prayer request

I'd appreciate prayer for my back. Not that it's particularly bad at the moment, but I always have to be careful not to overdo things. Two of the worst things for my back are packing and travelling. And wouldn't you know it, those are two activities that feature highly in our life at the moment! My back is starting to feel the strain, so please do pray that I would be able to be wise about what I do and know when I need to rest it.

Support-raising is going slowly but steadily. The most difficult thing is not knowing whether we'll be leaving for Benin in November or not. So I don't know if I'm having my last month in the UK for a couple of years, or whether we'll be back here for several months over the winter. It's quite unsettling. At the same time, I'm impatient to leave - my last trip to Benin was in 2003, and I've been heading back ever since! But I have just about come round to accepting that God knows best, and that even though this November seems like the ideal time to arrive there (for several reasons), if we aren't able to leave then it will be for reasons that are just as valid.

love and bugs

We have just spent a very happy week with my sister Ruth and her family. They came and stayed at Mum and Dad’s, and Ali took the week off too, so we were all together! That doesn’t happen often, so we wanted to make the most of it. It was the first time I’d seen my nephew, Andrew, since he was about 4 days old – he’s now 17 months and a similar height to Simon.

I was a bit worried that Simon might not want to share his toys with someone else, but the two boys played very happily side by side most of the time. Simon became very attached to his cousin, and whenever he woke would ask for “Andoon”. For the rest of us it was great to have time and space for long chats, shopping trips and walks around the lake!

It was a very sad moment when we had to say goodbye again yesterday, but we try to hang onto the thankfulness that we had the opportunity to spend that time together, rather than dwelling on how much we wish we could spend more time together usually. It is part of the sacrifice of all serving God where we believe He wants us.

A few photos:

"I love my cousin!"

family time

No big news to report - we've been spending time with my parents, keeping Simon busy and starting to get on with support raising.

I had my 20-week scan on Thursday and the baby is growing well and looking healthy. The sonographer was brilliant - not only friendly but also taking the time to point everything out in detail. Even things like the four chambers of the baby's heart, which part of the brain controls movement and so on. It was good to know that the placenta is nice and high up, so no potential problems for delivery.

Later today Ruth (one of my sisters), Rob (my bro-in-law) and Andrew (my nephew) arrive to spend a few days with us. My other sister Ali has taken the week off work too. We are very rarely all together, so this is a real blessing!

Out on a walk at Priory Park:

nancy nostalgia

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!

time out!

Just to say that I will be off-line during our holiday in Nancy, 9th-21st August. Happy holidays, everyone!

baby talk or "le parler bébé"

It is fascinating to hear the way that Simon's language is developing. He picks up words all the time, some in French and some in English. We're pretty sure that he often chooses between the languages according to which word is easier to pronounce. So we have "car" rather than "voiture", but "pain" rather than "bread". But he understands them in both, so his papa can ask him, "Où est le voiture?" and he'll point, saying, "Car!" and I can say, "Simon, would you like some bread?" and he'll say, "Pain!"

I'm also amazed by how much he understands. Sometimes far more than I expect him to. I have a tendancy to think that he pays attention to intonation and guesses the meaning, rather than going by the meaning of all the words. But his reactions can floor me. This morning he had eaten most of his raisins, and was pushing the others around his tray. So I said, "Simon, if you don't want your raisins then Mummy can eat them for you!" and he immediately started picking raisins up and feeding them to me! Ok, he might not have understood more than "... raisins ... Mummy ... eat" but still!

He likes communication in general, and is going through quite a kissy phase. (Well, he is French, so he needs to learn the correct way to greet people!) He will make kissing noises, and hold his cheek out to be kissed ... which is certainly one way to charm people when you are a cute 19-month old! His parents are not so keen on him doing this with complete strangers at the supermarket!

Simon trying out a local slide near his grandparents' in France:

10 things I love about you...

France:

• Family
• Friends
• The bread
• The cheese
• Croissants, escargots (pains aux raisins lorrains), crêpes...
• Tisane réglisse-menthe (mint and licorice infusion)
• The countryside (especially the Pyrenées)
• When it comes to shopping: Kiabi, Yves Rocher (and the fab free gifts), LaRedoute, 3 Suisses...
• French: the language of lurve ;o)
• The way people are so French!

England:

• Family
• Friends
• The bread
• The cheese
• Marmite, crumpets, Bakewell tart, Bath buns...
• A nice cuppa
• The countryside (especially the Lake District)
• Next Baby, Mothercare, JojoMamanBébé (English, honestly!), Argos...
• English: my mother tongue (thanks, Mum!)
• The way people are so English!

I could write a similar list for Benin, but I've never lived there for long, so I don't think I can compare it in the same way! But I believe God has prepared our place there just as He has always done for me whenever I've moved somewhere new.