We're back from Nancy (overnight in Paris) and we've had a fulfilling holiday! A friend lent us her flat, which was a real blessing, and it happens to be just down the road from our old flat, so we were back on familiar territory. In fact, we arrived on the Saturday afternoon, went down to the local park for a walk before tea, and bumped into two different people we knew! It's funny to think that Simon spent the first seven months of his life in Nancy, yet to him it was all new.
We were back in our home church for the two Sundays we were there, and Marc preached on the second of them. We spent most of our time seeing friends or visiting our favourite places. It reminded us that as a family, Nancy is the closest thing we have to a home, and we are very grateful for the opportunity to spend time there. We were also very touched by the warm welcome back we had from the church family.
It was great too to be able to be there for the wedding of our friends Pascal and Hélène – a wonderful day, a beautiful bride and a proud groom!
We also went over to Alsace for a day to visit a family who returned in May from a year in Benin with SIM. We had lots of questions for them, and they were able to advise us about what we need to take with us, and what can easily be bought over there. Their third child was born over there, and I'd already exchanged several emails with Rachel, the mum, about her experience of childbirth at the hospital of Bembéréké.
Simon seems to have taken very well to our nomadic lifestyle, which is an answer to prayer. He enjoys meeting new people, especially babies, and has been very excited about all the new toys he's discovered at different people's houses. It's been interesting to see how attached he's got to some Matchbox-style cars we have borrowed from Marc's parents (which used to belong to Marc and his brothers and sisters). Being worried about having to give them back again, we've been out and bought some similar ones for Simon, hoping that with the change in environment he'll accept the loss of the old ones!
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