To Go and Return Again

After a whirlwind tour of San Francisco, we are back and done with the visa paperwork portion of our adventure. Phew! After leaving the girls at home with my mother, (thanks, mama!!) we flew in Wednesday evening and took the BART to downtown. Dropped our bags at a little "French" hotel. (Didn't really plan the Frenchy-ness of this, it just worked out ... room for three and a breakfast!)

Once we dropped off our bags we walked down the street for dinner and ended up at Café de la Presse (I swear, it wasn't planned.) and while we were waiting for our meal alfresco, I wandered down the street a bit and managed to be mistaken for a nervous-looking man's blind date, Noelle. Nope. Not Noelle. But thank you so very much for considering me a candidate.

A Cute Little Place to Stay

Paris apartment rented! One of my great travel loves is Airbnb. It is near impossible to find accommodations for a family of five abroad that are not outrageously expensive. Even rooms for four are spendy, but five ... forget it. And I've yet to find roll-away beds in Europe. For us, renting apartments has been the ticket. For a fraction of the cost, we get plenty of space, a kitchen and often a washer. Additionally, we end up in neighborhoods of the locals versus tourists. Always a plus, from my perspective.

Now of course, there are no concierge or bellboys or Zagat ratings ... but if you choose well, you will have hosts that are accommodating and helpful. For instance, our flight into Paris arrives at 6:30am on a Tuesday. (This means we will be an exhausted family of five with a mountain of luggage ready to crash by 8:00am. As we have learned from experience, aimless jet-lagged wandering is not ideal.) Our hosts allowed us to pay for a "partial night" for the day before. We will not sleep there Monday night, but arrive early Tuesday and have immediate check-in. Hurrah! So worth it.

And isn't this place cute? We will only be here for two nights, but it seems a lovely stop-over before we head west to La Cressonnière.

Now. Time to nail down a place to stay in New York, the first part of our leg. Whenever I start to get stressed out over this adventure I am reminded ... these are blessed problems to have.

Sorting the Details

Leave it to the French to eschew the manila envelope for an understated brown-wrap envelope. It was addressed to M. et Mme, as well. (Monsieur and Madame ... I feel so fancy.)

Of course, as soon as I opened this package from the children's école, regarding their classes in the fall, I had to yank out the dictionaries and chat with my good friend Google Translate to help decipher the directives.

I am so proud of the children to be willing to dive in like this, but also nervous, as well. The language takes everything to a whole new level of intimidating. Choosing to pray instead of worry, however, knowing God is capable of redirecting our path (homeschooling is always an option) or equipping us for the challenge.

In other news, we also purchased our plane tickets! Visa appointments are next week and we have to come with tickets in hand. Tickets to Paris from the northwest are expensive and require lengthy flights, so we decided to get clever. Turns out two flight legs is cheaper and appealing! We will first fly to New York and spend a few nights there. We'll sight see a little, adjust to the time zone by 3 hours, and break up the journey! We were not looking forward to a 22 hour hop across the globe with three children and all of our baggage. Even though we will just be bringing clothes, computers, and some other random pieces ... this will not be a light pack like last time. After a little Manhattan whirlwind, we'll take off once more for Paris via Reykjavik. I know it's just the airport, but how great is it that we get to stop in Iceland? I've always wanted to go.
 
As for now, we are prepping the house for sale and Pops is on his second day of remote-work for his new company. It will be new and different and fun to have him at home so much. I am sure we'll have to work out rhythms that foster productivity and sanity for us both, but I think having him around, even if he is busy working, will be such a blessing once we are in France.

And on the docket for this month? Cramming all of the doctor's appointments and procedures in before our insurance coverage ceases at the end of the month. We will only have catastrophic coverage until we leave. For a mama with three kids and a slew of her own health issues, this is a whole new opportunity to turn things over to the Lord!

Tips? Encouragement? Words of wisdom? Send them over. I need them all!

This Little Big World

This past week, the magnificent Gigi sent a Wall Street Journal article to Peter about current restoration project on the Colosseum in Rome. We were enjoying the article on its own merit, but then come to find ... the last paragraph has a quote from a co-worker of our archeologist friend in Rome, and mentions the institute that he works for. So fun to find!

And speaking of finds, I'm always amazed at the people and connections God brings. The "Professor" has become a dear friend of ours and even came and stayed in our home last year while he was over in the States on business.

He fit in like family.

We've already been emailing about our impending move and giddy over being "neighbors." (France and Italy are technically neighbors ...) Amazing how small and personal this big world really is.

Je pense que oui!

I've been hesitating to make this post ... but it seems that it is to be true! Je pense que oui! Two days ago we sent in our deposit for a 1-year lease on a 17th century farmhouse in northern France. (Can you hear me whooping in the background?) We have visa appointments left to come, the final mandatory puzzle piece, but we feel encouraged and that God is in control. In order to apply for the visas we have to have proof of paid lease and plane tickets purchased. It's a full-commitment process!

In the meantime we are madly completing and assembling paperwork, and preparing to sell our home and cars, pack up our stuff for storage, and attend to all the miscellaneous details that will allow us to move this August. I have never moved more than a 100 miles away before, much less to a foreign country with a foreign language. My head is swimming.

But the house. It's like the icing on everything. We had wanted a place a bit rural for the children. A place where we could turn them loose and they could explore and be free, given that everything else will be so new. A place where we could retreat from the inevitable exhaustion of learning to function in a new culture and in a new language. In the midst of all that scares me silly ... even though my emotions fluctuate between thrills and sheer terror ... I am filled with joyful awe and deep gratitude in God's extravagant provision. 

Dreams and Possibilities

It's been almost 2 years since I took these photos of Pops in Aix-en-Provence. A point in which my own dreams expanded and he hopped aboard.

In the passing time we've been praying and plotting. France. Could it be? Would the Lord have this for us? How might He use this for our family and His glory? The Lord has been gracious in opening doors and He has been using Pops as the vehicle by which we pass through. I am humbled that my husband is willing to reroute his professional track for a time so as to open our family up to some wild, unpredictable adventures.

There is much, much uncertain right now. But the kids are game, my health is improving, we have a job lined up, a rental home that's on the cusp of being available, and a consulate appointment that will decide, officially, if France is on board with our plans too.

I want so badly to worry these details to death, but I know that God is able and these details are but a yawn and a stretch for Him to accomplish. So for now, I am thankful that these dreams are even a possibility.

Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us 

is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of

—infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes. 

Ephesians 3:20-21 

Days of Remembrance

This is one of those photos that encapsulates a memory fully. I remember going to this parking-lot carnival with Grandpa Vanderburg. I remember the cotton candy and the corduroy jacket and the woven raffia headband that dug into the soft spot behind my ears ... but that I loved anyway. And I remember being here with Grandpa and feeling special.

The tanned farmer who raised six kids and took great pride in the grands. A man always good for a raspy chuckle and an eye-roll inducing joke. A man who proudly loved his wife and could grow a pumpkin so large you could sit inside of it and eat your caramel apple. A man who both unabashedly and quietly loved the Lord and those He placed in his care.

These end-of-life days are a brutal business. As believers in Christ, there is a hope and a future that brings very real comfort. But we cling to life and to those we love. Even as we desire to set free, we hold dear. These are the days of remembrance and yet also, anticipation.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 

Hebrews 10:23

He Will Quiet You With His Love

This past month has been full of heartbreak and hope. Despair and mercy. Critical moments of pleas to the Lord and quiet moments of simple gratitude.

This past month my four year-old nephew was diagnosed with Leukemia. And not that anything involving children and cancer is normal ... but his last four weeks have not been normal. My heart doesn't know how to reconcile the events and my brain wants to block it all out. But in this all, we still see God.

My brother-in-law and his dear wife have been amazing through all of this. Their care for their son, their dependance on the Lord, and their straight-up grit in managing a nightmare situation. I am in awe of them.

Our own little bright spot in this has been in the care of little brother. He is the most delightful, charming two and a half year-old ever. Having him in our home, has been blessing and a constant reminder of what to pray for and what to rejoice in.

The journey has just begun for this sweet family. Our prayers are maturing as is our faith. I have no words to adequately speak to recent circumstances, but grateful we serve a God who is always enough.

"The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, 
He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." 

Zephaniah 3:17

A Wink and A Smile

This last year I have endeavored to take on a less-is-more mentality. The purging has become rather addictive. So freeing to have less stuff to not only clutter my home but also the recesses of my already cramped mind.

The natural by-product of this outlook is to be purposeful in what I buy and bring into our home. This is a more challenging discipline, I confess, but necessary and worthy nonetheless. But what is lovely, I'm finding, is satisfying my "I'd like something new" desire with temporal items. 

This week we've spruced up the dreary, bedraggled pots and planters that haven't already been tossed in the bin. The happy, budget-friendly violets that have found new homes on our front porch and back patio feel like a little wink and a smile every time I see them. I can't think of one thing in my garage rafters that has the same effect ...

Curious About the Harvest

This last year has been such a tangled vine of growth. So many challenges that seem to stretch on and wind their tendrils around anything it moves past. This scandent behavior has felt overwhelming, at times. It's easy to become weary ... of feeling weary.

Yet, the interesting thing about growth is that the intent is to bring fruit. Off of the woody, invasive vines, those tendrils latch on to provide security, to develop a base in which fresh green shoots can launch forth with an astonishing growth rate of their own. After a winter of seeing only barren stalks, the green bursts forth yielding vibrancy and the promise of a harvest.

This last year my health has presented itself as a forerunner for our attention. However, there is now a springtime of activity in our lives that is bursting forth in a most dramatic show. Some opportunities for our family that we have prayed about for years now seem to be unfurling with remarkable haste.

It feels strange moving forward into possibility rife with the unknown ... particularly since I have not yet wrapped a bow around the box of my health challenges and set it on a back shelf to collect dust. But here we are. And we acknowledge the issues of the day and press forward into the promise of the yet to come.

It's a bit terrifying. But it's exciting. I don't want to prune off the new growth from the old. Summertime is coming and I'm curious about the harvest.

I am the vine; you are the branches. 

If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; 

apart from me you can do nothing. 

John 15:5