The farm on the way to Messimy

I don't know what else to call it. It doesn't have a name as far as I know. But it's only about a mile and a half from our house, and the prices are great. They have a really wide selection of veggies, and some fruits, so I've made it a Friday evening ritual to stop by and do my shopping for the week.

But on top of the fresh produce and great prices, I get to glimpse a little bit of rural France, something that I'll never tire of experiencing. Farm Lady stands behind her homemade counter, all the bounty of their harvest before her. She never stops smiling, and almost always throws a free bunch of basil or parsley on top of the rest of what you buy. She has lots of ideas on how to cook certain veggies, and if she sees a bruised zucchini or apple in your basket, she'll quickly whisk it away and replace it with a bigger and better one.

One thing that I love is that whenever she's running short on something, she just turns her head and yells, and I mean yells, "Baby, bring me some potatoes!". Out of nowhere, a little farmer appears, toting several bags of spuds, and his sweet wife (back to her normal voice) says, "Thank you baby."

Then there are the grandchildren. All ages, all sizes. Some are driving tractors, the littler ones run back and forth for granny, fetching cooked beets or more change from the farmhouse. And every time they bring something to the stand, they go to the apple crate, pick one up, take the butcher knife (seriously, the thing is as long as their arms) and cut out the core. Like it was a pocketknife! Then they're off, happily munching until granny shouts out another order.

Then I stuff it all in my trunk, bring it home and dump it all on my table, just to look at it before deciding what I'll do with it all in the next week.

Ok, so one of my kids just told me, "Mom, you've presented the house and the chickens, but not the kids." Priorities, priorities! So, let me introduce the Cast of Characters at our house, for those of you who don't know them.

Florent - my best friend and wonderful husband. He was born and raised here in France and has been pastoring a Grace Brethren church in Lyon for 20 years. He's an amazing Bible teacher, loves God first and his family right after. Random facts : he flies a ULM, eats chestnut cream out of the can and you better never tickle him at the risk of getting punched!








Jordan - My boy!! He's a senior in Business Management at the Master's College near L.A., and will graduate in December. After which, and I mean right after, he'll be marrying a wonderful person who I'll talk about later. He is a very hard worker, a passionate guy who's love for the Lord amazes and encourages me. He loves to run, disciple younger guys and spend time with his sweetie. Random facts : he has lots of t-shirts with one sleeve (you can ask him why), he's already dove into the ocean head-first in 2 inches of water, punched a palm tree and lost, and had the lovely experience last week of being sprayed in the face with pepper spray by a friend who's in the LAPD!

Melissa - My big girl!! She's in her first year of nursing school in the NORTH of France. She will also be getting married soon, in August to her dear honey. They love to serve God together, especially sharing the Gospel with people who need to hear about Jesus. She's a sweet, compassionate girl who has a heart for the whole world and I miss her tons since she moved north this past September. Random facts : At the ripe old age of 19, she's already done missions trips to Mexico, all across America, France, Burkina Faso, Holland, England and Morocco. She loves gory medical situations, and is metamorphosing before my very eyes into someone who actually cleans her room!!














Emilie - My baby!! She's a senior in high school at the International School of Lyon. She's been really involved in theater and in a group that goes out on weekends to talk to people on the street, sharing their faith through songs, skits, live-painting etc. It's been fun to watch her walk closer and closer to the Lord and see all the passion she now has for people, especially those who are underprivileged. She's trying to figure out right now what the heck she wants to do with her life (raise your hand if you remember being a senior). International business, international relations, none of the above? She's my bud and I love just hanging out with her, when she has the time :). Random facts : she probably has more nicknames than anyone else in the family...Emmers, Nemilar, Toots, Mimolette, Mullyrencake. She's discovering that she likes to run, and has a mean sprint at the end! She's going to live here until she's 35 because I'll miss her too much if she leaves (kidding Em).



Holly - Jordan's honey, soon to be my daughter-in-law! Can't wait!! She's an awesome little bundle of energy, born and raised in Alaska. She's an amazing runner, one of the best in her age group in the nation. She's studying at The Master's College with Jordan, and we're going to have the joy of meeting her family when we fly alllll the way to AK for the wedding. I love this girl because she is just as weird as I am, and because she loves my boy so much.


























Derek - Melissa's honey, soon to be my son-in-law!! This is so fun, expanding the family by two amazing people in one year! Derek is a so courageous and creative when it comes to sharing God's love with others. He's a break-dancer and an English teacher...a guy with a heart for people and for God's Word and for our daughter...all good things! He's one of the only guys that would be able to "handle" our sweet girl's strong character and we trust him fully with her.

Home Sweet Home

Welcome to our house! We live in a little town about a half hour north-east of Lyon, France. Tomorrow will mark our one-year anniversary in this house. We don't know much of its history, only that it's (supposedly) 260 years old, and is made of adobe, or pisé.

This is picture of the house when we moved in last year. It looks like it must have been divided into two dwellings at some point in the past, because the façade was two different colors.

Thanks to the generosity of my parents-in-law, we were able to have the façade redone, all one color! It definitely makes a difference in how the house looks.













One of the things I love most about our home is the yard. After having lived in a house at the bottom of a STEEP hill, I totally enjoyed our new flat yard this past summer. It's so great to be able to use all of our space, and we're taking advantage of it with a chicken coop and a vegetable garden. Florent and Jordan made the chicken coop out of stuff they found here in the yard when we moved in. Mabel, Ethel and Gladys are very happy there, and reward us with fresh eggs every day.

Sticking two toes in the water...

...that's what I feel like I'm doing. Hmmm, starting a blog is a strange thing. I'm sure I'm not alone in wondering who would ever want to read about what's going on in my life. But I'm going to treat this like a kind of tool to capture my thoughts, a place to put pictures of things I want to share, a kind of journal of my life as a Christian, as a wife, a mother, a "foreigner living in a foreign land". Who knows, maybe I'll be the only person to see this, but if not, welcome to my world.