Lees in France

Next up in our first week of experiences in France, the deluge of rain, driving directions to church, missed roundabout turns requiring an extra 10 minutes of travel, church service in French, and a small group gathering.

August has been abnormally hot and dry here in France, so we have been told. Many places do not have air conditioning, see the post from when we arrived and the dreaded hot subway ride! We awoke to the rain. The rain, accompanied with thunder and lightning at 8 am, was intense. We didn’t think much of it until we had to go through a puddle about 12” deep, 6 feet wide and 8 feet in length just to enter the narrow one lane church parking lot, while driving a small European car. We had missed the entrance turn in, thanks to us not truly understanding the timing of GOOGLE telling us to turn. We were diverted into an office park with nowhere to turn around. So off we went following Google for another 10 more minutes to who knows where, literally. We saw a French Firetruck.

Alas, we saw the parking lot entrance again and the puddle. When in France, do as the French do, and we drove right through the puddle, only floating for a second or two. Ok just kidding, we did not float anywhere because we were surrounded by 3 ft high walls on both sides keeping us on the puddle path. Wish I had a picture of this!

JIll and Fred’s church, like ours in the States, does not own the building and is on the smaller side of congregations. This church uses a Seventh Day Adventist Church on Sunday mornings. We were welcomed in French and English! Jill and Fred’s friends were (and still are) very welcoming. We sat in the balcony, designated for AV, sound, and those needing the service to be translated into English. Yep, that was us! And Mazie’s rubber ducky who pops up on our experiences.

Rachel, about our age, was our translator for the morning. Her dad preached the Gospel, diving in and out of the old and new testaments, in relation to the sovereignty of God. Not necessarily asking why things happen, rather what is God doing with what is happening. He peeked into Jacob, Job and the disciples’ lives.

While I did not understand a lick of what was being said or sung in French, my heart understood the translated timely message. My ears, mind, and heart were back in a familiar place, Uganda, strange as this may seem. My understanding could not be grasped on this day on my own, however through a kind helper in Rachel, and familiar tunes of music, I could sing foreign words to a familiar God and find rest and renewal.

Sunday naps, screen time, Cody and semi-house mate, Bella, disagreements, and the sun appearing happened throughout the afternoon, along with Mazie’s lizard from Mark’s Family Dentistry.

For dinner we were invited by Jill and Fred’s small group to join them for wine and tapas at La Guinguette du Massillan.  Our kids enjoyed walking around outside while we adults had fellowship and introductions. If anyone comes to visit we will probably let you experience this place too.