Several contacts

Andrew is excited that he will not longer be the only one
who has hand to his mouth.

Arianna wearing her new hat from my parents.



Lilia had been wanting her hair cut like this
for a couple of years.



Arianna sleeping next to me just now while Angie takes a walk.

There were two present for the Bible Study, thursday night.   One couple was out because of surgery, and another person had a guest.  Friday was a really interesting day.  The Bible stand at the market went well.  I first met a lady who attends the Assembly of God church in town.  After hearing who I was and why I was there, her reply was, "But there is already a church here".  After that point the conversation improved, as I assured her that I was not in competition, I just wanted to see people starting and building a relationship with Jesus.  A middle aged man stopped and got a Bible, he said that he had been looking for one since he heard some things and the books of Timothy and Revelation.  As always I encouraged him to read it and return with questions for me.  Friday afternoon, Angie had a friend that she made at the community meeting last Sunday visit with us.  The converstation was great.  I hope that we have the chance to get to know them better.  Our plumbing was stopped up that afternoon.  I worked on it a little, to no avail, and called the landlord.  After a couple of hours the city worker came by and had us up and running.  While I was picking the kids up from school, Angie got a telephone call from a man who had received one of my cards in a Bible Calender that I had handed out.  It seems he thought that we were Jehovah Witnesses and wanted to give us a piece of his mind.  Finding out that we were not really surprised him.  He ended by saying that he most likely will not come to the Bible Study.  Saturday the package that we had been waiting for these past few weeks came in.  The kids were sooooo excited!  They enjoyed playing with all their Christmas toys from my parents.  Also Saturday, Angie and Lilia got their hair cut. Lilia is turning into a young lady so quickly.  Today we have a few calls to the states planned.  This next week will be a little different because of our appointment in Marseille to get Arianna's birth certificate, passport, and social security number.  I hope that you enjoy the rest of this day.  God bless, JASON

The associations

We made it through everything going on Monday and Tuesday.  Wednesday

Arianna's first ride in the stroller.

we took Lilia and Micah to their swimming time.  They are going at a different time this year and there are more kids, meaning mire parents waiting together for 50 minutes.  I pray that we will have the opportunity to build relationships with these parents.  At the Bible study we have five in attendance.  One young lady was missing because she is helping in the potato harvest.  Friday, I prepared the lesson for the childrens Sunday school.  I showed them a cool video that went real well with the lesson, I will attach so that you can see it as well.  Saturday was the day all the associations have their booths set up in Limoux.  Me and Andrew went and then Lilia and Angie.  It was interesting.  I am considering joining a basetball group.  I am acutally a little scared that I will not be able to play up to a level I would consider worthy. In other words, I am afraid that I am going to embarass America.  It will be fun and I will be able to meet others.  Lilia is thinking about joining the cheerleading group that cheers for the Limoux rugby team, the Grizzlies.  Angie had a good long talk with the lady in charge of the group (a former dance teacher at a private school) and was encouraged.  The lady assured Angie that this was a sport and not about other things (she explained what those other things were, but I'll leave that part out).  She even chose to call it "cheerleading" instead of using the French term, "Pom pon girls", to make clear the difference.  They practice the same time and same place as the

All the kids in the car.

basketball group.  The only negative things is that this occurs on Tuesday night at 8:30, which means on most weeks, I would not be able to attend the Bible study with the church in Carcassonne.  We can try it for a month before we make the committment.  Yesterday as well, our landlord came by to begin cleaning out the house next door.  We have already began praying for the family that God will move in next.  Today is Angie's birthday.  I made her a cake yesterday, chocolate cake eith chocolate chunks and chocolate icing.  You can never go wrong with chocolate.  For her gift, I am preparing a DVD of all the videos that we have of the kids.  It has taken longer that I expected, sorting through over 600 videos but I am sure that she will enjoy it.  We are looking forward to this week and to what God has instore for us. God bless, JASON

Empty Attic

The kids enjoyed playing Croque Carotte Friday evening. Micah really enjoyed teaching everyone how to play. Friday I got a lot of work done on the new blog. This blog will have all of my lessons and sermons in French. You can get there by clicking biblerichesses.blogspot.com or the link in the list of links to your right. Saturday morning we visited our first Vide Grenier (ilt. empty attic) or garage sale for us Americans. We found some wonderful deals on furniture, dishes, even a nice bike for 25 euros. We returned with a car load. After lunch we had Andrews birthday party which went real well. He enjoyed his cake and gifts. In the afternoon and into the evening I was able to get the new blog finished and updated and even planted a few rose bushes. It was a warm day, got up to about 85 outside and 80 inside. I will have to look into possibilites of getting an Air Conditioner for the house. In the summer we can usually keep it in the 80's just by venting at the proper times and closing the shutters. But Angie, being pregnant, was close to miserable at 80. It was a little cooler today (Sunday) because some rain moved in, and it is supposed to stay like this all week, so I will have a little time to research the A/C prices. Services went well at the chuch in Carcassonne. They were having Anniversary services, celebrating 13 years. They had a guest speaker and a meal in between the services. I enjoyed getting to hear
the sermons and getting to know the guest speaker who we might have been related too, as he was Irish and his last name was "Clark". Angie taught Sunday School this morning as well. I took them home for lunch and Caleb and I returned for the afternoon service, Angie was a little tired and didn't feel like staying for the meal. I was suprised to see just now that the Euro has dropped to its lowest level since 2006. Hungary announced problems with debt and possible bankruptcy. It will be interesting to see how the world handles this global crisis. Will this end with a global currency? Will one individual step forward with a solution for all?

I need to work on visa paperwork and getting our car worked on this week. The pump for the windshield washer fluid has gone out, but it is still covered under warranty, I think. Attached are pictures of the Birthday party and Angie teaching Sunday-School. God bless, JASON

Last time for the year.

Sunday marked our two year anniversary in France. The Lord has truly blessed beyond what I thought was possible. My apologies for trying to limit God with my plans. It has been wonderful. I have my report done and have sent to to my dad for approval. I have my lesson almost all completed for the prayer meeting tomorrow. Today we had Yelena over for lunch and we practiced some songs for the Bible Study that hopefully will take place next week. Today we went and spent some time with some friends from the church in Carcassonne. We had a wonderful time together. The kids were able to play on some of the games and we walked and saw some lights. We then went to their house for pizza and discussed some about the upcoming year concerning Sunday School. We will be helping the church in Carcassonne in their Sunday school program. A break-through happened throug the evening. I said the prayer in French and did not have to pause to think about what I was going to say next. Okay, so it's not that big of a deal for you, but I felt like real progess has been made. Lilia is having two girlfriends stay the night tonight. We are going to try and invite some friends over for a New Years eve celebration tomorrow. Pictures are the kids taking a break from all of the fun they had this evening. God bless, JASON

The Lord's Day

Another blessed day today. Unfortunately it was just our family for services today. I guess that is how it is for a lot of church planters just starting. We had good services though. I was the only Father and so I got all the recognition for father's day. We learned a new song in French that spoke to me the lyrics in English are . . .

Over all the earth, You reign on high
Every mountain stream, Every sunset sky
But my one request, Lord my only aim
Is that you reign in me again

Chorus:
Lord reign in me, Reign in your power
Over all my dreams, In my darkest hour
You are the Lord of all I am,
So won't you reign in me again

Over every thought, Over every word
May my life reflect, The beauty of my Lord
You mean more to me, Than any earthly thing
So won't you reign in me again

I have times when I try to run my life and leave God out, when it is God that should be ruling in me. I imagine that every child of his has the same trouble at times. It was a nice song, nice tune as well. I might need to add it to Godtube and youtube once I get the pronunciation down. Angie has gone to help some friends clean their new apartment before they start moving things in. I received a text message from a believer who just moved here from Denmark that wanted to join us in our services. I am looking forward to next Sunday already. It has been a good day of prayer, worship, bible study and time with my family. Everyday should contain those activites. God bless,