Back from the Netherlands. Or, Home is where my guitar is.

my two week sejour in the netherlands is over and i am safely home in aix en provence. it was truly a wonderful time. hopefully i'll post some pictures soon. or even a photo essay, perchance?

the best part of the field orientation, hands down, was the daily "soul care" sessions with hud. (even better than sprinkles for breakfast, you ask? yes, i reply, even better! wisdom from hud is like heavenly sprinkles for the soul). hud is the psychologist/pastor on staff with christian associates, and each morning at fo he led us in thinking through what it means to truly develop in a relationship with Christ, peeling back all the layers of the soul and going deep, that we may be transformed. i think i get so much from hud because he is all about bringing together psychology and spirituality (my two favorite things!) in order that a person may find wholeness and experience the freedom that Christ as for each of us. hud shared a lot of really fascinating and important things with us, and i'd really like to post some of it here eventually, along with some things i've been processing.

fo1 and fo2 were both really wonderful experiences. i am so thankful that my organization values the spiritual health and personal development of it's staff above all else. even though there was a large amount of (great) input and it was emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually intense, fo was such a peaceful and refreshing time spent with my church planting brothers and sisters.

i returned to france (complete with suitcase, this time) late friday night, and proceeded to jump right back into life here. one day later i threw a bridal shower for my darling flatmate hilary, who will wed my wonderful teammate dominic in less than 2 weeks! the shower kicked off the whole two weeks of wedding festivities. i also have a couple things coming up soon that i'm over-the-top excited about (i'll just leave you in suspense for now...) so i'll be pretty busy for the next couple weeks. but it's the very best kind of busy.