Boy, do I have a story.

Two of my good friends, Scott and Angela, are host parents for two international students from China.  They go to the local Christian high school, and I see them at church, but I don't know them terribly well.  Yesterday, Angela came up to me after church and said "Did my girls find you?"  When I said no, she said "They need to find you."  One of the girls has a deep love of old movies, so I thought maybe she found a great one that she wanted to show me.  A little while later, Scott pulled me aside and said "The girls have something to tell you."  I looked at them, and they each handed me $20.  One of them said, "This is to help you go to France."  I had no words, so I hugged them instead.  She said "Our school gives each of us $20 to help people and we wanted to give it to you."  Scott explained, "When we asked the girls what they wanted to do with the money, they talked about it and said that they wanted to help you get to France."  Of course, I just about started crying and all I could say was thank you about 20 times.  Scott said to the wonderful girls "See how happy you made her!"

Amazing blessings in unexpected places.

This week has been quite a week.  I babysat nearly every day for some very energetic kids, I have been crafting all over the place, and some of my very dear friends came to visit.  At the beginning of the week, I was getting super frustrated about support not coming in as quickly as I thought it would.  But then last night, an amazing thing happened.  Yesterday alone, 6 donations came in, bringing my monthly support up to 33% pledged and only $2304 short of my outgoing expenses!  God is faithful and I am overwhelmed by His grace.

One of the things I love about my town in France, St. Etienne, is the scenery.  Most of Europe is known for its architecture, as some buildings have been around since the Middle Ages.  St. Etienne was a mining town, so in terms of buildings, it's pretty basic, no ornate details, towers, etc. like you may see in Paris.  This, though, is a picture from my dorm building when I studied there.

This view is spectacular at night.  It looks like fireflies are resting on the hills, and you can still see stars.  There was one day, probably in November or December, when my friends and I got to our afternoon class early and I looked out the window, and I could see snow on the hills.

I LOVE hills!  Being able to see the tops of them, and on a clear day the foothills of the Alps, just brings me so much joy!  (See the tall building on the right? That was my dorm where the first picture was taken)  I probably like it so much because the hills remind me of the UP, although the Alps are a little more magnificent than the Porcupine Mountains. 

My university did a wonderful job of arranging excursions for us on the weekends.  One weekend, we got on a bus and drove for about an hour to Le Puys to go to a Renaissance Fair.  Now, it wasn't like the ones we have here in the States where everything is organized and there's an agenda for everything.  Here, people showed up in costumes they already had, on horses, setting up booths to sell their goods, and music groups dressed in costumes could be found in various corners of the streets.  This was the view from the top of a statue of Mary with baby Jesus.

I just love it in this part of the country.

I promise, I really will get better at blogging.

Last Saturday, I spent a few hours at Starbucks, journaling and brainstorming fundraising ideas.  As I listened to a lovely mix of Michael Buble, Muse, the Avett Brothers, and Jadon Lavik, I came up with these ideas:

1. A vision night- meet at a friend's house, provide coffee and French pastries from Whole Foods or something like that (I haven't learned to make that stuff yet!), share pictures from France, stories from my time there that made me want to go back, etc.
2. Knitted goods- socks, baby headbands, baby hats, etc.
3. Crafty things- not like robbing a bank, but more like handmade cards, cookbooks, etc.

My friend Jayne and I get together every week, and she showed me how to make little books out of brown paper bags.  Her brilliant idea was making them with pockets, and then writing recipes on cards and keeping them in the pockets!  That way, you can still take out the recipe and pin in up as you're cooking, and still have a cute little book to keep them in good shape.  Brilliant, right?  So my thought is making a bunch of knitted things and craft things and have them at the Vision Night available for purchase. 

These are a couple of the things I've made so far:

 Recipe book and recipe

Baby headbands

One (of many) cards

Days are amazing things.  I don't mean the 24-hour period that is a Tuesday, but rather how remarkable it is for someone's mood to change drastically between the hours that begin and end a day.  The beginnings of the week are not typically my favorite, because they start another week of waiting to be in France.  Waiting to be with my church in France, waiting to work with the beautiful elementary schoolers there, and just waiting to be back doing something that makes a difference.  This was my mood this morning, and it carried into the afternoon.  Thankfully, my brother is around to make me happier as well as point out when I'm being stupid.  That's what big brothers were made for, right?  Anyway, my melancholy lasted for quite a while, actually up until a few minutes ago.  I know I sound like a broken record, but gratitude journals are brilliant.  For instance, at my gym, there is a sauna, and I enjoy saunas.  Saunas by yourself though, as with many things in life, are not that fun.  I kept thinking "Man, this is boring without other people." as well as "Why do I always forget to take off my metal necklace when I go in saunas?!"  In this solitude, I started thinking about Holy Week. 
During my last semester of college, I took a class on John (not the man himself, but the book of John) and we spent an insane amount of time just on the Upper Room Discourse (John 13-17).  Although, I'm a total nerd and loved studying every minute of it.  In case you're unfamiliar with Holy Week, it starts with Jesus entering Jerusalem to a chorus of "Hosanna in the highest!" which is often reenacted by little nuggets at churches on Palm Sunday.  Four days later, we remember Maundy Thursday on which the Last Supper and the Upper Room Discourse took place.  This is Jesus' final message to the disciples, his last chance to share his wisdom, his comfort, and his love with those whom he loved so dearly.  At the end of the night, after praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, he is taken away by soldiers to be judged and on Friday, he is crucified, giving his life as atonement for the sin of humanity.  The following Sunday is Easter, when he rose from the dead, triumphing over death and sin.
While thinking so much about this week of Jesus' life and how it has affected us living in the world which he conquered, I started thinking about what this week means for Jesus himself.  I found myself praying, just talking to God, but I was interrupted by the metal on my necklace finally becoming unbearably hot.  I kind of forgot about that part of my day until I was reflecting on today and writing in my gratitude journal.  Even though my melancholy and frustration carried on most of the day, now as it is nearing its close, I'm just happy.  I am grateful and blessed, and I don't even know why.  Never underestimate what can happen in a day, my friends.

This morning, I was awakened by a ridiculous thunderstorm-which coincidentally is my favorite way to be woken up.  However, it was 6:30 in the morning and I didn't quite feel like starting my day yet.  So, as I buried myself in my covers once again, I thought "Man, this is great.  I'm going to watch The Sound of Music and do crafts all day because you have to stay inside when it's rainy!"  Don't misunderstand me, on the days I work, that's pretty much what I do anyway, but this time I wouldn't feel lazy since rainy days are specifically for movies and crafts!  When I woke up later, though, it was sunny and there was barely a trace of thunderstorm.  Alas, alack, I guess I'll just have to be productive today. 
Every Friday, my parents have a breakfast date (I know, so cute right?) which normally means there will be leftover pancakes for either me of my brother.  My brother beat me to it today, so I was left to fend for myself.   Normally, this isn't a problem at all- I'll make eggs, pancakes, waffles, etc.- but this morning I found we were out of both eggs and waffles, not to mention cereal.  I thought I'd get creative considering I was in the midst of making pancake batter when I made this discovery.  So, in place of milk, I used Greek yogurt and water, and I just omitted the egg.  They still tasted like pancakes!  A little thick, but delicious nonetheless. 

I really need to get better at this whole blogging thing.

Last time I posted, I was talking about my gratitude journal.  Last week, I went a day without writing and oh my goodness.  I was in the worst mood ever!  Seriously, it is so easy to fall into negativity when you don't acknowledge the blessings and joys that happen every day.  Sometimes, I feel a little like Pollyanna (if you've never heard of Pollyanna, you should.) playing the glad game, but it really is amazing what it does for me not to mention the people around me.  I highly recommend writing down the things that make you smile every day and thanking God for each one.