i love paris, i love love.

i will never, never, ever get over the fact that i can hop on a train and, in 3 short hours, be in paris. i have vowed to take advantage of this fact as much as time and finances will possibly allow. i had that privilege this weekend. dominic had encouraged me to get away for a few days as i've been so busy lately, and i knew in my heart it was time for a trip to the best city in the world. highlights include:

**reconnecting with the darling katy, who lived in aix a while back and is now living and working in paris.
**vintage shopping in the marais
**quality time with three of my favorite aix ladies: heather, loni, and rebecca
**hole-in-the-wall vietnamese restaurants where the walls are lined with books, big bowls of noodles are 5 euros and pints of Leffe are 2, and friendships are deepened
**coffee with jeff, my hilarious friend on staff with ca in paris
**the european museum of photography
**listening to the rain pounding on the roof from within the cozy warmth of shakespeare and co.
**enjoying the sunshine in the luxembourg gardens
**conversations of jesus, life, and the church on katy's mini balcony
**one of the most incredible meals i've ever eaten. i highly recommend l'affriolé, a tiny fabulous restaurant in the 7ème, if you're ever in paris

yep. no matter how many times i visit, i'll never, never, ever get over paris.

while having a coffee with jeff, he was telling me a bit about the rhythm of vintage, the ca community in paris. it struck me that, though iccp and vintage have similar dna as they are both a part of the ca family, the rhythm of these two church communities are extremely different. listening to jeff, i realized how much i love the rhythm of life and worship at iccp. we're a community of people in process, and sometimes that looks messy, and we have a lot of growing to do as a church, and we're in transition, and we have ups and downs. but i find myself nothing but thankful that i get to do life with this community where jesus is the center, where grace is received and grace is extended.

as much as i love spending time in paris, this realization made me eager to get on the train sunday morning and head back to aix for iccp's gathering sunday evening. we worshipped together, we prayed together, together we experienced and were overwhelmed by the incredible truth of God's love. the presence of God in our community is beautiful.

i led our community in this song, and i haven't been able to get it out of my head. there's nothing as powerful as the love of our God, who became flesh and dwelt among us.

how about you, my friends? in what ways are you experiencing love and receiving grace in community? i'm praying that you are.


we are his portion and he is our prize
drawn to redemption by the grace in his eyes
if grace is an ocean we're all sinking
so heaven meats earth like a sloppy wet kiss
and my heart burns violently inside of my chest
i don't have time to maintain these regrets
when i think about the way
he loves us, oh how he loves us
oh how he loves us, oh how he loves