Sunday in Barcelona

Part of the group in Barcelona.

Preparing to speak in Barcelona.

About to cross the border into Spain.

Time for your close-up.

Last week finished well.  Warmer weather arrived and we had nice contacts with people as a result.  We met one family who had come to our Thanksgiving meal as they walked by outside.  We invited them in and had a good visit.  They asked several questions about the Bible Study.  Also they will be moving into a house not to far from ours.  Bible Study went well Thursday night.  There was a long discussion afterwards after someone asked a question concerning the importance and purpose of church attendance.  I went to the market again on Friday, after missing the last three weeks for various reasons.  It went well, with several good contacts.  I always focus on the good, but don't think that there are not any negative reactions.  One lady walked by the other day and noticed the Bibles and said, "I don't believe in that, if God exists, I just wish he would stay up there (pointing up)."  I pray that God will somehow reach them. Our services in Barcelona were wonderful.  We left at 8 am and arrived at 11:15. (services started at noon) I shared about our work in France during the Sunday School time and then preached a message.  We enjoyed wonderful fellowship over the meal afterwards and stayed until late in the afternoon. It was encouraging and even the kids were well behaved.  Yesterday we had a visit from a lady who comes to our Bible study who wanted us to meet her daughter.  Lilia had a friend spend the night last night so we also got to visit briefly with her dad.  Today we are having two guests for supper.  I am truly excited about what God has done for us these last couple of months.  I also want to mention a prayer request.  A good missionary friend of our, Alvin, who serves in Scotland, was recently diagnosed with brain cancer, doctors give him 6 to 8 months.  He is 49 years old.  Pray for him, his wife, and their work in Scotland.  God bless, JASON

Chilly weather

This past week went well.  We have experienced the coldest temperatures in this area since 1985.  It has been over a week since the last time the temperatures were above freezing.  The snow that we got last Sunday is still hanging out in  places.  Tuesday the boys went back to school, Lilia went back on Wendesday.  It has been cold, down to -10, I once saw.  However, life goes on.  We had some good visits with friends and neighbors last week.   I was even able to help our neighbor re-hang her vent hood, and a wall heater that had fallen off.  We did have a little cabin fever Tuesday afternoon, and so we jumped in the car and went to Carcassonne for a little evening out.  We shopped and ate some pizza's at a friends house.  Bible Study went well Thursday.  We had our normal crowd inspite of the snow.  There were only 6 of us at basketball practice on Wednesday and Friday night. I did meet a christian lady living in Limoux through a friend of a friend.  We gave her a ride to church in Sunday and I think that she will come to the Bible Study as well.  We are looking forward to being in Barcelona this weekend.  I will be preaching at a church there that is part of the same association as our churches.  We might stay the night and shop a little on the way home.  Things are cheaper in Spain than in France in general because their taxes are lower.  The kids are on their two week winter vacation from school.  With that in mind I better get ready for all that is going on before the interruptions start.  We have opened up a sack full of board games that someone gave us and the kids have been enjoying them, but a lot of questions concerning rules and procedures will come.  Enjoy the pictures of the kids enjoying some hot chocolate to warm up after playing outside. God bless, JASON

New Camera for the Snow

Took this picture before heading to bed last night.
I like the whole "palm tree in the snow" theme.

We got a new camera for Christmas from my parents.  It is amazing how fast things have changed in the camera world.  Thinking back I realized our former camera was about 5 years old.   This new one can do high definition videos.  We have been focused mainly on staying warm these last few days.  It got down to -8 (c)Thursday night, the windchill was -12. We got a good bit of snow on Friday.  I didn't set up at the market, but I stopped by to check out who was there.  Where I usually set up there are at least thirty stands on a normal Friday, yesterday there were three.  I am not complaining because up until this point we have had a relatively mild winter.  Saturday we stayed warm and enjoyed a few snow flurries.  Angie, Lilia, Arianna, and I had been battling colds, so I took the boys to church on Sunday.  There was supposed to be a meal afterwards, but snow started falling heavily during church, so everyone one went home afterwards.  It snowed all day yesterday, this morning we have 15cm still on the ground (6 inches). I did stay up and watch the superbowl. It has just started snowing some more.  The kids school was canceled today.  The forcast predicts that it won't get above freezing until this next weekend.  Enjoy some snow picks from the new camera, check back soon for some high definition videos.  Blessings, JASON

Winter guests

The kids got a box of Christmas goodies from their grandparents.

Arianna runs to give Lilia a hug.

We have had a good week so far.  The theme so far has been guests.  Frequent guests of ours have been our neighbors across the street and down a couple of houses.  The son is about a year older than Caleb and has some discipline problems.  We have already had to deal with him opening our garage to get our bikes out and playing in our yard without permissions.  We have to keep an eye on them when he is over.  He has a nice streak at times and just needs love. His family has been tight on money because they just moved. We are trying to be loving and wise in our relationship  with them.  We also met with our next door neighbor and he high school age daughter.  We had a real good visit and even let them taste Dr. Pepper and some leftover cheesecake.  Angie visited with her a couple of more times these last couple of days.  We also visited with one of the members of our Bible study, she is having a hard time finding work.  Please pray for her.  The weather has cooled off and looks like winter is finally here.  It is supposed to get down to -8 degrees C tomorrow and the high is -2.  I do not imagine I will go to the market.  It has been snowing off and on all day, but is not sticking yet.  I am ready for the Bible study tonight.  Angie is getting her haircut done this afternoon by the lady I mentioned previously who is looking for work.  Arianna was not interested in watching scooby doo (in French) and decided to push her baby stroller around the couch.  God bless, JASON

Thanksgiving in January

 We had a wonderful week.  It was filled with activities.  The main focus of course is the Bible study and Thanksgiving.  I did find time on Wednesday, my day off, to clean the back yard a bit more.  Our back yard is terraced and once clean has the potential to produce a lot of fruit.  We have been cleaning rows and burning a large pile of brush, which the boys really enjoy.  The weather was nice Wednesday.

I am a little sad that we will not be here this summer to take advantage of the garden, but I hope to plant some automn fruits when we return to be able to profit at least some from our hard work this year.  The boys have been a great help and really love helping out. As long as they can make it fun, which they usually can find a way of doing. 

Micah has been know for sleeping in wierd positions,
this is how we found him in our bed one evening.

 I did have an opportunity to talk with a man about his spiritual needs.  Be in prayer for him because he is dealing with a lot of issues and needs Jesus more than anything else. 

 Our thanksgivign meal was a big success.  It was a lot of work to cook for 28 people, but there were helpers as well.  (pictured above and below)  We had a couple offer to provide the Turkey, someone else made the pumpkin pie, we had babysitters, people loaned us tables and chairs and dishes.  Many thanks to all.

 The evening went well.  I started this year out with a quiz about Thanksgiving, it was a good topic of discussion and everyone seemed to get along real well.  I then went over the questions and in the process gave the history of Thanksgiving.  There were good questions and conversations throughout the evening.  We enjoyed the time, for all who came, it was their first time to have Thanksgiving.  All seemed to enjoy themselves.  There were many compliments on the food and even the Dr. Pepper got positive reviews. 

Sunday Services went well in Carcassonne.  They had several visitors, several people were out because there was snow in certain areas.  They predicted snow for us as well on Sunday night.   We had a church member over for lunch to help us eat the leftovers and enjoyed some fellowship.  We enjoyed hearing the services at our home church in Texas.  My father is bringing a series from the Song of Solomon.  It has been excellent.  It is based on his book that he is writing for his doctorate.  I am looking forward to getting to read it when he is finished.  It would make a good study for young people, young couples, and all christians.  We awoke this morning to find out that we did not get any snow, not even ice.  The kids will have to wait to see if they can have a snowman this year.  God bless, JASON

From Batman to Basketball

 We had a good week.  Pictured above is Andrew's face painting from the birthday party on Saturday.  He was invited to a friends house for her birthday and they had a good time.  Angie stayed for the party to help out and was able to meet some of the parents as well.  It took a lot of work to get the paint off afterwards.

I was finally able to get our address changed on the car registration form.  The week before I had made two trips to Carcassonne to try and get it changed but it didn't work out both times. The first time their computers were down, the second they had closed early.  I made it on Wednesday and when I sat down in the waiting room, I was greeted by a "Bonjour, Jason" it was a man from Limoux that I have had contact with on several occassions, so we were able to spend our time waiting, talking.  I also met someone who attends the church in Carcassonne who had just bought a car.  I got it all done and it was free as well.  Thursday night we had a record attendance at the bible study (including Angie and I).  Friday morning it was cold and rainy.  To the right you see Arianna bundled up and sleeping after Angie took her to meet Lilia walking home from school.  There were not a lot of people at the market, I did hand out one Arabic New Testament.  Friday I also got my guitar fixed.  Lilia and Caleb had knocked it over and broke off one of the tuning knobs.

 Caleb has been asking for a hair cut, but we have not found time, Angie straightened it for him and this is how he looks.

 We had some British friends over for Lunch and they gave us some flowers they have grown and bloomed quickly.  The boys would wake up every morning and run to measure them to see how much they had grown.  They have a sweet smell and are called Jacinthe (french spelling).  Angie said that I had bought her some just like them several years ago. 

 Here is the newest member of the family, a dishwasher.  She is four years old and I purchased her Saturday.  We got a good deal and if she lasts us for six months it will be worth it.  The last time we had a dishwasher we only had two kids, so it has been a while. 

 Friday night we had a basketball game.  Pictured below I am the number 6 waiting to go for a rebound as our coach shoots a freethrow.  We lost the game by four points, but it went well and everyone had a good time.  During the game, which Caleb and Lilia attended with me, Lilia walked over to the bench and said that Micah had fallen on his head and Angie had called 15 (911 in the States), he did not show any signs of a concussion, but had a big knot on the back of his head.  I woke him up a couple of times during the night to make sure he was okay.  It was funny because normally when I wakes up during the night he appears completely out of it and says the strangest thing.   this time it was no different.  I woke him up and told him to go to the restroom, which he did, I then asked him a few question to see if he was coherent.  I just got what seemed like random yes and no's.  Just before I put him back in bed, out of the blue he quoted a few lines of a french poem that Caleb had memorized a couple of years ago, "Quatre-vingts moutons, autant de poisson, un peu de pain, et j'ai toujours faim".  I took that as a sign that he was good.   

 Below picture is from our game before on Saturday, I am pictured on the bottom right making a shot.  The boys had a basketball tournament Sunday after church. Lilia was sick to her stomach so after church Angie got a ride home with Lilia and Arianna.  So just us boys had a good time together.  Micah and Caleb won both of the games they played, 3 - 0 and 6 - 4. 

Last Saturday the weather was nice and we even cleaned up the back yard some.  This Saturday is our Thanksgiving meal that we finally got rescheduled.  We are looking forward to it, please pray that it goes well.  God  bless, JASON

Cold Market morning

I like how Angie is holding two bottles. 

Lilia's and Peter's card house at the youth meeting.

Micah finds an interesting way to clean the underside of the table.

Arianna tries on Andrew's coat.

We had a good week last week.  Things were busy but we accomplished a lot.  Bible Study went well Thursday evening, we had one new visitor.  The lesson went well and a lot of good comments were made.  The market Friday morning went real well.  I spoke with a man from Sweden who has lived in Limoux for 10 years, a man from Israel who had been to our Bible study once but we had not seen since, two of me fellow basketballers stopped by, a young lady wanting a Bible and to know about churches available in the area, and I visited with a few regulars.  It was cold but worth it.  Saturday we met a neighbor boy who came to play with our boys. I was able to speak briefly to his mother. Angie and Lilia went to the youth meeting in Carcassonne on Saturday as well. They had a good time. Saturday evening I was able to make my second basketball game of the year.  We lost the game by a few points because of a poor second half.  I did not play much, but did manage to score 6 point, block two shots, and get a couple of assists and rebounds.  Not too bad for an old man.  Services went well Sunday.  I lead the services which I enjoyed.  I had fun with the kids lessons which I will post on my French blog.  Sunday afternoon Lilia had two school friends come over to work on a project.  We were able to meet both of the parents and spoke for a while with them.  One of Lilia's best friends this year is a girl who was adopted from Thailand several years ago.  Lilia and her get along real well being that they are both third culture kids.  This week I need to make a trip to carcassonne to change our address for our car registration.  I made this same trip twice last week.  The first time, their computers were giving them problems, and we I went again Friday afternoon I discovered that they close at three.  It might get done this week, baring computer problems and early closures.  I was able to start the process of getting Arianna's name changed on her French birth certificate.  They made a mistake and put one "n".  We will see how much of a complicated process that is.  It was -4 degrees celsius this morning when I dropped the kids off and went to fill up on gas.  The exchange rate is getting better, however the price of gas (diesel) has jumped up to 1.40 euros a liter.  They makes it $6.76 a gallon to save you some time on the math.  Makes me thankful that we are in town now.  Enjoy the pics and God bless, JASON