The weather outside is frightful.

The great news is Angie is continuing to improve. Yesterday she was able to smell the food that I cooked. Her voice is still a little raspy and she coughs occasionally. Today she is getting out to do some Christmas shopping. I just spent some time painting with the kids. All the kids seem to be better today as well. I hope all the sickness is behind us for a while. Angie was sick for three weeks. Yesterday we had another snowy morning. What I would call a blizzard came through after I dropped the kids off for school and covered the grounds and the roads in snow. I did not want to try to make it up our road, which is steep, so I parked at the bottom and walked up. I could tell by the footprints in the snow that three others had done the same thing. The snow didn't fall for long and I was able to drive all the way home after lunch. It has been cold. The temperature has not gone over freezing in the last few days. We celebrated Caleb's birthday, which was Thursday. He turned 7 years old. He was feeling a little better thankfully by the time we had the party. I am looking forward to the time off now more since Angie is better. Tuesday evening I will be speaking at the English Carol service in Carcassonne. It has been a while since I have spoken publicly in English. Hope that you weekend is blessed and that you find time to worship God. God bless, JASON

I forgot.

Let me update you with a couple of things that I forgot to mention from last week. Tuesday night after the Bible study I was stopped by the police. They were doing a sting I think, because they pulled over every car. I just showed my papers and he let me go on. I was a little glad because I wanted to know if I had everything I needed to keep in the car, and now I know that I do. Angie's birthday party went well saturday. She was feeling a little better and went shopping but came home exhausted. She is still not feeling back to normal. I got Lilia and Caleb signed up for classes at the swimming pool. They go on wednesdays from 11:25 to 12:10. I stopped by the gov. office and they confirmed that it should not be a problem to extend the visa. Then they said that we needed paperwork for our children as well, but no one had ever mentioned that to us, at the other office they assured that our paperwork worked for our kids. So obviously rules vary by place and person perhaps. All that to say I won't be sure until I have the new visa in my hand. Our car is still performing wonderfully, for the last week and a half I went 4.3 liters per 100km. Okay, I'll translate that for you, that equals 54.7 miles to the gallon. Awesome. And that is driving around town dropping kids off, not real highway miles. Services went good in Carcassonne Sunday. I am getting excited about the idea of having our own services. It has been four months since I last preached, not including to Angie or the kids. A member of the church in Carcassonne brought us supper last night, which we really appreciated. The family is probably getting tired of my cooking. I cook pretty good, but I do not balance well. For example, I see not problem in having rice, potatoes, and pasta in one meal. Angie seems to think that it does not go well together :) We are still waiting on internet to arrive. It has been two weeks. The attached picture is the boys watching a movie in English and eating American candy while in Greece. God bless, JASON

House Hunting in France

Hello everyone, Angie here. I thought I would write about all that has happened lately. The trip to Limoux went great. Michele, a friend from language school went with me and we had a blast. We got a late start for the trip down south because we both had morning class and while she returned from her class in Paris, I watched Andrew so Jason could give his devotional at school. Finally we were both ready and we left. We had McDonald's on the way and saw a Tati (really good discount store)and had to do some quick 10 minute shopping because it was closing at 7pm. Back on the road we were just enjoying all the sunshine and green fields all around. It took a while but we finally arrived at our hosts home at 11pm. We were warmly welcomed by our hosts and their two little doggies. After putting our bags in our room Genevieve immediately took me out across the street to show me this superbly kept home. It was vacant thankfully since we were taking a very close look. The owner had even put in air conditioning. But I have already stayed in a house in that neighborhood and they are all almost the same and I really wanted something a little more spacious and private. This was a new neighborhood and non of the hedges were grown up enough for privacy. I wasn't too interested but it was kind of our host to show us. Saturday we met the agent and he said he had some houses planned to show us, one I had seen online and one that I had not seen. Another one online had already been seen by two couples who were both serious and he said he was going to let them have their chance at it. Then he had a phone call. Then we left to see house number one. It was outside of town about 3 miles in a little village neighborhood. It was updated with fresh paint and a new shower but it had tiny rooms and felt cramped. Another drawback was that the yard wasn't fenced so it wasn't as safe as we would like it for the kids. As we finished the tour of house 1 the agent begins to tell me that he really has no other product to show or offer me. I think what he was saying was none that are as well done as this one. But I said to him that I really needed him to show me another one to compare with this one. ( In my mind I was thinking that house 2 will have to be really bad to make me feel at peace with this one and besides that I made an appointment and drove 8 hours and I think I should get to see more than one house.) I have learned to be more insistent here because that is just the only way things get done. So he took us to house 2. It was right in town in a really cute neighborhood. The house was attached on one side to another house but the yards were divided and private with really big hedges. The house looks very old world French with the dark wood (which I love) and the French doors, just charming. The living/dining area was much larger than the first house. The kitchen was decent sized with a stovetop, oven and cabinetry already there! Somethings we would have normally had to purchase ourselves. There was a "back" kitchen with a sink just next to the kitchen (very commom here) which would be a laundry room. The back yard was really good sized (for France) with a cute cherry tree in one corner and totally fenced -good for the safety of the kids. Then we went upstairs, and at this point I hadn't caught on that it was a 4 bedroom but Jason and I had discussed having a 3 bedroom with a back kitchen that could serve as a guest room if needed. So I was already thinking that this house could work. Upstairs the bedrooms were roomy and they had closets already, something else we would have had to buy ourselves! What a blessing- God sure knows our needs! The bathroom had a bathtub not just a shower - I was really glad about that. Then we noticed that there was a fourth bedroom. And as if we weren't enchanted already that did it for us. One bedroom also had a cute balcony. I think the agent was surprised we liked it but glad he had brought us there. There were other great things about this house too. We had discussed the need for parking space if we had a home Bible study and this house looks out over a big square- one side with shrubs and benches and the other side with trees and along two sides of the square, there are about 20 parking spaces. Also, in the connecting house/building the lower floor looks like it is an office space and it looked empty. The agent said that the upstairs was an appartment that is vacant and the owner is not trying to fill it currently. Very interesting. The kids schools are very nearby. Hopefully, if all works out, we will meet lots of people from the neighborhood just on the walk to and from school. Let me say that I couldn't have done it without my friend Michele. She was such a great help to me in giving a second opinion. I knew I would need someone with me and the Lord provided me with the perfect person I needed for the trip! Although the agent didn't much like her. If she looked as though she was about to say something negative he would interrupt her. Salesmen and their tactics.
After the appointment we went to Carcassonne to enjoy having a car to do some shopping. I showed Michele the big castle and at 8pm we had dinner back with Roger and Genevieve. It was a really nice time and we stayed up late visiting. They were sharing some of their heartaches with me. Please pray for them. Sunday we headed back to Paris and read and discussed God's word on the way. It was a great trip- although short and busy. We are so thankful for our hosts generosity and pray a special blessing on them for it. We are also thankful for God's amazing providence. We hope to hear from the agent this week if we are accepted as renters. If something should not work out though we know God has something else in mind. God Bless You All, ANGIE

Gypsies

We found out Monday that a line of 250 campers was trying to pull off the Autoroute onto the park here in town. Gypsies. The police were trying to stop them form entering because if they did then it would take two months of paperwork before they could get them to leave. Traffic was blocked for about 10 hours. Finally they had to let them in. According to the paper there are now 450 campers in the park. I will attach some pictures of the process. Everyone was afraid that the crime would increase in town like when a similar thing happened about 5 years ago. Thankfully these gypsies are pentecostal so that there has not been any problems. Besides our park is overrun. Yesterday I met a friend in Paris who brought us some goodies, including peanut butter. Matt has made several trips here to France and I enjoyed seeing him again. Angie is preparing to go to Limoux this weekend to look at houses. She will traveling with another mom from the language school. They are going to really enjoy eachothers company the trip there. We got a call from a older couple we know there and they invited Angie and her friend to spend the night with them instead of getting a hotel. I rented her a car yesterday, a small one. I will make sure and get a picture of it as well. Thanks for reading. God bless, JASON

Spring?

Things are going well today. Angie went to the Dr. this morning. She has not had any fever since last week but her throat was still bothering here she felt tired all of the time. Come to find out she has strep throat. He put her on Antibiotics and she should be back to normal soon. We have just came back from out first attempt to buy a car. Here is how it went. We walked around inside the dealership and when no one approached us we approached them and explained what we were wanting. The salesmen (who spoke French like it was a race to get the words out) brought some brochures and showed us the options. I was looking at the Dacia Logan MCV Ambiance, which is the lower class and has the least options, but it turns out that with the options that we wanted (like Air Conditioning and 7 seats), they come standard in the more luxury version and would be cheaper. The Ambiance listed at 13,900 and adding the A/C alone would add 900. While the other version was 15,100 including A/C and other accessories that would be nice to have like a radio. Then he told us that it would not be in until the end of July. That wouldn't work because we are moving the first of July. We then asked if he could look around at what was available at the dealerships in the Paris Area. He said he could check on that and get back with us this evening because the secretary was out to lunch. So now we are waiting for his call and hopefully Angie or I, most likely Angie, will be able to understand him over the phone.
This coming Friday we are having a "Texas" BBQ at the school which we are looking forward to. We are still waiting for the normal spring weather to arrive. It was chilly and windy today. I have attached a picture that I took out of the window during winter and one that I took today. Let me also insert a quote from Caleb this time. He just asked, "Is chocolate made from spinach?" God bless, JASON

Back into the swing of things.

School has gotten started back up like there wasn't even a break. In fact, we have a test on Thursday.
Angie has been sick. She has a sore throat, achy joints, and a intermittent fever. She has missed school these last two days. Join me in praying for her quick recovery.
Spring seems to have left again. The high was only 58 today. It has been rainy, and there was even a little hail. The sunshine and spring weather are supposed to be back next week. I was walking the kids back to school after lunch today and it started sprinkling on us. Micah asked, "Is it raining?" I replied that is was. He then said, "It must be Monday." I don't know how he comes up with these things.
I am expecting a phone call tomorrow from a French Association that we might be looking to granting us the invitation to work here in France. I am looking forward to it but also am a little nervous because it is difficult to speak French on the phone, actually I think the harder part is to understand what the other person is saying more than speaking.
I have not mentioned in a while the young man, Clint, a member of our church who was severely burned (85%) recently, he is doing well, but still has a lot to face. If you would like to follow his progress more closely you can go to my Dad's blog, the link is to the right.
Andrew 's potty training is going real well. I am pleasantly surprised. What he really likes is the applause everyone gives him after a successful trip. Now he goes and tells everyone afterwards so that they will clap for him. God bless, JASON

She is back.

Just a quick note to say that Angie made it back without any problems. I'll try to get her to blog tomorrow about her experiences. She gave the kids a lot of neat souvenirs from Africa. I told her we could put some of them on our France display booth we set up a meetings and missions conferences, but I don't think people will believe they are from France. I actually caught myself several times while she was telling all about her trip wishing I could have gone along with her. Maybe next time. God bless, JASON

The 7th Day

Today is the 7th day that Angie has been away from me. She is doing well. Yesterday morning they went to the ocean and that afternoon they killed and plucked a chicken. It is good to know that she is getting a good African experience. Today she will be attending services. A little ironic that soon after we can understand all that goes on in the service in French, she will be in a Swahili service and not understand a word. I think everyone should experience a worship service where you do not understand what is being said. It is a good growth experience and a test of worship. For those who would like to contact us, my Magic Jack is up and working. It gives us a US phone number. If you would like the number just ask. And also a prayer request. A church member of our sending church Clint, around 20 years old, fell into a fire and has burns over 85% percent of his body. He needs your prayers as does our church, as my father and his family will be with him this Sunday morning at the Hospital. God bless, JASON

Kenya Day 4

Church was good. I introduced myself and Kenya translated. I knew about 7 seconds before I had to do it. I think I said 5 sentences James is doing really well with the language. Kenya too! It's funny they will be rattling along in swahili then an english word pops up in it. lsiskkoidiadj pins aldjflaoij cast aldkjfe. It was funny. France is "ufransa" or something like that. sometimes i hear parts of french word in the phrases. they have a gas station called "Bonjour". And for some reason on the highway on the way down here there were a couple of big European Union flags and signs. After a supper of beans and rice I did dishes and hung out clothes, Kenya gave showers, clipped nails and cleaned ears, and put Samuel to bed and James started working on his break lights so we can go to the game park tomorrow in the defender. We watched an episode of Dirty Jobs and ate popcorn. Then they opened a package they got of Easter stuff from the states. Then the kids got tucked in while I picked up, then we hung out more clothes and started more washing. Afterwards we packed a lunch for tomorrow which Kenya is finishing up and James is still out working on the lights. It has been a good day. I did get a nap this afternoon- I just felt wiped out. I guess from a combo of all the newness and the traveling. They found out that the strong winds yesterday tore up a lot of the tarps and the choo (outhouse) walls at the church so they will have a work day on Saturday. The winds blew one of Kenya's sheets off the roof. She was glad that it didn't blow away, it was still in her yard. No pictures today. the camera batteries died this morning. They are charging up for tomorrow. We will leave early in the morning. - ANGIE

Angie in Kenya Day 3

I hope you are all well. So the driving yesterday from Nairobi to Malindi was intense. We left around 9 in the morning, while still in Nairobi, James went to get a couple they brought when they came, to bring them back with him. We went on to the gas station and got some snacks for the trip. Kenya braved a last minute potty break before James arrived- I should have too. They were thinking that the place they prefer to stop at would be about halfway but later at the halfway place we found out it was further about 3/4 of the way there. Needless to say the Lord impressed me with his creation, the bladder. The driving motto apparently is "It's ok if I don't have enough room to pass, they will get out of my way." The big trucks and the van taxis would pass coming from the other direction straight at us (well at James in front of us) and you would know they were not going to have enough time to make it but they would just keep coming at you and just run you off the road. This happened many times. It was crazy. I think that in this country if the car in front of you dodges you better dodge too because the car coming at you is not always slowing down. It was very dangerous. Fortunately on the road we were on we had a shoulder to get off on everytime this happend. The worst time was once when I could see the truck coming but James wasn't getting over. There were pedestrians on the shoulder so he had to be very careful- slam on the brakes, dodge, avoid the pedestrians. Kenya honked at them- she said it was for therapy. I agree. They say that driving is the most dangerous thing they do here. Oh yeah, they have speed bumps, pretty big ones but they are not always marked. Of the maybe 40-50 speed bumps we went over I only saw one sign. Usually they just put a big rock on either side of the road to warn you. It was weird because we would go over the bumps and I would think to myself, "Is this a populated area?" The lack of "houses" kept surprising me. As we neared Mombasa I kept waiting to see the "suburbs" but they never came. We stopped briefly in Mombasa and saw Jen and Davis, former students of ours at the language school - that was so great to get to see them again. Davis asked me how I ended up in Kenya. I told him and he said that since I can come to Africa so easily that I should come see them in Congo. I said that I have been told a lot about Kenya and that I would have to begin to be educated on Congo before I think I would really really want to go there. After a short but sweet visit we parted. Already having been on the road more than 12 hours we just had 1 and 1/2 hours to go. When we got to their house they we were greeted by a nice layer of dirt all over every surface. We had to wipe down the counters and table before we could eat. they were having strong winds which surprised them because this is the first time they have been here during this time of year. It was cooling things off here getting ready for the rains. It has been nice, otherwise we would be roasting, especially today when the power went out for a few hours. This morning Kenya got up early and cleaned. Then when I got up we made breakfast. After breakfast we went to do some grocery shopping, pick up the mail, and have the tire patched. Oh yeah we also had a flat tire on the way home yesterday that James had to change. I just watched 8 kids play play-doh while Kenya had her Swahili lesson and now we need to go to church. ANGIE

From Kenya

Hey, I'm in Kenya! We had a good visit and meal last night, fried chicken and fries. This morning I had a doughnut for breakfast then Kenya, James and I went to the office to get insurance on James' new truck. On the way James bought a newspaper from a street hawker in the middle of the street. While we waited in the car for James, Kenya and I visited and then we had a call from Jen Davis, a former student at our language school, they are working in Congo, but are on vacation in Kenya - we may try to meet them on the way home tomorrow. Also while we waited the man who sold James the truck brought the faceplate to the stereo by. Then we did some shopping in a big store with lots of British items I recognized from our vacation house we had in the south of France. I got macaroni and popcorn kernels and Chiclets. This afternoon James and I ate Chinese food at the mall, everyone else had chicken and fries or spaghetti. After we finished they drove me out to see the Rift Valley from a lookout point about 30 minutes from here to the west. Last night the driving was crazy with the people passing from the other direction coming right in your lane so that you had to move over. But today James said we had a first time moment when at a very backed-up round-about the cars trying to squeeze in next to us were getting angry because James, who was actually on the road, was going past them and essentially cutting them off. Then one of the guys reached out of his car and hit our van with his fist. Crazy guy! James just said that the other guy was the one who needed to wait, we were doing right. The rift valley was awesome! James said it goes all the way to Israel. On the "interstate" there were lots of checkpoints for the cops to see if you have insurance and occasionally ask for bribes. They can get in trouble if they ask directly so they find ways to ask indirectly. Like they asked what we were going to do last night. James said going to eat. Then the cop said well what am I going to eat tonight? So now we are back and getting packed up for an early start. We may go to a movie in a little bit or if Samuel is too wiggly we may go shopping. Then we are going to eat Indian food. Tomorrow we will leave Nairobi, "the land of plenty", as they were calling it. Lydia (3 or 4 years old), their daughter who broke her arm last week, is doing good and not in too much pain, she is just trying to keep her sling adjusted right and deal with the inconvenience of having one good hand. The other kids are good Josiah (7) did something this morning that totally reminded me of Caleb. It was cute. They all loved their gifts I brought from France and drawings our kids made for their kids. Thanks for the prayers, I'll go help pack now. - ANGIE

Day 1

Day one with just me and the kids passed well. I just spoke with Angie, she made it to Nairobi without any problems and was eating supper with the Taylor Family. We are doing well. Easter weekend went real well. Saturday we had a little Easter Party and Egg hunt at the Language School. Sunday morning services went well. They had double services, and early service for church members and the normal service for everyone who brought guests. It was specifically aimed at getting the message of Easter to non-Christians. France 2, a French TV station, showed up and filmed bits of the services. Angie left Sunday afternoon and arrived at Amsterdam, where she spent the night. She left this morning for Kenya and arrived just after 7 pm. She already is enjoying herself and got to hold their one year old, Samuel, who we had not got to meet yet. He fell asleep on her. They plan to stay one more day in Nairobi and do some shopping at a new mall and then make the trek back to East Kenya. Me and the kids are fine. I took them to out to the language school and let them play. It was nice weather today, but rain is supposed to move in tomorrow. Lilia is spending the night with some friends and will be making a trip into Paris tomorrow. Meanwhile the boys will have some Father/Son time. Of course that includes, tickling, wrestling, hot-wheels, and transformers. Sunday before church we had some family pictures made. It was difficult to have everyone looking at the camera and smiling at the same time. Attached is one of the better pictures. God bless, JASON

Acts of Kindness

School finished well. Friday we had a breakfast with our class and the class below us. We had a good time sampling some good food. Angie made breakfast sausage that was a real big hit with the Americans especially. Also I received some Dr. Pepper that I had ordered off the Internet and was able to share with them. There were mixed responses from those that had never tried it. But once again the Americans were real pleased.
Another event developed late Friday. Angie talked to her missionary friend in Kenya. They have had a rough time with one of their close friends losing a newborn baby in the middle of which their own daughter had a bad fall and broke her arm in several places. They had to go to Nairobi for the surgery, so Angie had the thought to fly down and help out. Angie has a nice streak like that. She always wants to help others. Sometimes I have had to be the voice of region and hold her back, but I told myself early in our marriage that if I could I would let her help as much as possible. We looked online to get an idea of the costs and the tickets were around $1400-$1600. We have a two week vacation, so that wasn't a problem. We worked out the details with our friends in Kenya and put in a call to Bro. Jack who is a travel agent who works full time booking travel and logistic work for missionaries and missions teams. (We ate with him in Paris a couple a weeks ago) He was able to find a flight for just over $700 dollars! So, Angie will be leaving Sunday to spend a week helping and encouraging the Taylor family serving in East Kenya. As events proceed, Angie and I will keep you updates. She has gone shopping right now to find here some sandals, it has been a while since we have experienced a hot climate. God bless, JASON

Angie has returned.

Angie is back and almost recovered. It is good to have her back and she had a wonderful time in Colorado, shopping and visiting. She got her drivers license, that was the main purpose of the trip. I must catch you up on a few Micah-isms. I was giving a bath the other day and said, "Why are your ears so dirty Micah?" He replied, "Because I eat chicken and play outside." And today while we were walking to school he had been quite for most of the walk when he suddenly said, "If I pulled the cats tail I would say sorry."
We took our final test of the semester today. It was difficult and I can not even guess what I made on it. Caleb turns 6 years old tomorrow. I have the urge to make him a lemon cake. Angie had a meeting with Lilia's teacher today. He was real impressed with her progress. Often she does better on vocabulary and spelling test than all the other french students. One of the new language school students child will be in her class starting Thursday. Caleb as well will have one of the their kids in his class. They are both very excited about it. We meet with Caleb's teacher Thursday, and I am really looking forward to finding out how he is doing. We can not get any information out of him. Tomorrow we will celebrate Calebs birthday, take the kids to the Library and get a replacement cell phone (ours has slowly deteriorated after it was washed). God bless, JASON

Angie in Colorado.

Angie made it safe to Colorado. She missed a flight in Paris and again in Chicago but arrived just a little later. I escorted the new family back to Massy from the Airport. They had 8 bags left behind in Atlanta that are supposed to arrive today. They were pretty tired but the trip went well. Wednesday we sang at the Nursing home. It went well and the residents seemed to enjoy it. There was a write up about it in the local paper today. I am preaching in Chapel today. I will post my sermon later. It is cold this morning, the windchill was 23. Tonight we have a multi-language Christmas concert. I plan to go but the kids may get sleepy and fussy because it starts at 8:30, but we will last as long as we can and leave early if needed. God bless, JASON