Meilleurs Voeux

I sincerely hope that all of my fair readers have had a joyous Christmas. Our hearts (and our tummies) are full. We baked up a storm during the days leading up to Christmas--muffins and scones as a gift to the office folk, sugar cookies and gingerbread people for the church service, two pies and a yule log cake for Christmas eve. Yum. But the greatest joy has been celebrating the incarnation--Jesus humbling Himself, taking the form of a bond servant to sacrifice Himself for all of us--with friends and family. Happy New Year!

Bread of Life

Christmas is coming! We've watched nearly all of our Christmas movies, started reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (for about the 10th time). Practiced and played music at a variety of events, shopped, baked and taken time to sit quietly and meditate on the meaning of it all.

This is the first holiday season since Dad died. Even though it has been many years since I've been home for Christmas, I still miss him keenly. Just yesterday I was struck with such a pain while I was in a check out line at a store. Can't predict when and where it will hit. Of course for my Mom and siblings this pain is very intense.

The past year has had many sorrows and troubles; but it has also been a year full of incredible blessings. God's presence, peace and purpose give meaning and joy in the midst of all parts of life.

This December I have been studying John 6 where Jesus provides for the multitude and declares Himself the Bread of Life. Jesus was born in Bethlehem which means "house of bread". He is the Bread of Life who has come down from heaven, sent by the Father. He alone truly satisfies. So as we look at the nativity scene, and sing beautiful carols and ponder the mysteries of the incarnation may we find our greatest joy and satisfaction in the Bread of Life.

Waiting for Thee

Psalm 104 is one of my favorites. It speaks of God's creative power and His provision for all of creation. Verse 27: "They all wait for Thee, to give them their food in due season." Various trials and troubles have served these past couple of weeks to remind me to keep my eyes focused on the Provider. Some anxiety is linked to the shrinking value of the dollar against the euro. I've discovered that with some effort I can make a week's worth of groceries last 8 days--eliminating one week's grocery bill every two months! The big trial was being informed by our bank here in France that they were closing our account. The fact that we are foreigners being paid by a religious organization does not suit them. (This does not affect our housing loan, Praise God!) Monday we have an appointment to open an account with a different bank. Praying for and serving our national staff experiencing far worse trials really keeps things in perspective. We all are dependent on the Creator and Provider.

Can I count it all joy? In the power of the Holy Spirit may God accomplish the perfecting of my faith.

Cubicle Madness

Working in an office setting can lead one to do silly things. Our office in particular feels a bit like being caught up in a lovely Kansas tornado. People coming, people going, crises, urgentmustbedoneyesterday-type issues. Sometimes we need to release a bit of stress. Recently, following a few days of craziness, my friend and I innocently googled "stapler in jello" (fans of The Office will understand) To our surprise there are many websites with step by step instructions on doing just such a thing. Dental floss is the key. We plotted and planned and giggled a lot. One day we placed the stapler in jello on Josh's desk. Well, we thought it was funny. The stapler still works.

A Quilt for Shemsa

Last April many of us were deeply affected upon learning that Shemsa's husband, along with two other brothers were murdered. As we were grieving and praying for Shemsa and her young children the Lord put on my heart to make a group quilt representing the prayers and love of her sisters in Christ around the world.

Mark left yesterday for Turkey with this quilt tucked into his luggage, along with some notes from women that contributed to making this quilt. 25 women from 3 continents sent blocks for this quilt. It has been amazing to see the outpouring of compassion and love from so many women. After I put in the last stitch on the binding and spread out the quilt I got quite emotional. I pray that God continues to comfort Shemsa and that she feels God's presence as well as the love of her sisters in Christ through this token of our love.
For a recent update on Shemsa and the children here is an interview with her. http://www.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&length=long&lang=en&idelement=5049

I've Been Tagged

I've been off of the blogosphere for a few weeks. My next post will tell why. The Quilter has been quilting.

My friend Be has tagged me for a middle name game. The deal is to say something for each letter of my middle name and then tag someone else. Here it goes:

J-azz music is my favorite. Love it.
E-nglish is my mother-tongue even though it is slipping these days!
A-nnie is my cool California friend who writes so eloquently
N-icole is my MOM and she is also very cool
N-eedles--have to have a sharp one for quilting!
I-ce cream is one of the greatest foods ever
N-orway is a country I would love to visit some day
E-very one in the world deserves a chance to hear the gospel!

Well, I'm not sure if I did that correctly--but Annie you are tagged!

Unexpected Common Ground

Last Friday I was madly dashing about running errands before leaving town. (Never want to leave the hubby and tykes without making sure they have all they need) Anyway, I noticed that there were lots of children at the strip mall, with their parents, not at school. It came to mind that it was the beginning of the 3 day feast to celebrate the end of Ramadan. Instantly I recalled the feeling I have every year at Thanksgiving time, which is such a big deal for our family, a day that we let the kids skip at least half a day of school, but for the people around us it is a day like any other. I thought, this must be what it feels like for my Muslim neighbors to be celebrating one of their biggest holidays while everyone else is having a day just like any other. It is another day in the ex-pat zone.

Back to the Pyramids

Hello from Cairo. I am back in the beautiful country of Egypt--at yet another conference. This time we are meeting with a few people who are director of operations for their national ministries. We are having great discussions and making progress on some important issues, but blah blah blah. That is surely not what you want to know. Of course you are wondering what happened in the Rugby semi-finals this weekend.

France lost
South Africa won

France Wins!

Ah, the Monday sports news was glum for a KSU/Chiefs fan. The only ray of sunshine is the fact that FRANCE DEFEATED NEW ZEALAND! Now I realize that this is no news to Americanos. I scoured AOL sports and could find nothing about the Rugby World Cup--but it sure is BIG news in the southern hemisphere. I encourage you to do a YouTube.com search for the Haka, which the All-Blacks perform before each match. The French team were staring them down with determination and ended up winning the match. France faces England in the semi-final-- South Africa v. Argentina in the other semi match. Woo Hoo! Maybe it will be a France/South Africa in the final. Only in our own little bizarro world is that a thing worth pondering!

And the winner is . . . .

The smile on her face revealed all! She won! As the highest vote-getter, our little Princess has entered the world of politics. The election was not held until Thursday, thus the delay in reporting the results. She is happy, but also serious about bringing justice for the sixth graders at Rosa Parks middle school. (yes, it is really named for the American civil rights hero)

In other news: The Austins took a HUGE leap of faith and signed a "promesse de vente" on a house in Villabe. The signing took 2 1/2 hours as the agent explained all the details in the lengthy documents we had to sign. So, after procurring a loan and going through all the legal and bureaucratic steps we will move in January to our own little nest.

Tonight "les Bleus" (France) face the "All-Blacks" (New Zealand) in the quarter final of the Rugby World Cup. We would love for either team to advance--we shall see.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present the next president . . .

The Princess is running for "déléguée de classe"--sort of like a class representative. It is a crowded field with 9 of the 24 students in the running. Last night she was working on her campaign slogan. She wisely chose, "je vous écouterai sans vous insulter". (I will listen to you without insulting you) Today I asked her if she had insulted anyone at school. She replied, "No". I told her that it was a good thing to keep her promise. She answered, "I just said it; I didn't promise it."

The election is Monday. We'll have special coverage of the elections at le Collège Rosa Parks à Villabé. Don't miss it.

A Major Award!

The most excellent Marko has won a major award! Last June I posted about his participating in a show at his magic club. The results are in! Mark won first prize! He has won La Coupe Meldini!!!! (we are still waiting to see what, exactly that is) As Heart used to sing, "he's a magic man".

I'm not sure if it is absolutely necessary for him now to always go out incognito . . . but what do I know?

Ready for worship?

Worship, true worship, is manifested in many ways. We worship God when we share with one another how we have seen His hand at work. We worship when we express our dependance on Him in prayer. Of course, music is a fabulous way to proclaim God's glory. Lately it has been a great joy to have Will and Luke join me in leading worship at our church. I remember being encouraged when I was a young thing at playing guitar and taking part in the worship service through song. I pray that my children will have hearts that love to worship.

By adding another guitar and a bass we are free to experiment with a bit of percussion, and maybe some interesting sounds with the amp. Last Sunday, however we may have gone a bit too far. The kids and I were having such a good time during practice that I decided we could turn up the gain and push the little button that turns on the drive--just for the more rockin' songs. After church a friend came up and after sweetly thanking us for leading worship, mentioned that she heard some static during the singing. I sheepishly smiled and admitted that it was supposed to sound that way. Maybe our little church is not the place to let loose with wild guitar effects. We'll set the amp on "clean" next week.

Rugbymania

It is World Cup time. This September/October it is the Rugby World Cup being played right here in France. Last weekend we watched the opening France/Argentina match. The next day we were completely mesmerized as the All Blacks of New Zealand crushed the Italians. It was essential that we all watch South Africa bury sweet little Western Samoa. The boys looked up all the rules on-line, found lots of high-light clips on YouTube, and voila, instant fans!

Tonight is South Africa/England--a true battle of the titans. Two of our S. African colleagues are at the match. We are scanning the crowd for a familiar face under a hat with horns coming out of it.

Honestly, this is not a game for the faint-hearted. Blood flows freely, these guys don't take breaks for beer commercials or time outs or gaping flesh wounds and they run headlong into the opposition without 300 lb blockers clearing the way. No heavy armour or helmets. It's awesome.

Team USA lost to Tonga.

Go Springboks

La Rentrée

Ah, the end of the "grandes vacances". The neighbors' shutters opened one by one. The traffic in town and on the highway slowly increased to its normal congested state. The school supply aisle at the hypermarket became a scary place where we would dive into the crowd one by one as the more feeble stood by the shopping cart. Fresh ID photos are required for student cards, club cards, transport cards, lunch cards, and extras just because.

It is back-to-school time in France!

We now have three children in three different schools. The Princess (sixth grade) is going to the new middle school in our village. It is beautiful and new, but she was heartbroken that her two best friends are not in her class. Luke is finishing middle school in the next town over (french third grade, american 9th grade). Will is a second grader (10th grade US) at a high school in a town just up the highway from here. I'm sort of drowning in papers to read and sign, parent meetings to attend, and class schedules that are changing daily.

In France middle and high school students have different classes everyday. Things are further complicated by A weeks and B weeks--so some classes are only held once every two weeks. We are one week into the new school year and all three children had their schedules changed today. I don't even know what day it is anymore! Of course this could also be due to a big increase in the work load at the office.

John 14:1--Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God. Believe also in Me.

AMEN

Manpri Phenom

(I wish to preface this entry with the observation that were I a French woman living in the USA, this post would be about brightly colored, odd-looking, rubber footwear in America)

Last week the family took a trip to a local amusement parks. By mid-day I realized that "thrill rides" no longer thrilled me. So I volunteered to hold the bag, rain jackets and camera as the rest of the crew rode "Thunder of Zeus". The wait was about an hour, so I passed the time snapping photos of grown men wearing capri pants--or manpris, if you will.

Ch ch ch changes

Changes, have been occuring around this household. My oldest son is reading Plato's Republic rather than rushing to complete the latest Harry Potter book. He also will acquire his first bus/train pass, learning to be more independent as he takes off for lycee this year. Second son shocked me earlier this year when he expressed his preference for the film "A Beautiful Mind" over the CGI extravaganza "Spiderman 3". He is also growing so rapidly that I feel like a dwarf next to him. The Princess is now tall enough to go on every roller coaster at Parc Asterix. When did that happen? Our sweet kitty has picked up the carniverous habit of depositing mice, living and dead in our bedroom, eeewwww. My handsome husband has become even more striking by growing a beard. Our cell phone provider gave me a new portable phone this week. It takes pictures, organizes my calendar and even works as a phone! Finally, the old used washing machine died. When the sparkly new one arrives tomorrow it will have a week's worth of work to do! Ain't life grand?

There's No Place Like Home

The kind lady turned to my children and asked them the question, "Where is home for you?" Such a simple, impossible question. After the usual awkward silence one child answers with conviction, "France." Number two follows with equal conviction, "Kansas". Precious child number three offers, "With my dog and my cat."

Driving across Kansas last Wednesday for the last time this furlough, I was enjoying the beautiful rolling hills and open spaces as I pondered this question. You would think that after 20 years of changing continents every few years that the question wouldn't still trip me up. On the one hand I'm an American, born and raised in Kansas. The place is so familiar. All of our family live there. Mom is even in the same house where I grew up. Every turn of the corner stirs up memories--yet--so much has changed about the place and about me.

Now we are back in Villabe, we've lived here for more than six years now. This place is also full of memories and important relationships--but I will never be fully at ease here either. I will never be fully French.

There are other places, people that I miss so much that it aches. Are any of those places "home"?

Inevitably as I ponder this issue the answer comes roaring to my mind. I am a pilgrim, an alien in this world. This life is a journey to our eternal home, feasting with Jesus, in the presence of God the Father, delighting in Him forever. I will continue to enjoy this journey, happy for God to teach me all He has for me along the way, wherever we live; but I won't forget that my final destination is in the Kingdom of God.

Satisfied with His likeness

We leave tomorrow for Kansas.

Yesterday and today have been a flurry of preparation; with two unexpected trips into the US Embassy in Paris to get Princess an emergency passport. Yesterday on the train as I was praying, telling God that I didn't seen anything redemptive in losing a passport, it seemed God was impressing on me to not miss out on the blessings of the day by stressing about the potential problems and hassles. It made a huge difference in my attitude.

Today was a great day. I made it to Paris and back, got the emergency passport, picked up a very happy Will who thinks he aced the brevet (exams), successfully completed his inscription to high school and confirmed the apartment we want to buy is reserved for us until we get back in August and work out the financing. The house is tidy and the bags are mostly packed. We are thankful.

This is the verse that jumped out at me on the train this morning: Psalm 17:15 "As for me, I shall behold Thy face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Thy likeness when I awake."

Psalm 84:4

This verse has stuck with me all day--isn't it beautiful?

"How blessed are those who dwell in Thy house! They are ever praising Thee."

I was thinking of Dad, Necati, a friend of a friend, all who recently passed to the other side. They are ever praising at the throne of God. But so are we who are the temple of the Holy Spirit. And tomorrow wherever we gather to worship it will be the Lord's house, His body. Let us ever be praising the Lord.

This 'n That

Well, it has been a very full week. Mark had several performances of his unique brand of magic. Here is a picture of him performing for a competition--and below is what one finds hanging over the bathtub when it is time to bathe the rubber chicken:

We've had school programs, school registration, music rehearsals and field trips. Yesterday we sent off the first two family members for furlough. The three of us that remain had the Fete de la Musique last night. Will was great as an accompanist and soloist. Our chorale also performed. Now all we have to do is get Will through exams and find the Princess' misplaced passport. The house is getting clean during the search.

On top of all of it we think we have found an apartment right here in Villabe to purchase! I appreciate you praying for this big step. There will be updates as we move ahead with this project.

Below I've posted the three quilts I've finished recently. Now I need to put together some hand work to take to Kansas next week--see you all soon!

Pomp and Circumstance

This past weekend our little ex-pat family gathered to celebrate a somewhat American high school graduation. In France, high school ends with a series of very difficult exams, the results of which one discovers sometime in July. There are no robes, funny hats or relatives crammed onto stadium bleachers. So, to make up for the lack of pomp and circumstance, our team has a tradition of conducting a graduation for those who will be going off to the U.S. to university. It is always a bittersweet time full of sharing, blessing and prayer. Here's a picture of me with this year's grad and the quilt I made for her. The back is a fabric that has a Paris map all over it. (check out the picture of everyone studying the back of the quilt!)

I shed many tears at the graduation. We all live far from our extended families and hometowns. The team becomes a sort of surrogate family. The children of my colleagues are like nieces and nephews--they are almost like siblings to our kids. We have spent Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthdays and other special moments together. Like any celebration of a life's passage, there are tears, but we all love a day together rejoicing at God's faithfulness in the life of a godly young person stepping out into the world.

I'll attach one more picture--this is all of the kids. Can you find my three?

Piano Lessons

If May is the month we love because of the endless parade of holidays; June is the month we dread as it seems to last forever. The school term doesn't end until early July, so June represents exams, evaluations, and the sun rising at 4:30am, setting at 10:30. (Trying to get some shut-eye is a challenge!) So, we imagine all American children happily riding their bikes, climbing trees, swimming in the pond, while we trudge off to school and work; the Grandes Vacances being a barely discernible haze in the distance.

Did I mention evaluations? Will had a piano evaluation last Sunday morning (!) which was Mother's Day (!) playing a piece by Debussy (!). Due to church commitments we missed hearing him, but rushed to the school to hear the comments. What happens is that 6 to 7 students in his group are all called in before the 4 person jury (parents stand around awkwardly) and each student steps forward to have their musical faults pointed out to them. (The parents look at their feet, the ceiling, anywhere, praying that their kid won't get as humiliated as that poor kid getting a public flogging) Will, always positive and optimistic had no fear as he stepped before the jury. Pointing at his feet which were adorned with his favorite African market flip-flops, she said that you must always wear proper shoes--especially when using the pedal--especially when playing a very fragile pastorale Debussy piece. (otherwise he did well) Hubby and I swallowed our giggles as our son smiled sheepishly. Evidently his shoes flipped, flopped, slapped and slid all over "The Shepherd". Afterwards we patted him on the back. At least the lesson was an easy one to apply. Now he has been invited to play the same piece on a grand piano for the "fete de la musique June 21. Lesson learned.

Living in De-Nile

The hubby and I just got back from a conference in Cairo. While we had truly informative, helpful meetings during the day; we also got out to see some sites in the evenings. There were about 80 of us exchanging information and ideas about how to communicate the Gospel in some of the most difficult places in the world. The participants engage in letter writing, telephone counseling, internet ministry, and even tv and radio production. Mark did a presentation answering some technical questions and discussing statistical trends. During the meal times and our treks out to the pyramids I was thrilled to connect with several of the women, encouraging them and learning how to better pray for them. One woman is fearful of another war in her country this year, one woman is discipling a girl who is being beaten by her family, another wants to move to another country in the region to minister to women. Praise God for these faithful ones who continue to find their joy and peace in Jesus.

Leaving Comments

Several people have told me that they had trouble leaving comments. I think I just fixed the setting which will allow anyone to leave a comment. It has been fun to be back in touch with so many friends.

Hey, Don, You are right. Blogging is habit-forming!

Amazing Grace

The month of May is the best of the year in France. We have a total of four public holidays; the 1st, 8th, 17th and 28th. That means that there has been plenty of time for things besides work. I mentioned in an earlier post that I've been quilting like crazy. There has also been time to engage in my other passion--music.

Last year I joined the Chorale of Villabe. We practice every Wednesday night. Along with the fun of singing in a choir I also get the scoop on village goings-on. Most of the 40 people in the Chorale are retired and have lived in Villabe for many years. Last Wednesday we performed at the inauguration of our new town auditorium. There were speeches by local dignitaries, performances by children, string ensembles and the local theatre group. Finally it was our turn to take the stage. "Amazing Grace" was one of the four pieces we performed. As the only native English speaker in the group it was my duty to teach my fellow choristes how to pronounce all the words to all four verses. Let me tell you, it was no easy task! But as we performed I think I was beaming with just a bit of pride as we got through it. (how sweat ze zound). It helped to make up for all the times I sound dopey singing in French!

That you may excel all the more

A few years ago I studied I Thessalonians during my devotions. Chapter 4 v. 1 struck me as the central theme of the epistle "Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that, as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you may excel still more." This last phrase has been rattling around in my head all week. Maybe it's because at work I have been immersed in Excel spreadsheets. It makes for a lousy pun--but a good life lesson. So many things that I do every day; drive kids to school, wash dishes, prepare Excel spreadsheets are outwardly so mundane. But God wants to sanctify, make holy these divers activities.

God wants me to worship Him. Every morning for the past few weeks, while I sit at the table enjoying my coffee, I ask Jesus to show me how to worship Him in the midst of each thing I have to do that day. It sure has helped my relationship with the computer--and the people who ask me to spend several hours a day working on spreadsheets! So today, I have to mop, do laundry, cook for a women's dinner at church (and sing two songs!); Lord, may I worship and glorify you--that I may excel still more.

The Village Quilter Quilts

Quilting is one of my great passions in life. I love the feel of soft cotton fabric, the excitement of putting colors and textures together and the inspiration that comes to me in the middle of the night for the next quilt. Sometimes quilts make me weep. Last year my dear husband good-naturedly tagged along with me to a major quilt show in Lyon, France. One exhibit featured quilts all with the theme "I Remember Mama". We both cried looking at some of the fabric art we saw. All of that to say that quilting is much more to me than cutting fabric up into little pieces and sewing them back together. It is a way that I express love, celebration and mourning.



My sewing machine is on a desk at our bedroom window and I have a great view of our village and the valley and town beyond. When I am sitting there it is one of the times when I am still, contemplative, serene. I pray for the person that will receive the quilt.



This week I am on a quilting rampage. Evenings, I am handstitching binding on a Log Cabin quilt for our guest bed; after posting this message I will cut out the borders for a giant Dutch Rose pattern baby quilt for Souad and Mamdou's baby they adopted in Morocco; and I just ironed the fabric for a coffee-themed Irish Chain quilt for a friend graduating from lycée--going off to America for University. It is all so energizing!



I am the Village Quilter!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I miss being with you. Today is not Mother's Day in France--I have to wait until June 3rd here. We don't have Hallmark reminding us that it is coming up. One year the Princess drew me a pretty little picture. T.C.T. #2 signed it, T.C.T. #1 put his initials on it. I still have that one hanging in the kitchen.

Well, here's to all the Moms getting fresh refrigerator art! Have a special day!

Two Terribly Cool Teens and a Princess

Cool teen #1 (in the middle) was called "Madame" at the store yesterday. He thought it was hilarious.

Today we bought him a hat from Mali (where he was born) in a French village and had Turkish doner sandwiches for lunch. He thought that was really cool.

T.C.T #1 played electric guitar at church this morning. It thrilled him to turn the amp sound to "dirty" on the last song. I have to admit--it sounded cool.

T.C.T #2 played electric bass. He is shy about it but it adds a lot to the Austin family band. (Mom still just plays acoustic guitar)

Welcome to my blog

It seems irrational for me to start a blog. I am a terribly poor writer and a great procrastinator when it comes to keeping in touch. But I thought perhaps if I had a place to share thoughts, experiences and random musings that my writing would improve and my thinking become less muddled. Also, I am asked from time to time, "what is it like to live in France?", "what do you do?", and "what is a typical day like?" Now I can respond with my blog address!
So, for what it is worth--welcome from the Village Quilter.

The Princess and me