Mother's Day 1

This is the first Mother's day of the year so far. Mother's Day in France is in June. Angie will be treated twice, which she deserves. The Bible study went well Thursday night. There were two who came, and we had a good study and fellowship. Friday, I spent getting paperwork done and doing some shopping. In the afternoon Angie, Andrew and I visited the jardin aux plantes, a plant garden here in Limoux. It was like a zoo for plants, with labels and information on all kinds of plants. There were two acres and we could have stayed all afternoon, but Andrew was not as interested as Angie and I. They had plants from all over, I think there were at least 10 different types of Roses alone. Saturday, I took the kids for a hike in the hills behind our house. They all really enjoy walking around and exploring. Lilia was facinated by the streams that had formed in all the crevices in the hills. They had formed from the three days of rain that we received. Services went well today. Had a nice restful afternoon, got some reading done, listened to the services at our sending church. Angie is preparing a lesson for the kids at this moment and then it is off to bed. I have attached pictures of us planting our strawberries and tomato plants. They look like they will survive the cold weather and snow. God bless, JASON

French Mother's Day

I just wanted to show you all what the kids made at school for me for Mother's Day here. Micah painted the blue and red pot for the "flowers". And he made green hanprints for the "plant". I think he also painted the hearts and then the were sprinkledCaleb wrote words on the heart flower bouquet (sweet, pretty, nice, star, mom) and Bonne Fete Maman. He also made a cute colorful card with a poem inside. Lilia made a bookmark that is clear with pressed flowers in it and letters she cut out to say Bonne Fete Maman. She said it was tough to cut out all the letters. She gave it to me in a purple crepe paper envelope. I thought these were very sweet and thoughtful gifts and it was neat to see how they celebrate here. ANGIE

Fête de la Mère

Today was mother's day in France (Fête de la Mère). There was a small celebration in downtown massy in celebrations, which is where we live. It was not much, a few booths and a live band. The streets were closed so we called Yvain and Virginie Saturday and moved the service time to 1:30. That is what is great about home churches. We did not have to call a business meeting either. Services went good, we presented a small gift to the 2 mother's present. In other news, Massy is alive with colorful flowers. On each lampost their hangs a basket of flowers and every patch of dirt has something blooming it seems. We were told that 20% of the city budget is spent on flowers. So far, I am loving spring in France. We have never visited here before summer, but it is real nice. I have attached some pictures of some flowers. Friday night, Caleb and I attended a local jazz concert. We enjoyed it. Caleb liked the drums. He managed to stay awake for the first 45 minutes. He said afterwards when I asked him if he liked it, "I liked it, it went into my heart and down into my feet." It was a good cultural experience and we even met someone there that we visited with when we made our survey trip over a year and a half ago. In answering the question from the last blog. "Je suis Jesus" = I am following Jesus (verb - suivre). "Je ne suis pas Jesus" = I am not Jesus (verb - etre). We pray that your Sunday goes well also. God bless, JASON