Running an errand.

I ran several errands. First thing this morning I faxed some paperwork for our storage building in the south. I had some interesting conversations with the owner, because I did not know the French term for a storage building (box de location - if your curious). But I got all the paperwork finished and faxed. Then Lilia and I went at 9:30 to pick up the rental car that will get us by until our car arrives. We got back at the house at 11:00, we literally had to park a half mile from the house. As soon as I got home I went headed out to go to the dealership in Versaille to see about a loan. I left and found out the next bus to the train station didn't run for 20 minutes and so it would faster to walk. I walked the mile down there and just missed the train, so I had to wait 30 minutes to the next. By the time I arrived at the dealership I had missed the finance guy and had to wait 30 minutes for him to get back from lunch. Got home at 2:00 and helped Angie pack a little. We took the kids to see l'age de glace 3 (Ice Age 3) at 4:00. We made it in about 8 people before the cut off. It was packed but the kids seem to enjoy. It was interesting watching it in French. But some things were actually funnier. In the movie the dialogue goes, "Qu'est-ce que c'est (what was that)?", "C'est le vent qui parle(is the wind talking)", "Qu'est-ce qu'il a dit(what did he say)?", "Je ne sais pas, je ne parle pas le vent.(I don't know I don't speak wind)" Lilia laughed out loud for that. Tomorrow will be spent packing. We are getting close to being almost nearly starting to be finished. God bless, JASON

Packing Up

This week the kids still have school, so Angie and I (and Andrew) have spent the time cleaning and packing. Today I have an appointment with the bank for a car loan. I am not really looking forward to going, not because of the paperwork or speaking in French, but because it is supposed to get up to 90 today and the bank has no A/C and only a few small windows on one side. I think that I will bring Lilia with me so that I have someone to suffer with.

We found out Monday from the real estate agency that the house we were looking into renting was not going to work out. So, Angie went to Paris yesterday with a friend and dropped off the deposit for the rental house that we are moving into next week. Interesting arrangement. The owner lives full time in the house, but works at a camp site. So in summer he rents out the house when he can, lives at work, and brings in extra money that way. Angie dropped the payment off with his mother who lives in Paris. Angie said she was very nice and had a good conversation with her.

We do not know what kind of access we will have to the internet over the next month and a half, I will try to blog at least once a week. The kids are really excited about the move. Today they helped us pack up all their toys. What they are really looking forward too is traveling to the beach. I must insert another Micah quote here. One day at school he got in trouble for playing roughly like the other boys were doing. Angie had a talk with him at home about making the right choices concerning his behavior. The next morning Micah walked in and Angie said, "Micah, I want you to make good choices today". Micah sighed and said, "Okay Mom, go ahead and tell me what they are."

We pick up the rental car Friday and the moving van monday. We will keep the rental car for three weeks because our car we purchased does not arrive until between July 20th - 28th. I took some pictures of the kids sleeping the other day (attached). Somehow Micah and Caleb ended up in the same bed, and Lilia always sleeps so crazy. God bless, JASON

Tests are in, school is over.

School finished well. We finished and corrected the last tests. Students met for the last times and said our goodbyes and prayed for eachother. We also received the TCF test results. We both received a level B2. As always Angie's grade was better than mine in fact she was close to a C1 level. About these levels, A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2. They are levels of language speaking ability. A1 would be beginners who can just speak greetings and ask simple questions. C2 would be levels that most french have not even attained, more for French teachers. Our level B2 is described as

Intermédiaire avancé

Maîtrise générale et spontanée de la langue. La personne peut comprendre l'essentiel d'un texte complexe. Elle peut participer à une conversation sur un sujet général ou professionnel de façon claire et détaillée en donnant des avis argumentés.

I have no idea what all that means. No just kidding. . . General mastery and spontanaity with the language. The person can understand the essential of a difficult text. The person can participate in a conversation about a general or professional subject in a manner clear and detailled while giving their points of vue or argumentative opinions. Of course the learning will never stop. Our vocabulary will continue to grow, we plan on finding language partners to help our conversational skills continue to grow as well.

As of right now I am waiting to hear the final answer from the real estate agent. We really appreciated the help of the the school and our contacts in the south who we able to vouch for us and get the process moving again. The kids do not finish school until Thursday, we will spend the time between now and them packing, securing our housing, and researching more about a car loan. Attached pictures are from the church kermesse (fair or bazaar) for the kids. Andrew did not go but he did not want to be left out so we did what we could. God bless, JASON

Un Message de Dieu

Juges 3 :14-23 Les enfants d'Israël firent encore ce qui déplaît à l'Éternel; et l'Éternel fortifia Églon, roi de Moab, contre Israël, parce qu'ils avaient fait ce qui déplaît à l'Éternel. (13) Églon réunit à lui les fils d'Ammon et les Amalécites, et il se mit en marche. Il battit Israël, et ils s'emparèrent de la ville des palmiers. (14) Et les enfants d'Israël furent asservis dix-huit ans à Églon, roi de Moab. (15) Les enfants d'Israël crièrent à l'Éternel, et l'Éternel leur suscita un libérateur, Éhud, fils de Guéra, Benjamite, qui ne se servait pas de la main droite. Les enfants d'Israël envoyèrent par lui un présent à Églon, roi de Moab. (16) Éhud se fit une épée à deux tranchants, longue d'une coudée, et il la ceignit sous ses vêtements, au côté droit. (17) Il offrit le présent à Églon, roi de Moab: or Églon était un homme très gras. (18) Lorsqu'il eut achevé d'offrir le présent, il renvoya les gens qui l'avaient apporté. (19) Il revint lui-même depuis les carrières près de Guilgal, et il dit: O roi! j'ai quelque chose de secret à te dire. Le roi dit: Silence! Et tous ceux qui étaient auprès de lui sortirent. (20) Éhud l'aborda comme il était assis seul dans sa chambre d'été, et il dit: J'ai une parole de Dieu pour toi. Églon se leva de son siège. (21) Alors Éhud avança la main gauche, tira l'épée de son côté droit, et la lui enfonça dans le ventre. (22) La poignée même entra après la lame, et la graisse se referma autour de la lame; car il ne retira pas du ventre l'épée, qui sortit par derrière. (23) Éhud sortit par le portique, ferma sur lui les portes de la chambre haute, et tira le verrou.

On va regarder ces versets en vue de la phrase en verset 20 « J’ai un message (une parole) de Dieu pour toi » On a tous un message de Dieu pour le monde. Un message d’espoir, un message d’amour, un message qui peut les sauver. Regardez Ehoud et comment il prépare et donne le message.
D’abord, remarquez qui a choisi cet homme pour donner le message. Verset 15, c’est le Seigneur qui l’a choisi. Dieu choisit les personnes qu'il veut. Dieu nous a choisi. Ehoud était un homme de la tribu de Benjamin, un homme gaucher. (Ça veut dire, qu'il utilise le main gauche) Il est spécial. Pas grâce à ces choses, au contraire, il est spécial parce que Dieu l’a choisi.
Ehoud a été choisi pour donner un cadeau aussi. Donc, il travaille pour la poste. Il était déguisé, camouflé, alors qu'il s'approchait près de Eglon. Comme certains personnes ici, qui entre un pays fermé avec une ONG, ou avec un certain travail supplémentaire.
Ensuite, verset 16, il prépare le message. Il se fabrique une épée. Je ne suis pas sûr, je ne suis pas expert, mais je pense que ça a pris du temps. Peut-être quelques heures. Peut être plusieurs jours. Il est important de se préparer pour que l'on puisse donner justement le message. Il faut préparer. Priez, étudiez, soyez prêts pour répondre aux questions des auditeurs. Ce grand message est digne de préparation. Ehoud prépare le message pour Eglon, qui est le roi de Moab, un homme très gros.
Verset 19, Il dit qu’il a un message secret pour le roi. Pourquoi dit-il un message secret ? Parce qu’il veux donner le message en privé. La meilleure façon de partager un message avec quelqu’un d’autre est de personne à personne ou face-à-face, personnellement. Il n’y a pas de distraction. Il y a l’occasion de poser les questions et d'y répondre.
Ehoud dit, « J’ai un message de Dieu pour toi ». Qu’est-ce qu'Eglon a fait, il se lève de son siège. Il témoigne du respect pour le message de Dieu. On peut apprendre quelques choses d'Eglon. On doit respecter le message de Dieu.
Verset 21, Ici c’est la partie la plus importante que j’aie vue dans ce passage. Ehoud donne le message. Beaucoup de personne, prépare le message, il prie, il étudie, mais il n’y va jamais. Il faut y aller et donner le message, témoigner, parler au nom de Dieu.
Ehoud a donné le message et il va de soi que le message était très clair et net. Après il était sûr de ce que Dieu voulait. Quand on donne le message de Dieu, soyez sûr que le message soit très clair pour que le monde puisse comprendre.
Enfin, qu’est-ce qu'Ehoud a fait après qu’il l’ait donné. Il est sorti. Attendez ! Ehoud n’est pas intéressé par les résultats ? Exactement. On n’est pas responsable des résultats. On est seulement responsable de donner le message de Dieu. On ne peut pas forcer quelqu’un à accepter Jésus comme Saveur. Les résultats sont entre les gens (les auditeurs) et Dieu. On a été choisi. On doit préparer et donner le message de Dieu au monde.

Fireworks (Part 1)

This weekend was the celebration of music in France. There have been concerts and activities all weekend. Saturday night there was a firework show. We wanted to take the kids but it does not get dark until about 11 at night. We decided why not and stipulated that they must have a nap Saturday and Sunday to make up for it. We ended up having a wonderful time. We got there about 10:30 and bought the kids some fancy flashlights to play with while we waited. There must have been several thousand people there in the park, and no telling how many others viewing from their apartments and other parts of the city. We were not sure how Andrew would react to the fireworks because Caleb never liked the noise of them and spent his first few shows burying his face in Mommy or Daddy's shoulder, but after the first ones went off, Andrew said, "Wow!" It was amazing. The theme was "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind". It was celebrating the anniversary of landing on the moon. It was well choreagraphed (spelling?) with the music that played on the loud speakers. I have included several videos, please ignore the man speaking with a strong southern accent. I have no idea who he is ;) We ended up walking down and watching some of the concert after the fireworks were over. Overall the night was a wonderful success. Which led to a three hour nap for everyone Sunday afternoon. That was an excellent fathers day gift.
Sunday morning we enjoyed hearing from some representatives of the French chapter of the Gideons. There was some great testimonies and I will be sure to look them up in our region in the south. The house hunt still continues, we sent our paperwork today to another prospect. We pray that all will go well. School went well today. Two more tests behind us and one more to go. God bless, JASON

Feu d'artifice (2eme parti)

Fireworks Part 3