With all the earth-shaking events happening in the news this month, I can’t think of a better time to dish out some really good news to our faithful readers!

When your testimony revolves around a healed marriage 15 yrs ago, it’s easy to coast and think, “We’ve got that covered.” We’ve had a couple of boosts since then, but nothing like what happened to us 2 weeks ago. The Richards highly recommended this 5-day version of an 18 week course, started by a couple from Bethel Church 3 yrs ago called Love After Marriage. This is the same church that has fueled our inner healing ministry and whose teachings have transformed our minds and spirits in the last year. So when we found out that a bi-lingual training course was happening over in Germany, we eagerly set aside the week (to celebrate our 25th anniv. + my birthday a little early) and watched the 1100 euros come in to cover all the costs!

The actual course is well-described on their website. Here is OUR testimony from 50 intense hours together:

• I discovered hidden self-rejection that was hindering my ministry and my marriage, got rid of it, and have tools to attack it if it comes back!
• We learned to stop trying to solve relational problems with our minds, which fed arguments and rarely worked. Now we ask the Holy Spirit for revelation instead. Wow – it came in waves that week. We could suddenly see the spiritual roots of our behavior and attacked the evil spirit attached to that sin (often in our family line) instead of each other.
• We learned a method to reconcile with each other to heal important wounds that were 25 years old and that we had given up on ever resolving. Behold, He really can make all things new and it’s even better when it happens in the springtime when creation is doing the same thing!!
• We were asked to write and then read a letter from Jesus to our spouse, with the help of the Holy Spirit. David had me in tears as he recounted how much Jesus loves to dance with me. The bonus was that our 10-hr days of sitting were broken up by learning to dance as a couple to a certain romantic worship song, and by Friday, we were in perfect sync, like I’d always dreamed of!
• We were reminded that our physical intimacy is of high importance to God because it is a declaration of the restoration of being emotionally, physically, and spiritually “naked and unashamed” with each other and with Him through the sacrifice of Jesus. We “nailed to the cross” a list of issues that have kept us from having “a more perfect union” and we have invited the Holy Spirit into our bed to break us out of old patterns and help us walk out the Song of Solomon in deeper ways…

I have heard that the French tend to believe that passion can only exist in a context of adultery, so one of our “ministries” is marital public affection. We are a very visible couple in the church, so our actions give a model for the youth and create hope and desire in the broken marriages around us. Our pastor and school founder is desperate for help in this area, knowing full well that healthier couples mean happier students at our school.

We also know that when we lead worship with deeper love and unity between us, it can only enhance greater intimacy in worship for our church body, and we saw concrete evidence on the Sunday of our return: the husband/father of the little boys that I help care for unplugged his computer recently to focus on writing music. He had also gone through an inner healing session with us about a month ago. His countenance and demeanor have changed drastically and his song that we sang could have been an advertisement for what David and I had just lived! We have been waiting a long time to see the French write their own intimate worship songs from healed hearts (instead of singing translations) and it has happened! And the second time it was played (in the context of our 12 hr. tabernacle) couples started waltzing to it!! It brought tears to my eyes…

This year’s royal wedding in Britain has become a prophetic sign for me – William and Kate decided to wed at the same time that God is restoring us for the second half of our married life! What a wonderful reminder that God is preparing us all for the ultimate royal wedding with King Jesus. The marriage at the end of Revelation takes us back to Genesis: access to the Tree of Life in the garden await us in the new heavens and the new earth, but now the snake is forever trapped in his lake of fire. We will spend eternity naked and unashamed with everyone else who has ever said, “I do” to Jesus while on the earth, but why not join us and start living eternity now ?

Noah and I leave for Phoenix on Saturday. I will miss David like never before…

Love, Angela

Over Christmas, we made a little film of our life here and it includes an abbreviated tour of our house. We are very excited about it and we hope it will give our supporters a better idea of what they are supporting. I used to complain about my house and our inability to make it the home of my dreams, but now I know better. If I bless my house, it will bless me. I also read a book recently by a woman who gets visions of heaven. She reports that we will have the house of our dreams to enjoy for eternity, (and has cool testimonies to back it up,) so I am no longer worked up about where I live for just 30-40 more short years!

But back to our theme, it seems that in the last couple of months, God has been using my house to communicate deeper things with me, and there’s nothing like a secret message to liven up a housewife’s day! Let’s start with the trash…

I have 15 wastebaskets in my house, thanks in part to all the recycling we have to do. Ten years ago, during our time in Germany, this new idea took a huge amount of mental and physical energy. Now it is second nature. In my kitchen alone, I have a trash can for non-recyclables, a pedal bin for biodegradables, and a bag for collecting paper, plastics, and aluminum. Under my stairs, I store the bags until pick-up day and have a bigger bin in which to collect my little cornstarch bags of biodegradables. In another small closet nearby, I collect my glass in a cardboard box and toss regular trash bags into a normal trash bin. But to encourage better recycling and make collection fees more fair, we will be given a new bin next month with an electronic chip. On collection day, it will be weighed and we will be charged accordingly. And what message is coming from all of this?

Well, January has been a quieter month, so I’m taking advantage of it and feeding a lot of good books that are making me hungry for more of God. If I’m serious about pursuing that, I have to look at how I spend my time. Having my trash weighed every week is a good reminder for me to weigh in where my time was wasted. A line from a favorite worship album is my new mantra: “I’m makin’ plans to waste my life on You…” And God seems to be using all the bottles in my house as a visual aid right now. It seems they are all getting empty at the same time: the oils and vinegars in my kitchen, the laundry detergent and softener, my shampoo, my astringent and face cream, the hand soap. Having this many nearly empty bottles make me a little nuts because I need to buy the replacements, but have no convenient storage for them while waiting to finish those last drops. So my house feels cluttered for a few weeks until the switch is made. God has done a lot of work in me in the last year, but compared to what I’m reading in these books, I feel like one of those bottles, and I am restless to get filled up with more of Him.

In stark contrast to the trash cans, I have only 6 windows in my house, and 3 of them need to be replaced. 2 of them are the front windows right on the street, so they let in lots of noise and cold air. The French literally shutter themselves in at night for privacy, but I like to keep the shutters open so that passers by can see the life going on inside. (But in the winter, there is so much condensation that they see nothing! ) So in order to keep out the bad and still be a lighthouse in the neighborhood, I’m allowing window salesmen to come to the house for estimates. This has been very entertaining because they are some of the few non-Christians to darken my door, and I love sharing who we are and how God provides for our needs, just to see their reaction!

Moving on to my cramped cave-like laundry room, I have a top of the line washer and dryer, which I justify, since laundry is one of my ministries here (see the dvd.) Anyway, you might recall that we had a generous Christmas this year. I just wanted to mention that the house, via the washing machine, contributed to that when it stopped working and started blinking at us to check the filter. We dug out $9 in change! None of us keeps loose change in our pockets, so that was a real mystery. That was only 1 of many financial miracles in the last 2 months and God just keeps reinforcing the fact that He will continue to provide for us in a myriad of ways.

And then in my kitchen, I had hung this image taken from a French picture book. The theme was “Don’t worry, be happy!” (and this positive outlook is extremely rare in French children’s literature.) It was a very powerful and prophetic story for Noah and I ten years ago when we were really struggling with his schooling upon arrival in France. So I decided to frame the image and keep it before me until joy was a permanent reality in lives. Well, over Christmas I spontaneously grabbed Noah’s hand and asked him to dance with me while worship music was blaring in the kitchen, and he did! It was then that I knew that God had done a that work in both of us and that it was time to take the picture down. Another thing worth noting is that Noah has outgrown our house this year: There are 3 places where anyone over 5’10” has to duck. David has an automatic sensor, but my son was hitting his skull on a regular basis during his 3 weeks at home. Combined with the positive changes I saw in him over the break, this physical manifestation reassures me that he is ready to move on to “bigger things!”

In the verse, “As for me and my house(hold), we will serve the Lord,” the Hebrew word for “house(hold)” really does include the physical building. The French tend to decorate their homes with impersonal and generic art and decor, but chez nous everything on the walls has a story and testifies of God’s personal touch on our lives. What is your house saying to you and the world?

Love, Angela

I have discovered “faisselle.” I’d seen this product in the dairy aisle, but because I didn’t know what it was and had become intolerant of milk and yogurt, (as well as coffee, tea, and o.j.) I never bought it. Then a friend ordered it at a restaurant and I had a spoonful. It’s a sour cream look-alike in complex packaging, but is actually a cheese. They like to eat it with honey for dessert. So why am I happy? Because honey in “sour cream” is a new taste sensation and I can digest cheeses! The recipe in the packaging recommended dumping it on french toast and sweetening it with maple syrup instead – YUM – Breakfast is fun again!

A YWAM intercession team of 8 came to our living room to pray for us and our house specifically. The timing was perfect because I had just had a rare attack of fear come on me after seeing x-rays of my neck with proof of encroaching arthritis. We kicked fear in the head that day.

Olivia is working at giant fish store for this year’s “sta-ahge,” as she continues to explore career paths the French way. She made an excellent choice since this is the coldest week of the year and the building is naturally heated and humidified by hundreds of fish tanks.

My son’s e-mails have become downright affectionate. As a freshman, he signed off as “Noah.” As a sophomore, he warmed up with “Love, Noah.” But his last e-mail finished with “I love you!” My cup runneth over.

I got to see the Christmas lights along the Champs Elysées with my own eyes in the middle of a rare Parisian snowstorm. We won’t talk about what happens when drivers abandon their cars and descend to join the throngs in the subway. Obviously, I lived to tell about it.

While I was shlepping around Paris, helping to plant the sozo inner healing ministry there, my husband was pulling off a handyman tour de force in my tiny laundry room. He has made Jesus’ words a living reality for me: My (laundry) yoke is now easy and the burden is light!

In preparation for Rachel’s much anticipated Christmas homecoming, I’ve done lots of decluttering and redecorating. Aaaaah!

I volunteered to set-up/decorate tables for the teacher’s Christmas banquet, but I’ll have my creative/tall kids around to help me!

We received a generous gift and a big inheritance check both this month!, so I am not shopping at the Salvation Army this year!

We get to give our family testimony during the church Christmas service with all 5 of us present and wearing new clothes!

Joyeux Noël,

Angela

I know France has gotten a lot of negative press lately, but we feel far removed from it in our little corner. October has been filled with wonderful inner healing sessions twice a week and making sure my cleaning moms are in place and appreciated. David has been actively trying to work less and create more margins in daily life for God to move. Now we are in the middle of our 2-week fall school break and it has been full of Kodak moments! So this month I’m replacing a wordy newsletter with a mini-photo album.

My last surviving grandparent died this month at the age of 100. Rachel represented us well at the funeral. He was a traveling evangelist and pastor and I enjoyed his unconditional love as a child. Here he is at 58 when I was 6 and they kept my brother and I on occasional weekends that usually included a paddle boat ride at the local lake in Valparaiso, IN.
	We also said “Adieu” to a Scottish missionary couple that were in limbo here 8 months until their org. got them a place in Paris. Shona felt like a soulmate and her talented husband found time to help me with some frustrating areas of the house. We blessed them with an open house and considering that our home has zero traffic flow, it worked out that only 1/2 of the 20 invited families came! My typical American fall treats were all new to the French – even the hot apple cider!
Speaking of Scotland, an old friend that we worked with in YWAM Paisley came through one weekend while he was in France for work. He’s also a great handyman and managed to re-do the flooring in our toilet in one day. It has made a huge difference in this space until we can get rid of it, and removed all of my shame!!
	Our eagerly anticipated friends, the Richards, landed this month and are still waiting on phone/Internet 3 weeks later. Here’s a shot of them sucking from our wireless connection. Janet is supporting our inner healing team and Rusty is a creative catalyst and not-too-busy to hang out friend for David. Unfortunately they have to go back in Jan. to apply for a more permanent visa.
Since Halloween/All Saints’ day is a 3-day weekend in Germany and France, it’s the one weekend Noah likes to come home before Christmas. Since we never like his school portrait and he avoids the dorm camera, we did a photo session before we took him back to capture his changing face before he turns 17 in a few weeks!
	This same weekend, our church also had their second annual “Holy Spirit activation” weekend for the kids and they culminated it by doing the entire service on Sunday. It was beautiful. So while the French flock to the cemeteries with chrysanthemums to honor the dead on Nov.1, this is my way of honoring all the everyday saints that are supporting us here in so many ways. Till next month, Angela

I want to dedicate this month’s newsletter to Larry McKim and Laurie Spicer who passed away on the same day earlier this month. Larry and his wife Penny have been our faithful financial supporters from the day of our departure for Europe and hosted the church missions support group for a season. Laurie was a faithful reader who never failed to reply to every newsletter with an encouraging comment, even while battling cancer. We will miss them both.

September is the month when we ask God to help us lay out a new schedule for the school year. Keeping our focus sharp and narrow for the long haul is always a challenge. This year our roles could best be described as the title above, in that we’re cleaning up dirty spaces of all kinds. There isn’t a good translation for "janitor" in French. The dictionary offers "gardien" and "concierge," but those sound like positions with some semblance of authority over the building. (The French words are probably closer to what I’m writing about this month, but "Concierges for Christ" sounds a bit stuffy.)

This summer I saw a real jump in my joy, energy, and intimacy with God, so I was ready to give more at school this year, but I didn’t know where. Then two hours before Back-To-School night, I learned that the woman who had organized all the school cleaning for the last couple of years had quit. Keeping in mind that we have no school janitor, I quickly came up with a simpler way to organize the parent volunteers, because it looked like this task would fall on me. (The director had called me the day before asking for help without knowing the ball had been dropped completely.) Knowing that this meeting is the only time we have most of the parents all in one room, I knew that an enthusiastic American pep talk was key to getting parents on board and jump-starting a cleaning schedule. So David blessed my Martha anointing from his sick bed, and I dashed off to the meeting, unable to get ahold of the director to warn him of my rash decision. Based on the applause following my 3-minute speech, I think I made an impact and at least everyone knows who I am now! With the blessing of the directors and Jesus making the yoke light, I’m having fun creating attractive correspondence and posters (+ making sure that each area is well-stocked with supplies) to make it feel more like teamwork than indentured servanthood. The humbling part is that everything I write has to be proofread by a French person! Out of 75 families, 22 serve the school in alternate ways and 17 are unavailable (so they opt to pay a $200 fee instead.) This leaves me with 36 moms to organize, 16 of whom have still made no commitment 2 weeks later. I don’t know if that’s an improvement or not, but Jesus has it under control!

By continuing in our role as worship leaders, we are still cleaning up the spiritual atmosphere of the country. Most of time we’re breaking out in a sweat while we do it on Sunday mornings, which means our job must not be done, and I sweat just as much while I continue to do the monthly cleaning of our physical sanctuary! Our church body also seems to be in a season of bringing the dirt into the light. It is considered taboo to interfere in private family life here and attending courses for help is an admission of failure, so they suffer in silence until it is too late. Because several quiet families have suddenly imploded in dramatic ways in the last few months, the elders are eager to start the inner healing ministry next month. We’re seeing the spirit of death trying to invade our school families too, and hope to use our tools to clean out that domain as well!

David is continuing in his IT role at school. His current conundrum is that when he turns on an internet content filter for the student computers, it disrupts the wireless connection in the chateau that is vital for the profs and residents, who all use laptops. The enemy is obviously involved in that mess and David is still trying to find the most efficient product to deal with it. On that note, I volunteered to keep the computer room floor swept so that I could intercede at the same time, joining David in taking spiritual authority over this corner of the chateau. We also continue to enjoy well-timed extra pocket money earned by cleaning out dirty PCs for reasonable rates.

Olivia has also jumped in on the cleaning frenzy at many levels: from new levels of personal hygiene habits to replacing facebook time with God time. We’ve also removed the stress of music school this year and bathe in listening to her play and sing worship songs in the evenings instead. We are hosting her classmate Pauline 2 nights/week again this year and hope to have a greater impact on her life. After a year, she’s suddenly gotten a breakthrough in understanding us during casual conversation and we hope this is a prophetic sign for more in other areas of her life!

With new teammates arriving this year, our cleaning power will be even more effective – so stay tuned for the results!

Love, Angela Joy

Olivia is head-over-heels in love with Tim Burton’s latest film Alice in Wonderland. She’s seen it in English and in French in the theater and David and I finally watched it with her, albeit on a small screen, this weekend. Considering what Olivia is living right now, I completely understand her reaction. And I’m compelled to fill all of you in, especially now that she has starred in a film of her own!

In case you haven’t seen it or read the books, the film is a combination of both books about Alice by Lewis Carroll, but with more of an actual plot than the original stories. I’d call it an improvement, but then I’m not a big fan of fantasy literature. In this movie still, you see Alice, looking more like Joan of Arc, facing her greatest fear. If I think of Olivia and take this image further, I see the White Queen resembling the Holy Spirit and the Mad Hatter as Jesus, standing with her. (Great spiritual armor too!)
And that pretty much sums up Olivia’s last few months as an 8th grader. Up until now, she’s been enjoying her role as the baby of the family and it was easy to treat her that way. But this spring, the French school system demanded that she stare adulthood in the face. Dealing with one fear after another in quick succession has been exhausting and exhilarating, but God made sure she had a real spiritual breakthrough with Him in order to get through it all in one piece!

The first hurdle was a test of her piano-playing called “Fin du Premier Cycle” that is taken after achieving a certain level on your instrument. After 6 years of study, this was the first time her playing had ever been judged, so you can imagine the stress. She received the equivalent of a “B” and I would call that a fair assessment, considering how much she’s struggled this year with her teacher and her classical pieces. Her final recital was last week and it was a beautiful performance, closing this chapter of her training. From here on out, her focus will be improvisational worship-leading, which she has already gotten a taste of in the context of our monthly tabernacles. Have a peek here!

The next hurdle was “The Stage” (pronounced with a French “ah.”) This is when all the 14-16 yr. olds in France must descend on businesses who agree to let them observe the workplace for 3 days. They are taught to write a formal letter of inquiry to 5 businesses of interest and await a positive response. The stress started when all of Olivia’s contacts refused her request (and her self-esteem took a dive when all her other friends got several affirmative replies!) This meant we had to start cold-calling at the last minute, and frankly, calling a French stranger on the phone makes all 3 of us quiver in our boots. But God had mercy on us – Olivia reluctantly agreed to consider the local Christian radio station since she knew a classmate had gotten accepted by them but ended up choosing another option instead. I had a friend who did translation for the director of the station and she gave us his personal e-mail. So in the nick of time, Olivia was taken on, and it turned out to be a dream internship, where she was showered with attention by the employees and learned all the secrets of radio. She has to do this again next year, but now she’s looking forward to it!

Now about her screen debut: Our school decided to enter a Christian short-film festival this spring that had to be based on the 10 commandments. The script was conceived by the 8-10 yr olds and Olivia’s classmates were the primary actors. The theme was “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me,” illustrated through the parable of the banquet in Luke 14:15-20, and they needed to cast a rich man and his wife. Apparently, all the girls were extremely reluctant to be seen on screen as the wife of a boy in their class, except for Olivia. The film won third place – the “love at first sight” award by the judges, partly because this was the only one of the top 12 finalists that was done by students! They spent 3 days shooting for an 8 min. film and happily, the only French is the introduction of the story in the first minute, so read the parable, be prepared to put it in a modern day context and and enjoy a taste of our school and local surroundings!

Her final hurdle will happen this summer when she flies to America without us. Our friend Alana (Olivia’s activities also get good press on her blog) will accompany her almost to Indianapolis, and then she will take a direct flight home alone from Chicago one month later. As if that is not scary enough, she will also travel to Kansas City during that time to attend a 2-week camp where she won’t know a single soul. Of course, time with her sister after 18 months apart and with grandparents after 4-6 yrs apart will be a fabulous recompense for conquering the fear of a month’s separation and international travel. (I just wish I could surgically attach her passport to her body for safe-keeping!) Prayers on her behalf during the month of July would be much appreciated!

In summary, I think this quote from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland sums up Olivia’s life quite nicely right now:

“…so many out-of-the-way things had happened lately, that Alice had begun to think that very few things indeed were really impossible.”

Love from a proud mama,

Angela

PS: My trip to Paris was wonderful in every way and the escape I needed!!

Reading back through old newsletters, I realize that I have never mentioned that April has been a real spiritual mile marker for me over the years. God had me on his calendar again this year, and here’s a little history to prove it: (Good thing I took some notes – my memory isn’t that great!)

My parents married in April 50 years ago. (I arrived in March 2 years later, and spring has always been my favorite season.) My first (prophetic) French contact and oldest friend was born in April, 2 weeks after my birth. David proposed to me in April 1986. We dedicated Noah to the Lord with a celebration on Easter 1994. I took my first solitary spiritual retreat as a burnt-out mother of 3 young children in April, 3 years later. I cried all the way through a book called “Experiencing God with Your Children.” I just picked it up again in April, 14 yrs later, and started crying all over again as I process the emotions of letting go of Noah during this adolescent season of “breaking free.” We received our “call to France” in April 1998. We packed up for our 4 month YWAM school in Germany the following April. In April 2000, we sent out our first support cards for our move to Scotland. In April 2001, I got away to France for a women’s conference, birthday celebrations with my French friend, and then met David for a memorable romantic weekend in Paris (celebrating the 15th anniversary of our engagement.) We also started the marriage ministry at our church in Scotland when we got back! The following April, we made the decision to attend language school in the fall. I got my French driver’s license in April 2005 without a test, a fee, or an expiration date – one of my favorite miracles! In April 2006, I gave my first teaching in French to the women at our church. Last April, I got a long detailed prophecy from a French prophet who knows nothing about me, and have been watching it unfold before my very eyes since then!

Are you convinced yet? Has anyone else seen a pattern like this in their life or is it just me?

Last month, I gave out enormously in every domain: substitute teaching at school, strangers hosted every weekend, trying not to over-parent Noah home for spring break, and overtime babysitting for the pregnant mama living on the 4th floor during the days surrounding her delivery. (He was due on my birthday, but stayed put another 4 days!) It continued into April with a big Easter and David playing worship the following week at a nearby camp, while I spent my mornings with one of Olivia’s classmates. (He’s got a learning disability that the French won’t diagnose and book reports have been a nightmare for the family. So he and I digested an easier book together and regurgitated a book report while his mom was at work, saving her sanity.)

Let’s all sing together now, shall we? “Fill my cup, Lord, I lift it up, Lord…”

What kept me from total meltdown was knowing that it was APRIL and I knew God had me penciled in. David, Olivia and I were booked for a 3+ day conference with Bill Johnson (pastor of Bethel Church) at a church in Germany, 2.5 hrs away. We had been feeding on his books and Sunday morning teachings on the Internet all year, and we were eager for the anointing of a live experience. And we were so grateful that he was coming to us. Neither David nor I can fathom surviving air travel from the east side of France to the west side of America. Isn’t that almost half way around the globe?? But by the end of the conference, we felt like we had done just that!

I don’t know if you remember the details of my trip to England last fall, but it was so bad that I compared it to being a D-day soldier. I’d venture to say that this trip was just as tough. I know God would not call our family to Europe and then make travel an impossibility, so I must conclude that the enemy is trying to make us believe that this is the truth. What he doesn’t realize is that I will NOT stay trapped in my dark little house and miss what God has for me through the nations at my doorstep! I know that God uses me to bless my family and others with my home, but MY needs are not met until I lock up all the daily demands with my house key and walk away rolling a suitcase behind me.

Back to the trip. I justified plagiarizing St.Luke’s book title because though we didn’t have to endure shipwrecks and beatings, we did have to deal gracefully with volcanic fallout and constant combinations of weakness, colds, and migraines. We David also made the round trip twice. This was because the conference ran from Sat. night to Tues. night, and Olivia decided school would be more fun than hanging out at an adult conference with a sick, grouchy mother and a tired dad. We couldn’t blame her. The big name worship leader couldn’t fly in from Ireland and Bill was delayed, driving instead of flying from Norway! So we drove home Sunday night and drove back Monday morning, after a refreshing night’s sleep, glory to God. Though physical struggles continued, we hung on every word during the teachings, enjoyed a few meals in outdoor cafes with old and new friends, and I got a breakthrough I needed after Bill’s impartation by laying on of hands to every one in attendance. Another big blessing/healing for me was the German’s embrace of English. (I have issues about German because everyone in the family has studied it except me, so I feel like the village idiot whenever we visit!) They worship with just as much energy in English as they do in German and everyone speaks enough to get by. Have I mentioned that this is not the case in France? And because our hotel owner spoke so well, we were able to pray with her when we checked out. She was very receptive, as a fully booked week had just gotten canceled because of the volcanic activity. What a privilege to be able to take what you have received and give it back out to a hurting world…

As soon as we got back, the demands clamored for my attention: I got calls to do more substitute teaching, to host visiting students from Holland, and to help out my 4th floor family, who were all sick as well. And I said “NO” to all of them. (But I did attend a prophetic art seminar on Sat. and worked through those pesky mother/son issues with pastels and mixed media. Aaaaah…) Now I’m looking forward to a week to recover and reflect on all I’ve received before I hop on a train next Friday and escape for some “Paris in the Spring” tonic with girlfriends during the France en Feu conference. Will the devil give up and leave me alone this time? You’ll just have to stay tuned to find out!

Love, Angela

I felt strongly that God wanted me to set aside Feb. for Him – Call it an early Lent. I had already started fasting all sweets in January and the church asked us to fast in some way during Feb., so I continued and David fasted solid food on Mondays. Thanks to a book called Listening Prayer, I also discovered the pleasures of journaling at last, really enriching my time. With a 2-week school vacation this month, demands were light, making it easy to spend most mornings in my “new” leather recliner, tasting the joys of being filled up with God on a daily basis. Even though I had an amazing grace for the fast, I was slightly disappointed that it didn’t alleviate a few migraines, nor did I lose a single pound, though it did break my snacking habit! February ended up being the calm before the storm, as now I’m deep into a month chock full of hospitality, accompanied by loud construction in the courtyard that jars my “quiet time.”

The church had also planned an extended tabernacle on Feb 27th from 11 a.m.-11 p.m. that coincided with Purim and ended our fasts. David and I were among the handful of people that attended the entire 12 hours. This is still part of our vision here, so we gave it our all. It was miraculous that I was able to prepare all week and still have energy to participate fully – Another benefit of my fast? While I did most of the work ahead of time to transform the church in the visible realm, David was sweating it out as it happened, making sure the invisible ran smoothly in the technical and sound areas. When we were down to our last musical group change, he was finally able to step down and accompany on the drum set, worshiping with the last bit of strength he had left. So what does a 12 hr.”sacrifice of praise” look like? Here’s a handy step-by-step illustrated guide:

How to prepare yourself for a 12 hour Purim event: Move closer to God the month before and fast something that your flesh clamors for. Volunteer to create corners in the sanctuary where participants can enter into the story of Esther and interact with the Trinity in a personal way to break up the corporate worship time. Lose sleep the week before while creative ideas flood your mind. Meet with a small team and get it into order. Deep clean the church, move out all furniture except 60 chairs, and build corners while only spending $30. Make 6 dozen homemade traditional Purim cookies. Create worksheets for the children to get all age levels engaged in the theme. How to worship God for 12 hours straight: Get your adrenaline up by being greeted by the accolades of others for all your work. Lead the first 90 min. of worship. Try out your corners and find out that God’s presence is there, even for you! Draw a picture in the art corner and give it to someone you don’t know. Enjoy worshiping as a participant with a French Christian recording artist. Keep incense burning at the entry and refill wine and food at the banquet table. Film your youngest daughter fulfilling her destiny and leading worship! Project words for German worship team with the help of someone who actually speaks the language. Take daughter home midway through the day and stop by the local sandwich shop to refuel. Bring back a sandwich for David and eat yours in the nursery while checking on the worksheet supply and playing with your favorite kids. Repeat #4 and receive more accolades from late comers. Worship with corporate movement while the older youth team leads. When families show up for the 7-9 pm service slot, gather the children up front with shakers for the traditional reading of the Megillah (Jewish story of Esther, punctuated by making lots of noise when Haman’s name is mentioned.) Take photos. Enjoy the sermon on the deeper truths of Esther. Teach your favorite 3 yr old how to draw a face at the art table. Start policing older children whose parents aren’t, to protect the ambiance. (They can’t resist running/skidding on the laminate floors across the front of the sanctuary during our exuberant worship times, and I seem to be the only one who notices when it gets out of hand.) Breathe a sigh of relief when the families head home at 9:30. Celebrate the end with dancing until you can’t stand up anymore. Put the cutest face drawing in the world on your refrigerator. Welcome your first guest into your home the next evening – a German angel who stayed 5 days… Still praying for spring! Love, Angela