Salut!

In France you kiss each other on the cheek to say hello - you know that, right?!  Well, this morning I was working hard in the gym and had just moved onto a bike.  The owner of the gym came in, and as you do in France, shouted ‘Bonjour’ to the entire room.  (Whenever anyone leaves we all have to chorus ‘Au revoir’)  The he made his way over to me and did the cheek kissing thing!!  ewww!  I’m hot and sweaty, I don’t wan’t to be touching anyone!!  But I took it as a compliment, I’m getting to know people and to be on kissing terms with the boss is a good thing! 

On Wednesday afternoon we had the youth group for the 3rd time.  Some of the YWAM team came and joined in, they organised the games and gave a testimony.  It went really well, I thought.  It was nice to have the team with us becuase it made the games more fun becuase there were more people.  The teaching was about God the Father.  The kids seemed to get to grips quite well with the theme and were asking loads of questions.  One of the boys said, ‘It really hard to be a good dad.  I hope the world ends before I become a dad.’  It made me giggle!  Maybe he’ll cut his dad a bit more slack now!

Yesterday half of the team came round to my flat for supper.  I was a bit worried what Suzie would think of a house full of noisey young adults.  I shouldn’t have been worried!  She came downstairs and hung out by the table all night.  She seems to make a bee-line for the boys - little flirt!

If you look closely at this photo you might be able to spot her.  (If you click on the photo it gets bigger.)

We have a YWAM team from Norway with us for 10 days.  I have a Swedish couple staying with me, and they are lovely.  Here is a photo of us enjoying a relaxed Sunday morning breakfast with the obligatory fresh pain aux chocolats from my local bakery!  Yum!

The team is getting involved in church life.  They have held a young adults meeting on Saturday and there’ll be one next week too.  On Friday night we had a worship evening at the church which went well after the initial shock of trying to figure out what language to sing in!  Tomorrow 4 of them are going to be helping me with the youth group.  It should be fun!

Man, having a cat is super stressfull!  All day Sunday I was wracked with doubts; ‘Had I done the right thing?  Was she ill?  Would I be able to assume the responsibility?  Had I chosen the right cat?  Was I being horrible when I thought about giving her back’?!  Nightmare!

Suzie (that’s her new name) refused to move off the sofa and I had to carry her downstairs to eat, drink and go to the toilet.  I was really worried she was scared of the stairs or had a sore leg…

Anyway, after 2 days of just sitting there looking depressed she decided enough was enough.  Monday evening she adventured up to my bedroom on the third floor - where she isn’t allowed to go!  And later on in the evening she played a bit.  When I got back from the shops this morning she had come downstairs on her own and had eaten the whole days food in one go!  She then proceeded to wander around the dining room, following me as I pottered.  very cute.  She’s retired to her favourite spot on the sofa again.  Hope she won’t spend another 2 days there!

I’m a cat owner!  She’s a cute little tabby who is nearly 4 years old.  She was resuced from the street where she was just getten beaten up by all the other cats. 

She’s a real sweetie and just wants to be cuddled all the time!  At the moment she’s mastering my stairs - there are a lot of them in a flat with 3 floors!  Especially when they are open stairs, she keeps looking through the gaps and making me scared!

But she needs a name!  Her foster carers gave her a name that I don’t like at all.  So we have about 2 days to come up with something better - before she gets stuck with cutie, or petit chat or something similar!

Here’s a cute photo to help you on your way:

When I went to get cat accessories on Monday I looked at the cat carriers - which I need to transport the cat in - and they were super expensive ranging from about 27€ to 90€!!  I got the other stuff and left the carrier thinking I must be able to get it cheaper on the internet.

Indeed, you can get them cheaper but the delivery times were too long.  I thought, I’ll just have to get the pricey one.  As a last ditch effort I looked on ebay to see if anyone anywhere near was selling a cat carrier.  There was!  I rang the lady, she was in, I offered to come round straight away, she agreed, she gave me her address and as I tapped it into the satnav it told me I’d be there in 4mins!!!  Ha ha ha!!  God makes me laugh with his little *coincidences*!  In the end I got a cat carrier for 10€!  Fantastic!

God’s there caring for people in Haiti, present in Afganistan and sorting out a cat carrier for Stacey.  Amazing! 

You may remember that the church in Tours was unsure if it’s lease was going to be renewed on the building.  Well, it will be renewed, but the rent will be increased by about 400€ a month!

But "as luck would have it" another building has come onto the market.  It is almost twice as big as the building we have now and if we buy it the morgage repayment would be less then the rent the landlord is asking of us.  It is idealy placed; it backs onto the car park of a supermarket.  BUT - the is A LOT of renovation to do.  It would take a lot of time and energy, and we are only a small church and it could easily overwhelm us.

We want to be open to God and follow his leading.  Please pray with us that the way forward would be made clear.

The building we’re looking at is in the foreground on the left.  On the right is the supermarket.

After the Sunday service I rushed over to the train station and caught a TGV up to snowy Paris. 

I spent the afternoon in a shopping center with friends.  It was great to see them again.  I left Paris on the 4th of July and I haven’t seen them since, so it was great to spend time over a hot chocolate catching up on our lives.

Then I got on another train and headed into the eastern suburbs of Paris to see my little god daughter Eliette.  I haven’t seen her or her family since May.  In the past 7 months Eliette has grown up so tall and she has a little brother called Abel.  It was lovely to spend time with such good friends and to see how Eliette is growing up into a pretty little girl.  She is in ‘princess mode’ and insisted on dancing around the lounge in a pink princess dress complete with tiara - too cute!!

Things are falling into a bit of a rythem now.  Last night  I went to an inter-church prayer night.  It was nice to see all the different evangelical churches of the region together.  Good to chat to people and start to make connections.

This morning I helped a lady in the church move house.  It was strange to be not moving house myself - it feels like that’s all I’ve done for a while!!  The lady in question lived on the 3rd floor and there was no life.  Outside it was -4 and snowing.  Not the best conditions for a move!!!  I was glad to have the excuse to leave at noon because I was invited for for lunch!

I collected D from her house and we went to C’s for lunch.  D is a lady who is quite a lot of need, you could pray for her.  It’s a bit complicated to explain here, but I ‘m sure she’d value your prayers.

When I got back home late afternoon my neighbour popped round to wish me Happy New Year.  She came in for a cup of tea and we chatted for a good while.  It was nice to get to know her.  AND she said she’d look after my cat if I was away!!!!!  How many sunday school classes in the UK have prayed for that?!  God answers even the most ‘insignificant’ of prayers!

After the service tomorrow I’m rushing to the train station to head up to Paris.  I’m spending 2 nights in the region catching up with friends I’ve not seen since June.  I’m looking forward to it!

Hope you’re warm enough.  I’ve got my wooly scarf on!

I arrived back in Tours on Saturday afternoon after a long journey.  It was good to find my little car intact and get back to my flat.  I’d turned the heating off and it took about 24hrs to get warm again!

Sunday of course was church.  What a lovely group of people they are, and really multi-cultural.  The dutch pastor was preaching in French which was translated into Spanish by a French woman married to a Korean guy, for a Columbien lady!  Crazy stuff!!

I’m still having families from the church round to eat so we can get to know each other.  I’ve just bought a second hand slow cooker from Ebay which should make me life a bit easier.  Let me know if you have any good recipies!

I went to the gym for the first time today.  It’s a nice place and the owner is very friendly.  He stayed and talked with me for about 40mins!  A bit difficult when you’re out of puff!!  Anyway, at the end of the session I asked him to show me a machine to give me a few muscles on my weedy arms.  I am VERY VERY weak and he didn’t believe it when even the lightest weight was almost too heavy for me!!  I was quite embarrassed!    Anyway, it’s nice to do a bit of excersize and get back into a routine. 

The sales start here on Wednesday so I’m hoping to get beds, matteresses and linen for my guest room.    Pray for some bargins for me!!