That was the World Day of Prayer

My workshop with Vito (Italy), Marie (Belgium),
Claire & Marc (Franco-australian)

The kids chose questions from a box and asked our 'foreigners' about their experiences in coming to France.

ex. 'What are the difficult aspects of arriving in a new country?'; 'What do you miss the most from your home country?'How do you would  like people to treat you?'

 

I had the task of leading the first part

The kids define the word 'foreigner'

The first celebration Friday with Sylvie, our coordinator(L), Tatyana who spoke of being a foreigner, Philippe and Claire-Lise (who composed a song especially for the day), Henriette, our former coordinator. Took place in our church.

Pascal greets people for the beginning of the afternoon service.

The symbolic gesture - joining together multi-coloured scarves to show unity inspite of our differences

We had smaller numbers this year - was it because it was the school holidays? or because it was France? Pascal thinks it could be because the novelty has worn off.

31 kids for the Wednesday programme

38 in the afternoon service

56 with only 3 children in the evening service

Pray for France

objectiffrance.fr

PRAY FOR FRANCE!   The Campaign is under way - join us to make a difference!

See the web site - CCFOF or Impact France

And read the following -

This week (March 10-16) we are praising "The God of Inheritances" as we celebrate how God has used his people in France and how He is still blessing them and making them a blessing today!

Below you will find the major themes for each day (as translated from Objectif France's prayer guide)!

Prayer Topics

Sunday, March 10: Martyrs - Witnesses

Monday, March 11: Martin de Tours - Intimacy

Tuesday, March 12: The Huguenots - Prophecy

Wednesday, March 13: Destined to be a voice

Thursday, March 14: Hesitant destiny

Friday, March 15: Human and humanitarian rights

Saturday, March 16: Love and relationships

Virtually praying

This past Sunday, we tried something new to bring our community together in a way we'd never tried before with a virtual prayer group. Please "like" us on Facebook to see how to join us for the next two Sundays of the campaign at 7:00 PM Eastern here in the United States. There may be other "spontaneous" times of prayer that will be announced on our Facebook page during these next few weeks, so don't miss out!

May you be blessed again this week as you go forth in prayer and intercession for France!

In Christ,

David Broussard
President, Impact France

The French and the Vatican

Just heard yet another news item on what's happening at the Vatican on French National radio.

Ever since Benedict announced his resignation, the French press, TV, radios and newspapers have been reporting on what's happening.

For a country which has wanted to ignore religious beliefs in the public domain for so long, this is getting a bit ridiculous. Only 8% of the population consider themselves to be practising Catholics, although nearly 60% would say they are Catholic because they were baptized as babies in the Catholic church.

It's also interesting to see what and how the press are reporting on events. A few weeks ago (only!) they were full on about the the legislation on "Marriage for All" (the right for homosexual couples to get married and the question of adoption in homosexual couples) and very strongly supporting the bill being debated in Parliament. They minimized all opposition and tried to ridiculize those who spoke out against homosexual marriage especially in the huge demonstrations organised by religious groups - the main work and support base was done by Catholics and the Catholic Church tried to make its voice heard in a serious, valid manner.

Now, we have daily snippets of information which don't tell us anything major: apart from the main news about the resignation and the information that it's the first since 1400s;  the Cardinals all arrived the other day: they will soon lock them in; the fire has been lit. This mornings news was about the crowds in the Vatican square coming to see, wanting to be part of the action.

It's significant the way they talk about religious facts: the crowds were multinational and the cacophony of different languages spoken compared to those in the TOWER OF BABEL! What's the implication ? That these people are all waiting for the judgement of God and for the Tower (The Vatican) to be knocked down? What's the attitude of the reporter in this? Is he just trying to show off a minimal knowledge of Biblical history? Is he anti-Catholic (hoping they will be judged???) Why didn't he at least give them credit for being believers and use the image of Pentecost??? That would at least have been a proper Christian image and relevant to the beginnings of the Christian church.

Even if the Catholic Church has deviated from the vision God first had of building up His people, there are real believers in their midst. Many in those crowds are there to pray and not just to all the Saints and Mary Mother of God, but to their Creator God who made it possible for all of us to enter His Kingdom through the faithful actions of His Son Jesus Christ.

World Day of Prayer

Here in our little country town - there is LIFE!!!

For more than 15 years, women from the Catholic, Reformed and Free Evangelical (that's us!) churches have been getting together to organize the local version of the Women's World Day of Prayer (that is now open to all, by the way.)

When I arrived as the new Pastor's wife, it was expected that I get involved. The first year was 2009 - Papua New Guinea. Quite close to home really! It was a nice, staid experience, but not necessarily my cup of tea. However, I was called up for the next year's organisation. The group was getting older and looking for younger women to take over. The several women that I took along with me to the meeting were all younger and very involved in the children's ministry in our church. We said that if they wanted younger participants, they would have to reach a younger age-group in order to pass on the richness of the idea of Christian unity and prayer along with the discovery of a different country each year.

The Catholic church was in the process of holding a Mission in the region; their version of evangelizing their own people to re-awaken believers and renew the church.

So our mixed group of women, including Catholic nuns involved in their mission, came up with idea of involving children in the WDP celebrations.

In practice, this meant organizing activities and an introduction to the World Day of Prayer and the featured country on the Wednesday afternoon preceeding the first Friday of March. Probably the only time I thanked God for the French education system of no Primary School on Wednesdays, and only the mornings for the Junior and Senior High Schools!

The kids came along for the afternoon, then we invited them to take part in the Friday evening celebration. Of course, this meant that the families would come with them. We held a traditional celebration in the afternoon for those who preferred it and who don't like to go out at night, then the family celebration in the evening. It worked really well - great attendances and a generally positive attitude to the different churches getting together. It's always held in our church, too, so we are better identified now.

To these celebrations, we added a participative Bible study in the morning to get the most out of the prescribed texts and a meal based on the recipes of the featured country.

This year is a little different. We held a meal and Bible study earlier, in order to recruit new people to help with the kids' section and the actual celebrations. Now we are finalizing our preparations for Wednes 27th Feb for the kids afternoon. Then we'll have the 2 celebrations in our church on Friday 1st March.

This is also an opportunity to invite kids from non-practising families, especially since the issue of migrants in France is a hot one now. How do Christians understand their rôle in welcoming/integrating foreigners? What does Jesus ask us to do? Compare what He says with the Old Testament rules stated in Leviticus 18 and 19. What is the definition of 'foreigner'? In French, the word for 'foreigner' is 'étranger' which means 'stranger' as well, so this year's celebration, written by the French committee, asks participants to define "who is a stranger to me?" In the kids' section we are going to help them to understand that anyone who is different to me could be considered as a stranger/foreigner, so Jesus is asking me to accept that person and to value his/her differences as if we were reaching out to Jesus Himself.

A precious lesson.

And a bit ironic that I'm involved in promoting a positive attitude to foreigners as I am one myself!!!

May His kingdom come ....

See the Aussie WDP web page : Aussie World Day of Prayer website

The time's they are a-changing ....

So sang Bob Dylan - and in his era the times were radically changing!

On a smaller, probably very insignificant scale on the French scene, especially since religious affairs and the State are nicely separated and may not mix, there is one change which should be noted.

The Eglise Réformée de France (French Reformed Church) and the French Lutheran Church have joined forces to become L'Eglise Protestante Unie : the United Protestant Church. Given that both are descended from the two major figures of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther and Jean Calvin, this is quite a momentous move and NOT to be ignored!

Both are historically recognized by the French State and have been strong cultural influences at different times in French history. For example, Protestants were instrumental in writing the Human Rights charter, in particular to guarantee religious freedom given that France had greatly suffered in the Wars of Religions.

The Reformed Church had been heavily influenced by liberal theology which lead to our Union of Churches forming in 1849 (The Union of French Free Evangelical Churches - l'Union des églises évangéliques libres de France). A significant number of believers felt that faith was a personal choice and should be openly adhered to, not just inherited. They also objected to the literary critical approach to the Holy Scriptures. They wanted to mark their difference also in being the first official church to be separate from State control. In other words, our churches became independant and undertook to pay their own pastors. Thus our name: The Union of Free Evangelical Churches of France. This was later formalized by the French Government declaring the separation of State and religion in 1905.

Getting back to the United Church: their numbers have been dropping dramatically for years and resources diminishing. The move was probably fuelled by the same reasons as the Australian Uniting Church. However, in our years of pastoring in the UEELF, we have been involved in various Ministers' Fraternals and have noted that a number of pastors in the Reformed Church were theologically evangelical. Can we assume that the Spirit is moving and that Christianity in France will awaken ?? Let's pray so.

English/French rivalry!

Now that David Beckham is joining the football club Paris Saint-Germain, is this a sign that English/French rivalry is finally over ?

The UK parliament has voted in favour of a law allowing same-sex marriages and the French government is in the final process after debating nearly 5000 amendments!!

On the other hand, we are hearing rumours of the UK leaving the European community (they aren't in the Euro zone anyway) and countries are looking at ways of protecting their independance.

On the religious front: here is some interesting news on the way migrant groups in France are contributing to the religious landscape here.

  The English in particular have brought their faith with them and, funnily enough, the French are very partial to their version of faith! Just as cup cakes are in fashion, and Gospel has been appreciated and sung everywhere, now Christmas Carol services are the 'must' and local Anglican communities (as well as other international churches) are making the most of this desire to really experience Christmas by organizing Carol concerts and home-made mince pies for their communities.

The English churches bring with them the community activities and spirit typical of their culture and the article gives a whole list of chances to meet together, to help one another and others, socialize, offer mother and toddler groups, etc; and chances to explore the Christian faith.

Rev Jeremy Cross of Christ Church, Brittany, has also noticed congregations are growing because "many people are happy to find a readymade English-speaking community".

The article concludes: "Whether in search of deaper meaning, family support, security, companionship, good works or even mince pies, the English-speaking flocks continue to worship."

Many other migrant groups have either formed churches or are changing the cultural landscape of existing churches. They are bringing a freshness, and through their need to integrate, they are helping French churches to question their own church culture and practices and this is enriching their communities.

Same-sex marriage debate

This subject requires a whole blog of reflexion to understand the ethical, social and theological positions. However, I will add my 10 cents worth with this commentary.

The British Parliament recently voted largely in favour of same-sex marriage in the name of liberty, equality and fraternity - very French of them really! I detest the attitude of various media when they report on the established church's reaction and the reactions of Christians of all denominations. Here is an example from the Guardian 5th February 2013.

"Permitting gay and lesbian people to marry is a progressive social reform whose time has come, and come rather more rapidly than many would have thought possible a generation ago. The change is right in principle, the moment is timely, public opinion is prepared for it, and MPs did well in leading and reflecting that sentiment. The vote should be conclusive. The religious traditions which oppose the bill – by no means all of them do – are going to have to adjust to the change over time, which the bill gives them scope to do. But adjust to it they should, the established church in particular. Within a generation, perhaps less, we will all be amazed at what the fuss was about."

How dare they claim 'liberty, equality and fraternity' in expressing their views as just and reasonable, whilst denying the right of others to differ in their opinion !

Our societies are now structured so that a moral majority point of view cannot dictate to a whole community. But that means we have a right to express our opinions and to participate in the debate. As Christians, we should be sounding warning bells - being prophets in our own time. However, whether others who don't share our Christian faith accept our point of view remains their responsibility and their choice. 

In France the anti-same-sex marriage groups got themselves organised to demonstrate their point of view. Protestants and Catholics (don't have any reports on other faith groups public demonstrations) joined forces to circulate information, debate material and petitions. Not all Protestants are against same-sex marriage. Not all Catholics either.

Media reports and government press releases never gave the true figures on the numbers of people in the streets. In one memorable demonstration in Paris 13th January 2013, organizers estimated nearly a million people in the streets. Media spoke of 300,000! Eye-witnesses and participants spoke of calm, positive reasoning and disciplined crowds.

The following Sunday  estimates between 150,000 and 300,000 demonstrators in favour of same-sex marriage and by association, the right to children for these couples, with eye-witnesses reporting on provocative behaviour and vulgar slogans.

OK, so I'm biased also. Who is more convincing when you compare these different approaches?

I don't appreciate being called 'homophobic' just because I don't think homosexuality is a natural expression of sexuality. I'm not afraid of homosexuality or those who are homosexual, but I believe God condemns the practices. I believe in God and so I accept His view of things. But I also say we do not define a person by his/her sexuality and we have often fallen into the trap of that. In the same way, being a mother is a part of my identity and my role, but it does not define who I am.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

BONNE ANNEE !

BONNE SANTE !

This is what the French wish for each other at the beginning of each new year. They send out SMSs or electronic cards, some still send traditional cards by snail mail throughout January.

Most Christmas decorations were taken down after 6th January when they traditionally celebrate the visit of the Three Wise Men to the baby Jesus. There are several versions of the Galette des Rois (pastry or bready type round patisserie in honour of the 'Kings') and this is shared by families, at work places, through invitations to friends, etc.

It's surprising to note how many holidays are still connected to a religious celebration, and yet how ferociously the French want to keep out any religious references in public life ! But these are all occasions for our churches and believers everywhere to organise events which remind people of the original reason for these days. Our church did 2 Christmas play performances with 115 people in the public at each performance. One of our best this time around. However, we didn't do anything for Galette des Rois. We'll have to get cracking to organise something appropriate for Easter, but not sure the energy levels will hold up.

I close in wishing each and everyone of you, dear readers, a blessed New Year in 2013. The Lord didn't return end 2012, nor did the world end, so God still has plans for us. May we be counted amongst the faithful this year, enjoying our special status of Child of God. May we be able to communicate the joy, the peace and the love this brings us. May we be a blessing to others.

So this is Christmas

Claire excelled in her decorations again for this, our first Christmas in our lovely new house.

We did the French version of Christmas : Pascal and I attended the Reformed Church's afternoon play on 24th, then we had our Christmas meal en famille. Just the five of us. Claire did the organisation. A game, a film, and one present to open.

The menu: foie gras and tarama; lettuce salad; wild boar casserole and potato balls; local cheeses; and a home made bûche de Noël of which Claire and I are very proud. It's our first!

I always have a bit of a downer at this time because I'm so inbued with our family christmases in Australia. Lots of family, several occasions, church in the morning. I miss that and haven't managed to transmit it to my own family.

The next day, 25th, we had a French breakfast while skyping the family and then we were allowed to open the rest of the presents!

It was pleasant and intimate - we have such busy and varied lives that being together is becoming a luxury and a precious time to keep for ourselves. However, I do have a special thought for all those who do end up alone or isolated or who are far from family and/or friends.

I hope your Christmas was a special time and particularly stamped with the wonder of the Christ child and his mission on earth.

As part of the end of year celebrations ...

This was the last in a series of 9 English lessons for an after-school activity I held. 5 girls came every Thursday and they learned a simplified version of Little Red Riding Hood. They performed in front of their parents and we then shared an 'apéritif' - pre-dinner drinks - to celebrate Christmas.

"Take the cake to Grandma, please. She's very sick."

"Oh, Grandma, what big eyes!"

Claire has helped me each Thursday. She was the prompter and props person.

It was a good time of explaining our different Christmas customs. They were quite fascinated by the Aussie Christmas cards I had kept over the years. They all were born in this area and have lived here all their lives. They are young, modern French families, but very rooted in this country culture. 2 of the families went to England earlier this year, leaving this region for the very first time. They are connected to the Catholic church and send their kids to the Catholic Private school and it's interesting to note the differences in their way of thinking to even the people in our church, who were also born and raised here.

I hope to continue to get to know them.

Next English sessions will be in Spring.

Going back a month

Just wanted to show a little of Luc's surprise party for his 18th.

Hadn't a clue - so a real surprise!

the youth group friends

 And the birthday cake moment:

Happy Birthday, Luc!

18 years ago the Lord gave us this gorgeous baby boy. His first 6 weeks were spent in Australia in the bosom of his Australian family. His Aussie identity is still very much a part of him inspite of growing up in France. Today we celebrate his coming of age, and we are so proud of him. He first started being more independent when he had to live in at his senior high school at the age of 14, returning each weekend to play sport, to eat, catch up on TV and video games with his brother, and to stir up his sister!

Now he is in his own little flat at Roanne, at an Institute of Technology for 2 years. He's come of age alright and he's doing well. We are glad he comes home nearly every weekend - our family is not complete without him. We try and keep some family time around meals and we listen to his stories, his commentaries, his blow-by-blow descriptions of sports events he's appreciated ! We listen as he recounts what he has learned about the world we live in through his course work. I look at his lovely brown eyes and see the soul of a sensitive, loving, intelligent person. And I thank God for this young man - our young man.

Go the Blues!!

Where does this road lead ?

Today I went to visit Murielle to buy half a lamb (organic and locally grown!)

She gave me fairly precise directions to find her - she lives out in the country. But I forgot to ask how many metres, no, kilometres, before each section. My mobile phone stopped working. Here I was in a city car winding my way around unknown country!

I arrived at a field and saw another car parked there. Was it Murielle's car with a note on it ? I went to look... and heard someone calling out. I looked around and across the small valley saw three figures watching me. Obviously, it was their car and not Murielle's.

Nothing for it - I had to follow the dirt road and try and find her house. The road looked too rough for my car, so I pulled out the cooler and prepared to walk the next section. A smallish white-haired man was walking towards me "Can I help you ? I'm from the Forestry office."

I explained my mission. "I'm looking for the house called 'le Pouzat'." "You mean the hippy types ? It's another 800 metres from here, but you can't get to it by car - the road is too rough. You will see a grey car parked in a bay. Stop there and continue on foot another 800 m."

Mmm, I'm dubious about getting through. Already I have to turn around and the wheels skid on the wet grass. The other 2 men have joined us by now and push me out of the soggy ground. I turn the car then bump my way through the ruts and over tree roots, find the parking bay with the other car, lock up, grab the cooler and head down the last part of the unmade road. A four-wheel drive powers up toward me. Yay! it's Murielle. She has rung home and discovered I was on my way and has come to meet me. We get to her house in one piece and I get my lamb and a nice cup of coffee.

I'll go back there - not by the same route though. But Murielle wants another visit. She has chosen to live there with her companion and has raised 3 daughters. She is into alternative living. Lives off her pottery and vegetable garden. Her partner is the local pot grower and seller. I will go back, because Murielle is a new Christian and has this incredible thirst for the Word of God.

Statistics and public opinion

A missionary colleague working in the South West has published this on her Facebook :

For those wondering about the 'real' statistics in France, at the Lourdes conference the Catholics say France is 5% (not 60%) practicing Catholics (church at least once a month) and 500 000 ( less than 1%) evangelicals (which, I have concluded, pretty much means 'practicing Protestant' here).

We have been using other statistics - but that's not the point. As in many Western countries now, those who are Christians (culturally or in reality) are very much in the minority. What's changing however, is their ability to organize themselves and to have a voice in the public arena. 

The latest example is the motivation within the Protestant organisations and the Catholic Church to speak out in the debate on "Marriage for All" which is the bill which is being debated now in Parliament. This bill is to allow same-sex marriage and open the way for adoption. It's hard to get people motivated for this sort of moral debate because we (I associate myself with the French in this case) have not got the experience and the impetus to speak out about our biblical understanding that homosexuality is not part of God's plan for his creatures. But the urgency of this situation and the realization of the consequences are pushing the usually timorous Christians to manifest their point of view. The challenge is to do it in a non-judgmental way.

Our advantage is that more scientific and psychological findings support our point of view. They need to be made known as well because we can't just argue on moral and religious grounds in our multi-norms society where most are allowed their own version of truth. There haven't been common moral values for a long time. We can state what we believe based on our Theology (as can the Muslims and Jews and other religious groups), but we no longer have the upper moral ground.

Please pray with us as we gather our courage to stand up and be different to what seems to be general agreement on the 'rights' of homosexuals to marriage and children. Latest opinion polls do indicate that there aren't as many French as that who agree.

Pray also that the Lord raises up those who have the ability to speak on His behalf to an increasingly non-believing society.

Two events in the same evening

A truly country girls' effort

Friday night - we don't often go out because we are being taxi-parents and just too tired at the end of the week! But this time I had 2 events to attend.

The first was the official launch of a great initiative in our little country town. A group of women started a magazine; women with no previous journalistic training, most of whom are looking for regular work and who decided to launch this magazine to gain professional experience. They have done a great job! Their goal is to reveal all the richness of the human stories in our Ardèche region and to prove that country women are not backward, but vital and creative.

Their effort has brought acclaim already through 2 national TV stations running a brief story about them and the magazine Elle awarding them a prize from its foundation which will help them run the magazine for a year. WELL DONE, LADIES!

It's the sort of energy, vitality and peps that I would love to see more of in our churches. Openness to the variety and charm of the world around us; the preciousness of the people we live by. Appreciating each other and being full of life.

The second event was the showing of the film "Luther". The other Protestant Church was showing it as part of the 500 year anniversary celebrations, and acknowledging the union now confirmed between the Reformed and Lutheran churches.

In the small audience were : the Reformed pastor and his wife, us with 2 of our kids, the local parish priest and all the nuns from a local convent! We wondered just how much of this amazing story was known by the Catholic contingent. But more to the point, how did they feel seeing the obvious criticism of the Catholic Church ? This year also marks 50 years since Vatican 2 took place and the changes advocated then are well and truly in place in the Catholic Church today. So the face of the Catholic Church has changed, but the things Luther wanted to see changed 500 years ago are only now in place - including the Bible accessible to all in their own language, mass in their own language ...

Authenticity

This marks my first month back in France after a very intense time in Australia. I've spent most of this month feeling unfocussed and like I was living in another dimension. Why? Partly because I was totally myself again in Australia. I couldn't take any of my family with me this time. I was able to do everything I wanted to do and needed to do in the 2 months I had. I was very busy, but felt I was 'home' in my own environment. I really miss the Aussie mentality and realize how tired I often feel, not just because of family and ministry responsibilities, but because, even after 22 years in France, I do not completely belong. I still struggle with the way things are done here, with certain attitudes, the hardness of human relationships even within the church family. I know it's not exclusive to France, but I do find living here hard work sometimes.

An interesting experience helped throw some light on myself. I had a personality profile done for mission purposes and the psychologist suggested I fill out a form in English and the same in French. It revealed differing personality traits! I'm not schizophrenic, but I change according to which country or culture I'm fitting in ! Some of the tensions I feel and the lower energy levels come from having to adapt my 'real Aussie' personality into the French Christian leadership context. I'm sometimes in conflict with myself.

Which leads me to the idea of authenticity.

I've always believed we should develop authenticity - show our real selves - particularly in Christian circles. It's not right to wear a mask. Christian community is about accepting and being accepted just as we are. Seeing others as Jesus sees them. It can be hard, because we don't like to be vulnerable and we certainly are afraid of being criticized or judged. We are also very sensitive to being disappointed by others or disappointing others by our real selves. I find it very rewarding to see genuine relationships develop in our groups. Recognizing our fragility is very good for us since it helps us turn completely to God. In God we trust (where have I seen that ???) Of course we will be disappointed by others, of course we will let others down, but we are only human and Jesus loves us completely anyway; to the extreme of giving up his own life for us.

My friend Susie has also written about authenticity : see her blog article. It's another angle on the subject with which I totally agree.

http://7mouths2feed.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-search-for-authenticity.html

Back to teaching

Several mums are keen for their kids to do more conversational English outside school hours, so I took over what Claire (English friend who has gone back to England, leaving us their house to buy as a new manse!) had been doing over a year ago.

4th October - first day back at work

My first meeting after my return from Australia was to finish preparing our Combined Women's groups day 6th October.

 "Welcome Eternity in our lives" was the theme chosen for the day.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

My pastor-husband was named 'honorary member of the Women's Group of our Church' and had taken over coordinating the organisation whilst I was away. All I had to do was take over preparing the songs, introduce the speaker, make cakes for morning and afternoon tea and direct the proceedings during the day(!!)

Our symbolic action was to take a stone from the bowl and place it at the foot of the cross to reinforce the commitment we made to God to act on our understanding of how being already part of eternity will affect our way of living out our faith. The stones would then form an altar, a bit like the Israelites did in the Old Testament stories, when they made or renewed an alliance with God.

The painting reminds us that Christ is the light at the centre of all creation and each branch represents a season.

22 women came to this day - a first for our ladies' group. We had stimulating discussions, felt at ease to share, enjoyed a simple meal, time out from busy lives and this special moment when we sang a blessing to each other.

Thank the Lord for a great day!

Following on ...

I couldn't seem to edit the previous item as I wished, so I'm starting a new post, which is a continuation of the previous one!

This mommy-like form is my husband ! He has spent the month getting up at 6am to see Number 2 son off to Senior High School (he catches a school bus at 7am), then checking Number 3 daughter is ready for her Junior High day, but since I was around again, he made the most of my presence to sleep on and to catch up. We don't actually have much to do for our kids in the morning, but it's wise to be there to sign notes in diaries, check on any change of programme, to make sure they know what we are up to and that they have their keys.

So I want to salute the magnificent way in which my husband kept things going while I was away. He is one of quite a few examples of men today sharing 100% in home organisation. He continued to work (which is why he is so tired - supplementary hours) and when I'm there, we share all responsibilities, which makes it easier for me as I work as well.

Return to France

Heyho! Here we go!

Well, I've actually been back for nearly 3 weeks, but I hit the road running on Oct 1st and haven't had the energy to get back up to date with the blog.

It was a very smooth flight and I arrived in reasonable form, but it took a couple of weeks catching up with who is doing what where and when! They had all been back at work and school for the month of September. I felt I was living in a parallel world for a while - nothing seemed quite real after the intense Australian experience I'd had. However, getting the house back in order and taking over daily organisation, plus slipping back into church worker mode has helped me get back to normal.

Lollipop the Rabbit

Claire lost her summer time compagnon after a viral illness.

RIP Lollipop