Evendays

Daughter arrived safe and sound in Marseilles early this afternoon. She and three other young women will spend 10 months together in an extremely small apartment in a very poor area of town. Yet Daughter couldn’t be happier.

When she first decided to participate in the spiritual internship, no one else was committed to going. Then she started talking to her friends that from camps and retreats and other church events. One by one, three others decided to participate. One is from Geneva, one is from Lille, and the last is from Marseilles. They will make great Musketeers.

But it will be a tough one for the internship leaders. The Hutchinson family who had been active in French missions for 18 years had to go back to New Jersey to take care of ailing parents. Another is struggling with bad health. The challenge is huge for the team that’s left for planting a church in a poor neighborhood, running an internship program and preparing events for the French work. The team is full of dreamers who rarely say no. They follow God’s leading, and I thank Him for them. Please, pray for the team in Marseilles, France.

Welcome back!

Son 2 has just finished up 10 weeks of “Christians on Mission” in Marseille. He and his co-interns spent last week in Germany at an “American” retreat. They came to Lausanne on Wednesday, and I gave them a 7 hour seminar on the Epistle of 1 John, which I thought went quite well. It is amazing how much you can learn about a text if you dive into it for such a long time. Great fun.

 

I drove the 3 students to a weekend retreat where church workers meet for prayer, worship and encouragement. We spent another 24 hours there, through good times and in bad… Like most meetings…

Son 2 came into our life with a smile. He waited till the jams were cooked and their lids tightly clamped on, for me to finish the lawn and then to quickly rinse the sweat off… 5 run-red lights and 25 minutes later, he was born bald and happy. He has given the family much joy.

Yesterday we brought our 19 year old to Marseilles where he will spend a year in the Spiritual Internship that Son 1 finished a year ago. If God allows it, next year in late summer he will start university in the USA.

We will see him again in November and December, and he’ll only be 320 minutes away (by car). Not far, I know, but a definite break. A part of growing up. And a part of being a parent too.

Sunday morning after our worship time, Wife and I jumped in the van and made the five-hour trip to Marseille where Son 1 was waiting for us. Saturday night was their closing banquet for his year-long spiritual internship, and Sunday morning there was a special time set aside before worship to honor them. The church and staff said their good-byes to Son 1 and the three other young ladies who had followed the internship. It was an excellent year for all.

It’s good to have Son 1 back with us and I know the “return home” can be difficult. After a year of “semi-freedom” he (and we) gets to live in a family again, with all the benefits and, um, restrictions.

What do you think? As a parent, how can we make this “happy” transition work the best possible? I’d like to know what you think, even if you haven’t had this experience yet… (As far as I know, some of you still live at home!)

Thanks in advance for your help…