Full weekend

Yesterday and today have been full days. Last night we ate the 2nd turkey that we bought at Christmas. We wanted to have a festive meal while MaryAnne and Becca were both here, as well as to have some people over whom we have wanted to, but haven't had the time or energy to since Elizabeth's birth 7 weeks ago.

Our others guests were: Anne (a Wheaton and U-Michigan grad who is attending the Belleville Church this year), our faithful German friend Marion, and two Korean Americans named Paul and Benjamin. They now live in Paris and are part of a new church-plant through a Maryland-based church called Agape. Anne brought a salad, Marion provided the bread, Paul brought some delicious chocolate pastries, and Ben bought a beautiful flower arrangement. I made my favorite mashed potatoes, Nicole cooked green beans and gravy, and Picard (our favorite frozen food store) provided the 2nd dessert, a Norwegian omelette. It was a challenge getting into the ocnversations while trying to put our kids to bed. But it was fun to be together with everyone.

While our son was a swimming with my during midday today, the mother of Elisa (one of our son's classmates) telephoned and asked if he could come over for "goûter" (a later afternoon sweet snack). I was pleased about this, as it's another neighborhood contact. The mother is sings in the Paris Opera, which implies that she must be a gifted singer, which links with my work with La Fonderie. So after his naptime, I took him over. He played very well there and was calmer than he usually is at home.

Tonight I had two different meetings. The first was the annual worldwide day of prayer for the arts. This was the 2nd year that Jim Beise organized a prayer meeting at the Marais Reformed Church. I counted 27 who were there, which is more than last year. While I arrived late and left early, I think that Jim and the others who organized this meeting did so in a creative fashion. There were a couple of different prayer stations.

The Marais section near the church is nearly beautiful at night. One can see the Bastille Tower and the Bastille Opera House right behind it. It was a year aqo when I was first introduced to the Marais Reformed Church. Since then, I've been there often for Fonderie related events, as well as helping recruit 2 interns for this year.

As I was thinking about our present and future church involvements, I remembered that during my 12 years in the Paris region, I've been involved in churches in 4 different districts in Paris: 7th (Eglise Baptiste Rue des Sèvres), 5th (Espace Evangile), 8th (St. Michael's Church), and 20th (Eglise Réformée de Belleville). I wonder which disctrict our new church wll be in.

After the Marais meeting, I went to Belleville for the end of the Mission Radicale's occasional yuth rally