Hello to all of our wonderful family back in Greenwood. Quick update from abroad in France, we (Alicia and Austin) are staying for another year here in Rouen, France, until the summer of 2017. We are currently enjoying our temperate summer where the temperature might reach the 80s, and the foggy, greyness of Normandy is hanging around to the month of June. Nevertheless, we are enjoying France, the soccer tournament, and God’s provision for us, here.

Reflecting on the past 8 months in France, God has provided for us in so many small ways and big ways. When we first arrived in France, we were certainly excited for this new adventure, but we met some challenges right from the start. We were anxious to find an apartment right away since we only had our hotel for a few days.

Our initial apartment turned out to have a lot of issues that were not seen on the initial walk throughs. We had to scramble to find work, so we could make our way while we were here. It was quite hectic and tough. To top it all off, we were the victims of a large theft. At this point in our trip, it would’ve been very easy to scratch off our trip and come home with our tails between our legs.

We are so thankful that we didn’t. God, as He has shown throughout our lives, provided for all of these issues above. We would love to tell you that we kept our faith and didn’t doubt whether or not we had made the right decision or that we thought we had made some terrible error in following something the both of us had planned and dreamed of for a long time. The truth is that we did lose faith, we did doubt, and we did begin to think that we had made a grievous error.

The nice part about it is that God was still the same one that was there when we left, and He’s the same one that’s here as we write the blog. Even when we doubt, he remains the same. It’s that thought that is so important for us all when the seas of change happen. Much love!