with the youth and help bring some vivaciousness into the mix of learning about God and finding themselves in Him, cause honestly, i think right now a lot of teenagers don't really get into the deep levels of God because the church can sometimes bore them right out of it and/or scare them right out of getting to that place. So i've got some ideas floating around in my head just to get to know each of them and see where their hearts are at and understand a little bit more how things are for a French teenager (especially since our cultures are different). 


Anyways, now i have caught up with myself on updates, after pouring all that i have left in my brain out on this post about my 5 days in Lisieux (which is pronounced: Leez-you). Finally i will quickly tell you about my second and last day (today) at L'Eglise de la Source: it was FWEEZING! pouring down rain all day, it was a bit of a downer but we still celebrated and worshiped and fellowshiped and ate really amazing bread and pastries (oh the pastries!). I made a few new friends and got to know them a little better and today in youth group we began to watch a little bit of the movie "Fireproof" in English with French subtitles. The party or "fete" (pronounced: fet so say fetch without the -ch). 
Finally i came home and watched "Adjustment Bureau", ate a pizza, and recounted all about my week in France so far. 
I hope you all stayed awake and i didn't bore you too much with the information. I'm really glad i'm doing this though, cause if i told every single one of you all this individually i don't think i'd have a voice anymore! 
You're all so wonderful and i love being here and feel absolutely honored to be working with this amazing church. I miss my home though, i about cried for 2 hours straight just thinking about missing my mummy and daddy (i'm starting to pick up my pastor's wife's accent, who is like my host/adopted mother, because she's got a thick British accent). 




Mom or Dad if you're reading this...or if you made it this far reading, i just want you to know that i appreciate you so much for letting me do this and i thank you for trusting me in my place with God and soaring to greater heights across seas. Already by being here things are stirring and changing in everyone and i'm so stoked where the rest of this journey goes. I LOVE YOU SO!


and for the rest of you, thanks for keeping up with me and keeping me in your thoughts and prayers. you are definitely in my thoughts and i love you all! 


BON SOIR TOUT LE MONDE! 
(good evening everyone)

Alfa, Bravo, Charlie... Favor

CAUTION TO THE READER: BE PREPARED TO READ! GOOD STUFF THOUGH>>>

Firstly i just like to thank everyone that stood for me and prayed for me on that fateful day i boarded 2 planes and stayed up 32 hours. Seriously, you are about to see everything you've prayed for unfold and i cannot tell you how grateful i am to all the faith and support from you all to get me where i am now.... (which is my little flat above the church and i am typing away at 5 in the morning on my petite bed with the best smelling sheets ever!)

So here we go (This first part of my trip is actually coming from me actually on the plane to Minneapolis, my computer died otherwise i might have used the airplanes wi-fi to write this, but instead i just jotted it all down on my phone) :: Writing from the girl with an eternal headache since take off, here i am listening to my iPod, reading my new book from Costco (which i can't tell you what the story is about...because it told me not to..no joke), and writing my thought on my phone so everything is quite genuine and up to date. Sleep was almost implausible and impossible last night (sept.12 night before take off) my mind wouldn't stop wandering. But here i am on my flight to Minneapolis ST.PAUL airport. So far, people have been really friendly and quite open to a bewildered teenager travelling alone internationally for the first time. Anyways, boarding time was about an hour ago, right now they just gave us the okay to turn on our electronic devices, so let me tell you how much your prayer went to work for the rest of my flying experience... Being the last person to board the plane (on a full flight) you can instantly understand perhaps why i might be panicking especially when the flight attendant with blonde hair and a raspy voice comes to the last ten people in line and exclaims, "we are full, your bags will have to be checked and flown to your final destination, sorry." and here's what i'm thinking... "CRAP! ZUT! DARN! WHAT AM I GONNA DO!?" basically this meant that my carry-on and my two other suitcases with everything are going to be in France before me (if i do not make the next flight from Minn. to CDG) So what is a girl supposed to do, but to conform, not argue, smile and be okay with it and hope for the best right?....
 AH! but wait!
YES! here comes the redemption part that everyone waits for in a typical romantic comedy....
as i boarded the plane, the lady handed me the sticker for my carry-on to be checked, but just as i was about to hand my luggage over to the worker in a bright orange construction vest, Niko, the flight attendants' manager yells out, "wait a moment!" Up in front of the cabin of the airplane there are a few cabinets available just for the carry-ons of the flight attendants, so he opens one of the cabinets, that looks to be a small closet for jackets and such, and tries to put my carry on in the closet...its a no-go, it's not fitting. Oh well that was a tease! But then he opened yet another cabinet to find a perfect spot for my carry-on right in front. One of the flight attendants walked by and said, "Wow, that's like first class service right there." Kind of funny, cause i was just a stand-by body. Now, tell me how you can think this wasn't God and just coincidence?! I mean come on! I've never experienced so much favor travelling before (granted i hardly ever traveled before this but still). But it was all of you standing and believing for my flights and favor to France. Seriously, i owe it all to you, and God of course, but thank you from the bottom of my heart for praying. You made my flight experience completely a breeze and now look where i am! And perfect timing for everyone!

So now it's a tad later i exited the plane and stepped on Minnesota ground for the first time, it's a beautiful airport indeed, very clean and tidy, not too intimidating but i did have a little trouble finding my next gate, was all the way down at one end and then realized it was completely the other way. I am here at gate GB and GA waiting ever so patiently for my next fated flight.... 3 hours couldn't come any sooner.

TO BE CONTINUED (NEXT POST: JE PARLE FRANCAIS, MAIS JE SUIS AMERICAIN)

The Waiting Game..

The day before the take off, surprisingly the anxiety hasn't set in. (seeing as though i haven't stepped on board a plane in like 5 years) But who can have anxiety when you're about to go fulfill the biggest dream of your life (so far)? Maybe it'll hit me when i board the plane or maybe when i finally land. Who knows, either way it will hit me.
So I've pretty much packed up everything i need, now it's just the waiting game....Wondering will my flight still work out? What if i miss my flight? What happens if i have to stay overnight on my layover!? All these questions are simply answered by: Faith. Obviously from the get-go God has had his Divine hand in every part of this adventure so far, He has the perfect time frame for everything. So i guess there's no need for me to panic, right?

Last night, i spent some time with my close family and friends, for a Taco night (tacos are indeed my most favorite of dishes to eat). Can i tell you how blessed i am to have these people in my life? Without them i would not be the person i am today, they have added so much joy in my life and have always been supportive of every move i've made. Being with them last night, it didn't feel so much like i was leaving them behind, more like a celebration of taking them with me.
Then, my two uncle's, from my mom's side, came to visit me today to say their good-byes, as parting gifts they brought me Dramamine and Airborne. The perfect parting gift, i will definitely need that.
This is just a little side note, and i'm going to treat this blog sort of like a journal, so i'll be real and share my feelings.
I'll keep you updated on the flight :)
TTFN