Sick in the Spring

Arianna falls asleep on the floor.

I made a carrot cake Sunday.

Arianna models the summer gown series.

Another week is passed and this month looks like it will fly by like the last one.  Things went well again last week.  We got a lot of work done in the yard this week.  It had gotten run down and needed a good overhaul.  Everyone enjoyed working on it, the boys liked the work and the thought of earning money, Lilia liked the boys not bothering her, and Arianna just liked being outside.  The cherry trees have bloomed in the back yard and they look beautiful.  Angie had a few doctors appointments this week.  She visited the doctor, the radiologist, and the lab for a blood test.  Her blood pressure was high and she is now on medication again to lower it back down.  She had been having some pain in her neck, and had a lot of cricks in her neck over the past year.  After an x-ray it has been confirmed that she has a abnormal curvature in the spine due to an injury in the past somewhere.  It is called cervical kyphosis, literally the curve in her neck is leaning the wrong direction.  With some anti-inflammatory and some massage it should work itself out.  Angie has not complained at all at the thought of getting a few good massages  Thursday night after the Bible study, Andrew got sick to his stomach.  He just kind of layed around all weekend.  He was feeling better Sunday, but Sunday night he got sick again.  Arianna got sick also on Friday and Sunday.  I stayed home with the two sick ones while Angie went to church on Sunday.  It is rare for her to get to go to church without any little kids.  Currently working on first of the month paperwork, the Bible Study for this week, and some stuff for this summer.  We finally got our key for the attic and have been storing stuff here and there.  There is some really old stuff up there and I have asked permission to be able to use it of throw it away.  We also got Arianna's official name change requested.  We went to the office to get it done and they told us that we could not do it in person, we have to write a letter :(  What are the odds.  We are working with Andrew to get him to stop sucking his thumb. I think that is probably why he gets sick and spreads it to the rest of the family.  So far his thumb has remained dry all day.  We will see how long it stays that way.  Thanks for you thoughts and prayers.   Continue to be in prayer for us this week and for this month.  God bless, JASON



Just my size.

Peek-a-boo.

Round Two

One of the most popular toys of her age group.

Never too young to start.

Everyone watches Caleb play a game.

Alseep in the carseat.

Tuesday night we had a good time with our guests.  We stayed talking until almost midnight.  Tuesday we started round two of sickness for the year.  Arianna and Caleb were sick on Tuesday.  Angie picked it up on Wednesday, and Lilia got it Friday.  It was not too bad, just a little fever and stuffiness.  We did cancel the Bible study on Thursday night.  Thursday, I took Arianna and the boys on a walk to McDonalds to play on the playplace and just get out of the house  some.  Arianna did not sleep good on Thursday and Friday night.  Thursday night she woke up every two hours.  Which makes not only a tired little girl, but tired parents as well.  At least the weather has been nice, warming up to about 60 degrees every day.  I enjoyed basketball practice on Wed. and Friday night.  We have a new player who just moved here from Paris.  I hope to have the chance to invite him over.  Things went well at the market Friday morning, there were not as many people as I expected with the warmer temperatures. I did get to speak to a few regulars and share a cup of coffee.  Let me take the time to say that the coffee you buy from the cafés is great.  If I could make it like that at home, I might drink coffee regularly.  The last time I made some coffee at home I couldn't even finish one cup, it just didn't taste as good.  Maybe I am spoiled by the good stuff.   We also got some good news about our cell phone, actually it was bad news.  They called on Wednesday and said our phone was back from the repair place (to catch you up, Angie had dropped it in the snow a couple of weeks ago and it wouldn't charge).  Angie went to pick it up on Saturday to find out that they couldn't fix it because their were signs of water damage.  Here I was that evening and on Sunday, thinking what to do because we couldn't get a replacement with our current provider until July.  Sunday night, I said to myself that maybe it will work. (Round 2) After saying a quick prayer, I plugged it in and it charged.  How exciting!  Praise God!  I hope that it will keep working at least until we leave for the states.   Services went good in Sunday.  We had a good talk with my parents as well.  Looking forward to seeing our families this summer.  The kids started school back today, so our routine will settle back in hopefully. God bless, JASON

Ready to go outside?

Christmas Sickness

Saturday Angie did some Christmas shopping and we put
up the tree.

Had some play time putting some legos
together with Caleb.

The sickness seems to finally be behind us.  It lasted all last week and we did end up cancelling the Bible Study and our Thanksgiving meal.  We will try to reschedule after the first of the year.  We did manage to get some stuff unpacked inbetween sick moments.  Let me run down the schedule for you.  Andrew became sick Saturday night.  Arianna joined him on Monday.  Caleb and Micah hopped on the sick wagon on Monday night.  I had fever on Tuesday.  Angie joined in the fun on Wednesday, and Lilia on Wednesday night.  Andrew had a slight relapse on Friday night.  The sickness lasted one or two days for everyone, except Andrew, who stomach was still hurting on the third day.  We found out that is was because he had not gone "potty" of anykind for two days.  I went to church on Sunday with the three older kids.  Services were good.  Caleb and Micah had a basketball tournemant that afternoon.  They tied two games and lost the third.  This week I am hoping to have things back to some kind of ressemblance of normal.  I have a lot of work to do.  Prepare for the Bible study, for the Christmas outreach in Carcassonne, and for leading the services in Carcassonne on Sunday.  Better get to it.  God bless, JASON

The last meal

I enjoy every meal as if it were my last . . .let me start from the beginning.  Last week went well, we got probably 75% of boxes unpacked.  The Bible study went well, I had sent out a text message to all that we have had contact with, we still just have our usual audience, but I am confident that we will experience better growth in town.  Friday morning the stand at the market went well, I passed out one Bible, almost two.  Limoux has a large psychiatric hospital, so often mentally handicaped people will frequently walk through the market under supervision.  Two young teenagers passed by with an adult, one young teen asked me how much the stuff cost, I mentioned it was free, he then asked the adult if he could have a Bible.  They went back and forth for a while, the adult stating, "You can't even read, you don't even know what it is."  He answering back, "But so and so can read, and it's free, I don't care what it is." I wanted to give it to him, but couldn't overide the authority of the adult in charge of him.  Friday we got the heat turned on and it has been nice.  Friday afternoon I went and met with our former landlord and finished the papers on our old house.  There are some things that I will miss about the place.  Basketball was cancelled Friday night, I found out right before, which I missed.   Saturday we cleaned and unpacked.  Which brings us to Saturday night. About 1:30 am, Andrew arrives at the bedside stating that he wet the bed.  Angie got up to help him, and a few minutes later calls for my assistance.  He had vomitted in his bed, next to it, even under it.  It took three loads of laundry to get it all washed.  We made him a palet on the floor and gave him a bucket.  He carried on three more times through the night. I stayed home on Sunday with him and Arianna and Micah, while Angie and the others went to church, she needed to speak with someone about preparing for Thanksgiving.  Andrew didn't eat much that day and everytime he did, he threw up.  Arianna followed suit yesterday (Monday). 

 The poor thing, we have never had one so young get the stomach virus. It has not been so bad for her. She takes a few minute nap after she gets sick and just can't seem to understand why we keep that bowl in front of her.  Monday night Micah's turn was next. He doesn't handle that kind of thing well at all.  He said one time, "Dad, I just want to die." We had prepared and so we just had one load of laundry from Micah's bed.  Caleb followed a few hours later.   Thankfully he already had a bowl, so the mess was avoided.  Today everyone seems to be walking around with a bowl. Arianna has not gotten sick since yesterday, but along with everyone else she has no appetite.  Micah just walked in from the bathroom saying, "That was round six."  Angie, Lilia, and I are waiting our turn.  We could avoid it, but as I shared with Angie last night at supper.  I am enjoying every meal like it could be my last for a few days. Hopefully we will not have to cancel Thanksgiving on Saturday, but God is in control.  Blessings, JASON 

Games

Last week went well. Having our paperwork done and

 turned in was a relief.  While there were freezing temperatures and snow in the states, we enjoyed warmer temperatures.  The Bible study went well last week, three were present and we continued our series of studies on the Sermon on the Mount (currently in Matthew 7).  Friday we had a nice family night with the kids.  We had bought a marble obastacle course, where you build up these . . . perhaps a picture would be better than words.  Friday morning, I had a great time at the market.  It was warmer and there were a lot of people out.  Several people stopped by the stand and I passed out a bible, some tracts, and a gospel of John.  I also spoke with a few people who had stopped by before.  Saturday night we had a basketball match.  We lost and I only played about 20 minutes of the whole game, but I did score four points and had three rebounds.  It was at least another chance to hang out with team-mates and get to know

I was proud of my parking job.

 them better.  Sunday services in Carcassonne, went good, Angie stayed home with Arianna and Andrew.  Angie is still trying to get over a cough.  The other kids and I stayed for the meal afterwards and enjoyed visiting.  Sunday night, Angie and I both stayed up to watch the superbowl.  The team I was hoping would win did.  It was nice that Angie stayed up, it was much funner laughing at what the commentators said together.  I think there were only four commercial breaks.  I have a new language helper coming tomorrow, so I am going to get an early start on my lesson.  God bless, JASON

Résumé

I noticed that once again it has been over a week since I last wrote and update.  Let me do a résumé of last week.  Monday I finished up preparations to go to Marseille, which was complicated by the fact that our internet was down.  I actually had to go to McDonalds to get online for a little.  Monday night, however, Angie had fever and Micah woke up sick to his stomach, so we postponed the trip to Marseille.  It worked out well because we didn't have everything prepared.  Wednesday, Lilia was invited to a birthday party of some new friends we made, we joined her afterwards and enjoyed an aperatif together.  Lilia had a wonderful time and was able to meet a lot of girls her age.  She will have some extra friends when she gets into Jr High next year.  Later that evening she asked when she could have a cell phone and her own facebook page.  Thursday, we had the Bible study at another couples house in Magrie because Angie was still not feeling good and Arianna had come down with it as well.  Friday, I went to the market for an hour and a half, there were not many people out, most likely because it was 26 degrees.   I lasted for an hour and a half, but when my toes stopped tingling, I decided it would be a good idea to head back to the house.  I did make a contact in the form of a hitchhiker that I picked up twice last week.  Basketball practice is going well.  I was told there will be another game on Saturday that I will be able to attend.  I had a couple of doctor appointments last week as well.  I had a lump checked out and it turns out that it is just a cyst.  The weekend past well and we are looking forward to getting the trip to Marseille done tomorrow.  I made the final preparations for the trip.  I had to have a tire patched on the car, it had a large screw in it.  Andrew also had a Doctors appointment this evening, that think he has exzema, they had thought it was ringworm.  Also if you would like to listen to that audio of my Christmas sermon at the church in Carcassonne, you can find it by clicking here.  God bless, JASON

Monday already.

Time has been flying by this month. I had a good language session with Cedric Wednesday. We discussed a lot about the Bible and what he believes. We had two come for the bible study Thursday. The person who we rent from came (I forget the title for the person who ownes the home you rent) and painted the new room. We should have the floor done in early August. We have been blessed with getting some free furniture recently including baby bed, dresser, and day bed. Thursday Caleb came down with a slight fever, Saturday the other two boys had it as well. There seems to be no other symptoms in the two youngest, just a slight fever. We have been giving them medicine and keeping them indoors. Lilia and I went to church Sunday. The services went well and there were some guests. The weather continues to be cool. Let me speak on Angie's behalf when I say, "Praise the Lord!". The date for the baby's birth will be Aug. 31. Angie has gone today to schedule the Anesthesiologist. She also got to tour the hospital where she will spend about 6 days. We have some former classmates of ours visiting us this weekend that we are looking forward to seeing. I have finished preparing a handout with information about our Bible Study and have emailed it out to be proofread. Attached picture is the French countryside with sunflowers in the background. God bless, JASON

Allergy

I am feeling much better now. The weekend passed without much going on. The weather was warm and a couple of the other kids were having allergy troubles as well. We stayed on from Church to give us a chance to get healed. We are thankful that we had some visitors in the afternoon who even took the kids to the park for some exercise. The weather cooled off Sunday evening and there remains a cool breeze. I emailed our landlord with some questions about the additional room that has been added to our house. I need to know if he would like us to paint the roof as well, which is beams and OSB. I also asked about the Air Conditioning, we have found some prices and even had a church offer to help pay, I am waiting now to hear back from him as he had mentioned when we moved in that he may cover half the costs of having an A/C unit installed. The kids are enjoying the last week of school. There all received their report cards and had good grades and good comments, even Andrew who can count to 7 and recognize consistently 11 letters of the alphabet. Yesterday I attended a presentation at Lilia's school, her grade was receiving a free book from the National Director of Schools to encourage them to read over the summer. The presentation went well. Caleb's class was present as well. It is neat seeing them with their friends at school. I am working today on a few office items, and making good progress. Attached pictures are some taken from our cell phone. God bless, JASON

Unexpected

Things do not always go the way you expect. Some tend to think that this is always bad. I am thankful for the encouragement in the scriptures that "all things work together for good, to those who love the Lord and who are the called, according to his service". I know that all things that happen will work together to be for my good. We had to cancel the Bible study last night, because I was sick. The morning started out with one of my eyes constantly watering. By late afternoon, I had slight fever and a headache in addition to my watering eyes. We cancelled the Bible study, I took some medicine and a nap. Angie took the kids to school this morning and picked up some more medicine for me. It didn't ask what it was when she gave it to me, but it must have been some good stuff because I slept until 11 and I feel almost normal now. I missed going to a French conversation class this morning. This is a group in Limoux, foreigners and a couple of French people who meet together and talk for an hour and a half in French. Might sound boring, but it is an excellent chance to meet people and to work on French at the same time. Today I need to work on the kids sunday school lesson. Tomorrow, I plan to work on the yard, the garden in particular. Here are some pictures of the boys after school one day. Lilia didn't get one taken, because she didn't think the outfit she was wearing was worthy of a photo. And to think we will soon have another girl. God bless, JASON

On fire.

The seminar has been going very well. I think the expression "on fire" could be used here in regards to myself (i.e. to be very excited). I would recommend it to all missionaries and pastors, and church members. There is a wealth of information that is presented. Missionary finances, deputation, church planting, missionary kids, cooking on the foreign field, culture shock . . . the list goes on and on, as well as good preaching. We also love the opportunity to meet with other missionaries. After the classes on Friday, Andrew blackened his eye on the table. It looks real colorful now, if you want a picture email me or comment and I will send you one, because Angie will not let me post it here. He seems to kind of enjoy showing it to everyone. A man we were eating lunch with asked him today, what happened to his eye. Andrew replied, "table." We had a great weekend, visited in two churches. Lilia was sick Saturday night and our hosts, the Raburns, who are also putting on the seminar, volunteered to stay and watch her so that we could all go to church. I visited a revival service tonight with another missionary. Attached is missionary kids playing together (you can see our display in the background) and Bro. Raburn ( lynnraburn.com) speaking during the seminar. We heard that Limoux got another bit of snow. We hope that all our friends are staying safe and warm. God bless, JASON

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

Shopping

The week has been going well. Angie is finally starting to get over the cough that has stayed with her after the flu. We took her to the doctor Wednesday to get some medicine. We decided to postpone the Bible study one more week just to make sure she is not contagious. Thursday after school I took Caleb and Micah to get their hair cut. The ladies cutting their hair, remarked at how well they sat there. They do look a lot better. This will be a good oportunity to build a relationship because with out family of six, we will be spending a lot of time there. We are starting to see some Christmas lights going up around town. I was thinking of adding some because our house is in a good spot for the lights to be seen from the main road. So I started shopping around for good prices on outdoor lights. In the States if you wanted the best prices you would just go to Wal-mart, but here there is not really one store that has the best prices on all things. We usually go to three different stores during the week just for our grocery shopping. Looking forward to Christmas this year. We raelly do not have any big plans. I'll be speaking at the English Christmas service in Carcassonne. Sometime I would like to take the kids ice skating, they just set up a rink in downtown Limoux. There is a carnival going on in Carcassonne for the rest of the month that we might take the kids to. We have just a few more family members in the States that we need to get gifts form and have not started shopping for our family here. When Angie is fully recovered we will get to the shopping. Attached is a picture of the fog in the valley this morning and of a rainbow Angie and Andrew saw a few days ago.

Laughter.

Saturday we had a good visit from a church member in Carcassonne. He looked at some plumbing issues we had and we talked for a while afterwards while his two daughters played with our kids. Sunday services went well. Monday I finished my monthly report. Tuesday was mostly dealing with finances. I received an e-mail stating that our old internet provider has not received the equipment that we were supposed to (and did) send back after our cancellation with them. I called to try to get the situation worked out before they charge us. After wading through the option I was told it would be a ten minute wait. After about 5 minutes and automated message came on and said that in fact the call volume was too long so I would need to call back later. No problem.

We have been having a lot of laughter recently. A lot of it is due to our sudden inability to speak proper english. During supper last night, I was instructing Caleb, that we should not ask for "dirt" before the meal is finished. Lilia said she could write with her "gauche" hand. Andrew mentioned that he was Lightning McQueen, to which Micah replied, "Well I'm a queen." It all made for a lot of laughs. It has been like that at supper time for about a week now. A couple of nights ago, one of the kids was talking in their sleep in French. Andrew walked in the kitchen one day while Angie was cutting up a red bell pepper and said loudly, "Bob!". Veggietales fans will understand that one.

Angie is not feeling well, a little achy and fever, but so far I do not think it is the "Grippe A". The weather has been cold, windy, and rainy for the last few days, so maybe she is just "under the weather". Tomorrow will be mainly the kids swimming class and in the evening, we will have Yelena over for supper and maybe even some singing. It is hard to believe that December is already here. The attached picture is one we took of Andrew at a church we visited while raising support. He had fallen asleed in his high chair. They are still so cute, especially when they are sleeping. God bless, JASON

Cat Flu

Andrew was sick all weekend, starting Friday night. He had a temperature and no appetite. Him not being hungry was a real sign that he was sick. I took Lilia and Caleb to church Sunday and we enjoyed the services. Monday we got Andrew to the Doctor. Thankfully it was not the swine flu or any other flu, but most likely an ear infection. He is doing a lot better today. Our schedule was all messed up with Andrew not sleeping well. He ate most of his sandwich for lunch today and I fed the rest to a cat that stops by the house. I wondered if the cat would get sick from Andrew. Angie mentioned that we could end up with a new strain of sickness. Tomorrow is Veterans day in France. There is a small ceremony in every town. If Andrew is up to it, I would like to go to the one in Magrie while Angie takes Lilia and Caleb to their swimming class. Attached picture is one we took last Friday, you can tell Andrew was already starting to feel bad. God bless, JASON

The Bug

This past weekend Lilia and Andrew had a cold and now Angie seems to have caught it. As heard a lot in Texas, there is a "bug" going around. She felt pretty tired and congested all day yesterday and today. So I have been trying to run things, which means the kids are really praying that mom gets better faster. Angie's birthday is Saturday as well. Yesterday I took the kids on a little hike in the hills near our house to give Angie a little quiet time. Caleb enjoyed it. Micah enjoyed it. Lilia . . .not so much. I plan on stopping by the sous-prefecture tomorrow to see about our visa status. We would like to stay in France until June to give the kids a chance to finish the school year. Our visas, however, expire in February and since we are own student visas for this term, but not in school we hope they can extend them. At the office in Massy they said that this would not be a problem, let's hope they say the same thing here. We have learned a little about time differences in France. We ordered Lilia a desk two weeks ago and it said it would arrive the 20th. We went the 2oth to check on it and they said it would be two more weeks. We are still waiting for our internet stuff to come in as well. So a warning to all who are praying for patience, God may call you to France. Attached picture is one of my favorite recent picture of Lilia, she is holding another missionary kid, Samuel Taylor, while we were in Greece. Now I need to go and by some more Kleenex for Angie. God bless, JASON

Buying a Car in France 2

We successfully bought a car Saturday. The salesmen at the dealership was really nice and helpful. He spoke French a little slower than the last agent we spoke to thankfully. He showed me the show model which was nice looking and asked if I wanted to drive it but I declined as I had already driven one. I was thinking that the car he showed me was for sale but he finally explained to me that no one has stock for these vehicles, the only vehicles they have are the show model. There is such a high demand for them that they have to be ordered direct from the factory. So we went back inside and ordered one. I did find out that there is no dealer financing for students (We have students visas) because "student" in France is evidently a synonym for "jobless". No problem, I can try to get the money elsewhere. It will take about two months for it to arrive. We purchased a Dacia Logan Laurate edition, 7 passenger, diesel (85) with air conditioning. Brand new from the dealer with everything for 15,440.50 €. What I found really great was there was only one paper to sign. The whole process went really well and now we just have to wait for the car to arrive, tentatively the 26th of July. Now that that is behind us we are moving on with the house hunting.
While I was out car buying Angie was at home with a couple of sick kids. Thankfully all are better now. Just a 24 hours virus. Attached picture was a common sight throughout the day. God Bless, JASON

Buying a Car in France

Our car buying process has been moving along slowly. One reason is because of the particular kind of car that we are trying to buy. The Dacia is a very popular car right now and in high demand. We spoke with a dealer here in Massy, he did a search for the one we wanted in the Paris region and could not find one. So he offered us one he has on his lot, the only problem we have with it is that it has no Air conditioning, something Angie was really wanting, being in the south of France in a couple of months. We had planned on buying this particular car anyway yesterday but decided we should check with other dealers. We found a Renault dealership in Versailles who were really helpful. They have one on their lot as well. We are going to check with them today and look at the one they have available. For some reason he did not want to tell me about it over the phone. Maybe it was our language difficulties. If that is not what we want then we may just go ahead and order one direct from the dealer and work out things from there. We have some decisions to make as to how the next few months are going and so we need to move ahead with our car decisions to begin preparing for the future. As always we have prayed for God's guidance and knowledge in our decisions. Hopefully I will know more later today about the process of buying a car in France. I will be going to the dealership alone as Micah and Andrew have been sick to their stomach last night and this morning. With God's help we will get it figured out. Attached picture is of Andrew as he "figured out" how he could get a drink without a cup. God bless, JASON

I'm back!

It has been a week since my last blog and it has been a busy one. I was sick until Thursday. Tried to spend some of that time doing homework, but evidently one of the side-effects of my illness was lack of inspiration to do homework. Wednesday was my first time to venture out as I walked to the language school to take a test in the Lab. I was wore out by the time I made it back home. I made it through school all day Thursday and by Friday was almost back to feeling 100 %. The weekend passed well. I took Saturday off from homework and did a lot of work around the house, trip to the grocery store, and took the kids out to the park to give Angie a break. It ended up raining most of the time the kids were playing, but they didn't seem to mind. Sunday we enjoyed the services at the church in Massy. Angie kept the nursery. We listened to our sending church services that evening. Afterwards we talked with my parents and my sister and brother-in-law via Skype. We are looking forward spring break in two weeks. We will have two weeks off from school and will look into getting a car. Wednesday and good friend, Jack Story is visiting from the US. He is involved in a ministry that does travel and logistical support for pastors and missionaries. He is coming from England where he is preparing for the 2012 Olympics in London. We plan to eat lunch with him Wednesday. The attached picture is looking over Limoux, where Lord willing we will move in three months. Thanks for all your prayers. God bless, JASON

Lasting sickness and Dacia Logan.

Things are still going well, in spite of my lasting sickness. I have continued to be sick all weekend long. It is not very bad, just kind of irritating. I have had low fever at times, frequents headaches, and sore throat. I am ready to get back to school and to the normal routine. I have been doing research during my awake time for buying a car here in the future. I have recently found a Dacia Logan MCV (MCV=7 passenger) to be a really good buy. At first I just figured we would get a used car, but another student who recently pointed out the Dacia is the same price as a used car but brand new. If you are familiar with them I would love your opinion. It is a Romanian car company co-owned by Renault/Nissan. They are inexpensive because there are not a lot of electronics, compared with other cars. They are only about 9,000 euros brand new. They are rugged, easily repaired, plain, but nice. The only negative things I have heard about it are that the interior is not very fancy looking. The gasoline Engine gets about 60 MPG highway. Not bad for a 7 passenger. Another pastor in town here owns one and speaks highly of it, we are going to take a look at theirs to get more of an idea. I have attached a picture of one. Thanks for the prayers and God bless, JASON

Back from the dead.

"Dead" as in alive but worthless. Early Friday morning I woke up sick. I will not go into all the details but it required bathroom trips and feeling hot then cold then hot, every 20 minutes. I missed school Friday needless to say. What is hard for me being sick is that I accomplish nothing and end up feeling like a burden to those around me. One benefit about sickness is that I have always drawn closer to God during times of sickness, always a time of prayer and Bible study when sleep does not come. Maybe I just needed a revival and so God brought me a virus. Thankfully it did not last long and I was back to normal health by supper. I have a busy weekend planned. This afternoon there is a conference at the school concerning biblical art. Tomorrow in Paris there is a meeting of evangelical churches. There will be a lot of booths and information available. I will be going there with another language school student who is German, so French will be our language of choice. God bless, JASON