Brothers.

It starts out good. . .

being sweet and posing for the camera, when . . .

. . .suddenly, Micah gets slapped. . .

. . .things go downhill . . .

Referee

A good Daddy daughter look.

Angie took a picture while walking behind our house.

Boys playing outside during the springtime weather.

A flower in our flower pot finally bloomed.

Time has gotten away from me again.  Last week went well.  Here are some highlights.  We had our first beginners Bible study.  Two were present and we had a good (and lengthy) discussion.   Last weekend the boys (my team) had a basketball tournament.  It went well because between games we had time to meet the parents and get to know them better,  Even though our team lost all games, we still had a good time playing and they had improved.  We were missing three of our players and they happen to be the three oldest and so that hurt us.  I also had the chance to meet with leaders of the basketball program and discuss the option of having AC Green speak at the big end-of-the-year tournament which will be June 9th.  Tuesday evening we had our regular Bible study, which was good because we had missed a few weeks due to the school vacation and people being out of town.  Thursday at lunch I took a bite of my sandwich and was suddenly chewing on a tooth.  My front tooth broke off where it had been fixed after breaking about 22 years ago.  I got a dentist appointment for the following day.  I still played in our basketball game that night.  It was an important game for us, because it was against the team that is tied with us for first place.  The game was close but we lost.  We had one of our team members ejected after loosing his temper at the referee and throwing the ball.  Friday morning I went to the dentist, it was sad because I missed going to the market during the beautiful weather, but I was really glad to get the tooth fixed.  Now it is just a matter of time to get used to the new shape in my mouth.  Friday afternoon we didn't have the beginner Bible study, I called before hand and they were busy.  They shared about some problems they were having with another person.  A situation we run into frequently it seems.  I end up playing the referee. Pray for us and these situations. Friday night is family night, we let the boys watch the French Top Chef program.  It is neat how much they like it, and they always re-enact it for several days afterwards.  After every meal they will discuss which dish they liked best and why.  Angie will be going to youth meeting this afternoon.  I will be leading the service at church tomorrow.  I pray you have a good week.  God bless, JASON

Grillade vs. Grillage

Arianna combs Caleb's hair.

Lilia shows me something on he cell phone.

Arianna's new thing is to get people to show their foreheads.

Grillade or Grillage

Arianna and Andrew singing Sunday morning. 

The second week of vacation went real well.  The main thing accomplished was getting a fence installed across the back yard.  Our back yard is elevated have 12 feet and Angie has always worried about the kids falling off while playing back there.  So I finally got around to putting up a fence across the 21 meter space.  It took a couple of days worth of afternoons, but it is finished and looks nice.  Thankfully I already had the wire fencing, so I only had to buy the posts, stuff to make the gate, and hardware.  So for about $100 dollars we got a fence.  We were blessed with nice weather this past week as well.  One day it got up to 68 degrees.  Angie was sick for the first half of last week, her and Arianna had a cold.  In other news, looks like we will be soon starting a second Bible study.  We had three interested in a Bible study one afternoon, aimed more for beginners.  We just need to settle on which day.  We had some visitors over last night and had a good visit and end to our vacation.  I enjoyed getting the boys outside working.  We were able to finish up the fence and make several repairs, car windshield wipers, brake light, hot water heater leak, and a good spring cleaning as well.  Looks like things will be cooling off in a couple of days.  We are supposed to have snow Wednesday.  The title of this blog highlights my latest language blunder.  Yes, those still happen occasionally and I suppose they always will.  I was at the hardware store and went up to the help desk to ask were the fencing material was, so I used the word "grillade" for fence.  She pointed out the barbecue pits and charcoal sitting close by.  Questioningly, I explained I wanted to make an inclosure.  Then I could see the light come on, "You mean "grillage" she said." ( "Grillade" means "grilling".)  Yep, that's what I meant.  God bless, JASON

Three countries in one hour

We had a great visit with our friends.  It was interesting how they arrived.  We expected them sometime Friday, but could not get an exact time because their phones were not working.  We estimated based on their last posts on facebook.  They still had not arrived by the time we got the boys from school.  After we picked them up we needed to stop by the store, which is right next to McDonalds.  Guess who was in the parking lot! That's right, there they were.  We had a good evening and the kids spent all day Saturday playing together.  While the ladies shopped and then Angie took Lilia and their older two girls to the youth meeting.  Sunday we all enjoyed the services in Carcassonne.  I translated as best as I could for them.  We had a nice restful afternoon.  I caught our home services, while most others played or slept. 

 Monday we had a birthday party for their son, Luca, affectionately called Bubbha.  It was at a nice play/party place called Royal Kids.  They had one of the largest play areas I have even seen.  The kids had a great time playing together. It went well, because we had very cold temperatures over the weekend and it snowed most of the time, but didn't stick thankfully.  So it was great that the kids got to play indoors. 

 Lilia had a great time with their three daughters,  They stayed up late every night.  I took them to the ranch to see the horses, and chickens.  They were more interested in the horses.  

.  Wednesday, the weather was nice and so Dave and I drove with the three oldest girls to Spain and then Andorra.  We enjoyed some Burger King in Andorra and the drive was beautiful.  Thankfully all the roads were clear.  Our friends left at noon on Thursday, but the kids did not have long to be sad, because a box we were expecting from my parents arrived, about twenty minutes later.  They enjoyed exploring all the goodies.  Angie had fun playing with the Kindle that I got her for Christmas.  We spent the rest of the day getting the house in order.  Friday, I ran a few errands in town, and replaced a windshield wiper and brake light on the car.  I also got our finances balanced and our tax information turned in. Today I need to work on our monthly report and also work in the garden some.  God bless, JASON

Warm spell

My team getting ready to play.

 We enjoyed warmer weather this past week.  It warmed up to 60 a couple of those days.  That allowed us to get outside.  The boys really needed to burn some energy.  They enjoyed getting their bikes out, which required an hour of bike repair for me.  They played basketball and soccer, and Arianna and Lilia even joined in at times.  We also were able to work some more in the garden.  We should soon be able to plant a few things. 

Lilia takes a self portrait.

 Last week, I put a lot of time in the office.  I prepared several things for the Bible study, handouts and future lessons.  Also, I prepared for leading the services in Carcassonne on Sunday morning.  We did enjoy the Bible study last week.  One couple came and we finished up John 8. 

Arianna was impressed by the stack of cans.

 By Friday the weather had turned rainy again, so I didn't make it to the market.  Angie was able to get out several times last week.  She visited with the neighbors, walked, and exercised with some friends.  Saturday evening we spoke with Lauren, who will be arriving in September to work with us.  We had a good talk and are really looking forward to working with her.
Sunday services went well, we had several of our recent contacts from Limoux, come for the services.  My part of the services went well.  I enjoyed it, at least.  Sunday afternoon, my basketball team and I had our first tournament.  We played three games.  We lost all three, but not by much. My team did well.  Lilia stayed home with Arianna so that Angie could go and meet people.  She was blessed to find a seat beside a young lady, who ended up reading her Bible.  Angie had a good conversation with her, they ended up being baptists.  I was proud of my team, they showed good progress, especially Andrew, who managed to dribble, steal, get rebounds, and shoot.  Monday, I attended a meeting of churches in Toulouse.  I had a good time and learned about some new ministries that are available to churches here in France.  I enjoyed the fellowship and was able to share about our upcoming basketball outreach. 

A spider web glistening in the morning sun.

We didn't have anyone present for Bible study last night, well one lady came, but she requesting having some one on one time with Angie to talk about some things, so Angie and her went out and had coffee.  Meanwhile, I used the time, with Caleb's help, to make a few videos to put on youtube.  It has been a year since I posted anything.  For the rest of the week, today will mostly be basketball and shopping.  Tomorrow, language work and preparing for our friends, the Manary family, who will be driving in from Romania and arriving on Friday.  The weather is supposed to turn cold again this weekend, so hopefully I can get some more yard work done today.  God bless, JASON

Rain, rain, go away . . .

Walking back from the bike race.

Micah and Arianna pose.

 After such a good start last week, with the occasion to share our faith one on one, with Angie sharing about the Bible with her language group, we were a little watered down when no one was there for the Bible study, but Angie enjoyed having a quiet moment to share about the days events and the future.  Saturday was filled with kids activities. I walked Caleb and Arianna down to see a bike race in town, but we arrived just as the bikes passed. We had fun all the same.  There were only four kids present for basketball. Sickness, the weather, traffic, were all excuses that I heard.  Andrew was out at a birthday party.  That was a neat story in itself. Tuesday Angie sent a text to a lady we met at the kids old school that she hadn't talked to in a while. Angie wanted to get together with her some time.  The lady wrote right back offering for Angie and Andrew to come to her daughters birthday party on Wednesday at McDonalds.  Andrew had a great time playing with the friends from his old school, and Angie got to reconnect as well.  At our basketball that evening, there was a new player that I was able to introduce myself too.

Lilia participates at the youth meeting.

On the way to Bordeaux.

Thursday, had a good language session, and got some paperwork done, as well as a couple of household projects.  Friday morning, it was raining, so no market.  I has rained a lot this winter. My friend who has a small ranch, mentioned that his ground has been mud for over a month  (foreshadowing).  

Andrew tries out the violin of one of our new friends.

We made it!

Arianna and Micah watch the basketball game.

Friday night, as it rained, Caleb spent the night with a friend, after he and his brothers all had hair cuts.  Saturday, we made ready for our trip to Bordeaux.  Angie and Lilia went to the youth meeting in Carcassonne, while I packed and made up some sandwiches.  We headed out for Agen, where we spent the night in a Formula 1 hotel.  It rained the whole trip.  The hotel was very inexpensive, but the were no bathrooms in the room, everyone used the public restrooms.  I probably should have paid more attention to the rooms.  We had a someone restful night, amid the noise of people entering and exiting, and people talking, playing guitar, even singing.  We finished the trip the next morning, in the rain.  We enjoyed services with a church in Bordeaux, the pastor is a friend of ours we have known for several years.  After services we went to a basketball game with another American family who is church planting in a suburb of Bordeaux.  We had a great time at the game, and enjoyed a meal at their house afterwards.   We had a great visit, they have been in France for about 20 years, and it was great to ask question and talk about different ways of reaching out.  We left for the three and a half hour drive home (in the rain).  We made it back home about 11 that night, tired but excited.  Monday we got the kids off the school, unpacked and cleaned, and caught up.  Angie had a meeting at school with Micah's class.  Their teacher has been absent a lot and sometimes there is not substitute and so he stays home, as he did today.  Otherwise he would go to another teachers class and color or draw.  He doesn't mind missing school.  We are looking forward to Bible study tonight.  We should have a first time visitor coming.  We did receive word back from a couple we spoke with two weeks ago.  They made it clear that they are not "convinced" about what we shared with them and that "they will never be".  We politely offered our services anytime in the future.  We will continue to pray that God opens their hearts. Blessing, JASON

Bowling

Lilia skiing experience.

Lilia's ski outfit.

The only problem with blogging once a week, is that I really have trouble remembering all that has happened the past week.  At the Bible study last week, we had a good discussion about the invitations I am preparing.  It is always good to have the feedback of those familiar with the culture.  We had a good discussion, we ended up speaking about the future of our work here: what we are trying to accomplish, how we need to get there, what are the next steps.  It was a good time to reflect on the past and look forward to the future.  I shared with the group how I feel that this is a key year.  The past three years in Limoux have given us many good contacts.  We are feeling more and more at ease with the culture and language.  We have a big basketball outreach coming up in June.  We also have a young lady coming to work with us for two years, who will be arriving in September.  Also we realized that three of the people who regularly attend our Bible study are also new to this area.  They also had to get established and have been making new friends.

I scored 130 and won a free pen.

Arianna is vacuuming.

The boys got out all their cars.

Basketball Wednesday went well.  I'm going to have to cut someone from my kids team . . . Andrew.  He gets really upset when he does not do well, when someone passes him, when I try to correct something that he is doing.  I have been talking with him about these problems, but it may just be best to wait for next year.  Thursday  was beautiful.  It got up to 65 degrees. We even walked the kids home during lunch. That evening, I  was able to speak with one of my teammates ( who is new ) about my work, and what we are doing. I was really looking forward to the market Friday morning, because I thought that many people would be out enjoying the nice weather.  It was raining.  I still went, and just stayed under the covered walkway.  There were few people who ventured out, but I did get to talk with Abdel, a Moroccan, who I have gotten well acquainted with these past years.    He sells baskets and carpets.  Friday, Lilia got back from her ski trip.  She left Wednesday and spent three days skiing in the Pyrenees with her class.  She had a great time.  When I dropped her off, I was able to speak to George, the father of her best friend. It has been a while since we say him, and I enjoyed getting to speak with him again.  Saturday, Angie and I found a babysitter, and went bowling with another couple.  We enjoyed spending time with them.  We met them a year ago, when they moved to Limoux and he joined my basketball team.  We were also spying on the bowling alley, to find out if Angie could take the youth group in Carcassonne bowling sometime.  Afterwards we ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant, that was just excellent.  It was worth the $25 per person.  Sunday services went well in Carcassonne.  We stayed for their lunch fellowship afterwards.  That evening we listened to our sending church's evening services on Skype. Yesterday, after dropping the kids off, I went to the bank in Carcassonne.  We worked on the finances some.  Angie went to visit some friends that afternoon, and I finished reading a book about Catholics.  It was interesting because it was written to be give to Catholics to get them to think about what they believe and how that compares with the Bible.  I've started now to read a book in French about the life of Adoniram Judson, missionary to India. This afternoon we had a man come visit along with his elderly mother.  I was able to share my testimony with him and answer several questions.  He has requested to be baptized by the catholic church.  Thankfully he has also started reading his Bible.  Pray for him and his mother (who is in poor health).  Looking forward to Bible study this evening.  This weekend we will be traveling to Bordeaux to visit with a couple of pastors there.  God bless, JASON