Hello World! We have had trouble logging in from time to time, but things are going well here. We love getting to connect all kinds of people with others. Let us know if you’re not getting our e-newsletter. We want to make sure you’re up to date on all that’s happening.

We are getting ready for a move that will take us just two buildings over in the same residence. We found a three-bedroom apartment (currently in a two-bedroom) that is a bit bigger and slightly cheaper! We put our application in about 6 months ago and it finally opened up. Please pray with us that it will be a smooth transition and allow us to be better hosts. We also hope the girls will enjoy having their own rooms.

Feeling quite spoiled today between having my birthday last Sunday and having this apartment open up, and having 50 people at English on Saturday mornings… seems like God is answering the desires of my heart. And I’m not always great about noticing that because the cynic in me thinks that something bad will happen… or I get stuck in a limited mentality rather than abundance mentality. But just for right now, and just for today, I feel very spoiled. Fabio’s at a conference and I’m with the girls and they bring much joy to me. School starts tomorrow after another two-week break (France is famous for these regular breaks from school). They go back for two days and then are off again on Wednesday! No school next Wednesday either. In fact because there are so many holidays in France, they only go to school one Wednesday in May – the 15th. The day we begin moving to the other apartment!

So grateful for all who join us on this journey. So grateful for my 10-year residence card that I just picked up on Monday. So grateful for this rainy day and this cup of tea and these low-salted rice cakes and the sound of two friends over playing with our girls.

I read part of Invitation to Retreat by Ruth Haley Barton yesterday and the poem called The Knapsack made me stop in my tracks. It’s about grief and I’d post it here, but I think it is copyrighted.

Moving is something that always brings about a lot of grief in me. What are you grieving about lately?

The research on cross-cultural living say grief is one of the key elements to understand in ourselves in order to not face depression or burnout. If it’s true for cross-cultural workers, it’s probably true for everyone. May we recognize our grief today, release it and let it do what it needs to do. I shared it with a friend and she asked good questions about grief. Maybe you have grief that you’re carrying that is new, old, or somewhere in between. May you be able to look at it and release it.