I can't eat french fries with my left hand...

Oh France. Everything here is just... different. One thing I can't wait for is internet at our own apartment. I am currently eating and using the free Wifi at the one and the only McDonalds.

Last weekend, we were doing some Craigslisting and we found a stove top and a washing machine. [You see, in Europe, most houses and apartments come with bare bones. No lights, no oven, stove, washing machine, sink, counter, fridge, etc.]. First, we bought our stove top - I bartered the price thanks to my Negotiation class at Grand Valley. When we left the first stop, I took this picture of my roommate Beth:

The second stop to buy the washing machine was met with a crazy Californian lady who lives in France. Seriously, she was crazy! She wanted us to come pick her up because she didn't live where the washing machine? We couldn't because our car was full. Anyways, she ended up making us wait 1.5 hours to meet us, then decided, before we even went inside to actually see the machine, that she did not want to sell it to us. Waste of time! So, if you think about it, please pray that we find a washing machine, oven and freezer.

During the week, it was our first week at the office doing our own thing. I was helping out in the communication center. It is so crazy all they do there! We were responding to emails from people who have questions about faith, editing reports and addressing envelopes for a mailing to some North African countries. It was really cool to be on this side of the communication - office verse field work.

Later this week, we had doctor appointments so we can be cleared to live in France. Only as simple as that sounds, it was more difficult than it had to be. For this specific type of appointment, we had to buy 340 Euros worth of STAMPS. Stamps. Why would they need stamps? And these stamps you can't just buy anywhere...

... you would think that you could buy them at the post office, the grocery store or even a convent store? The latter is true, but everything in France closes from 12-2 for lunch, which made it impossible to find and buy them. Fortunately God is bigger than all of that and we made it to our appointment on time, all got cleared by the doctors, and got our French licenses -- we even got to keep our x-rays!

I do look forward to this coming week. I will be starting more into my role in the office and start projects of my own to help the staff on the field. One thing I have already done is designing a logo for the National Directors conference in November. Here is the final product:

I took the original picture on Spring Break 2010 in Jacksonville, Florida [shout out to Kaitlyn Farley, Drew Schafer, Ryan King and Brian Early!] The theme of this year comes from Psalm 66:5 which says "Come and see what God has done, how awesome His works in man's behalf!"

More to come very soon!

Let it shine...

A week-ish in...

You would think that after a week we would be settled in to our new lives. Fact is, everything in France takes twice as long! After 6 days, Beth, Chelsea and I have officially moved into our apartment, but we have not had time to unpack. Living out of a suite case is annoying, and I am very ready to unpack and finish setting up the apartment!

I have had time to get some groceries, each purchase including some chocolate!

It is my addiction. Dark is best.

We also spent a lot of time spent a lot of time at IKEA - like 7 hours. What the moses? We did get a lot done, but I was wiped outtt....

This past Sunday, we finally made it to Paris! We hit up all the major tourist sites:

As a team, we are currently in Belgium for vision casting, team bonding and strategizing the next year. I am excited for all that we get to be apart of in the operations aspect! We have office orientation next week, which includes meeting national directors, national day of prayer for CCC staff, and job placement [which I am most excited for because I will finally know what I am doing!]

This coming Saturday, we are going back to Paris for a bike auction! Not sure what to expect about this specific event, but I love to negotiate! I am very excited about buying a bike for various reasons: because everyone, EVERYONE, rides bikes, its a great means for transportation, and I personally have not owned a bike since about 10th grade - long story short: it fell off our car on a trip, and I haven't bought another since.

Some prayer request:

- Continued team bonding - they are all great! [and I don't have to say that because they follow this blog :) ]

- Time in the word

- Maintaining an eternal perspective while here on STINT

Love you all!

Hannah

p.s. If you'd like to be added to my email list, just leave a comment with your info!

p.s.s. All photos are taken by me :)

Welcome to France

Phew... it has been a crazy 2 days....

Because I am still very tired and still plagued with jetleg, I will list off the various events that have taken place since arriving to France:

Arrival, luggage, waiting 2 hours to be picked up, lots of driving around, seeing our new apartment!, my first croissant and crepe, sleeping 13 hours and still tired, car accident [other guys fault, we and our car are alright, he was hurt and his car is pry totaled], dealing with the French police - who are very friendly and helpful!

[side story: Beth, Chelsea and I were sitting in our car while Eric and Nalani talked with some of the police [there were about 9 present!] when one of them came up to our car to see if we were okay. He said something in French, to which we replied "Je...uhhh..um... je no....." He understood and responded "No boo-boo?" Fortunately, we were all okay and replied "Non" with thumbs up. Haha!! It was so funny!]

2.5 hours setting up back accounts, hauling a couch through Evry France via Life Agape [CCC] van, and finally painting my nails while watching the season opener of Glee.

Now for sleep. Much needed sleep.

This is my team! From right to left: Chelsea, Me, Beth, Nalani and Eric. They are a great bunch!

A Piece of Peace

Tonight, I sit outside at one of my favorite childhood memories... camp Maranatha. There are a lot of things on my mind...

First, the fact that I leave in 20 some days for France for a year!
Second, how awesome this weather is... 72, light winds, chirping crickets, and to top it off, a beautiful sunset.
Third, how long but full this summer has been with all of life events...
Fourth, that BOTH of my little brothers are no longer "little".
And fifth, the true peace that can only come from One source.

It is all too easy to get your panties in a bunch when something goes wrong, stresses you out, or irritates you. I think having peace is a choice. Choosing to trust, to relax and to make the most of the situation.

Many times, usually when I am lacking sleep, tired of thinking through the situations of life, I actually find my mind wandering. Seemingly an oxymoron, I know. I can't seem to shut my brain off. There are plenty of tasks to accomplish: people to call, emails to send, chores to do - I literally have to write a list down before I go to bed, just to ease my mind.

Recently, I have noticed times where I felt this sense of peace - trust. How to get there? SURRENDER. Surrender the situation, the emotion, the effects, the people. This summer, among other things, my mind has been busy thinking of support raising tasks, wondering how and where the support will come from, who to call, what to say,, and now I only have 24 days to raise the rest of my support (25%)!

Yet, I have this peace knowing my Provider will prevail. Hearts will be moved to the reality of the eternal impact of what I get to be apart of this upcoming year. Lives will be impacted for eternity.

So my friends, I encourage you to make the choice for peace, trusting He will guide, direct, and give of His abundant wisdom.

4th of July

This 4th of July I spend with friends camping! It was nice to get away from the busyness of life and just relax . Since we did not bring fireworks and could not find anyone who was shooting them off, we just played with sparklers. If you can tell in the picture, I actually drew out my name with the sparkler -- the camera was on a long shutter speed so it captured every way I moved my sparkler! So cool!

Needless to say the trip was a ton of fun and truely enjoyable. As we sat around the campfire, roasting marshmellows, we all started talking about the unfathonable greatness and largness of God. [These are 3 of my favorite things to do ever!] He is everywhere at every moment in time! Our minds were going a little crazy because we couldn't fit that into our brians.

It is like trying to put God in a box. You can't.

It is sort of a humbling to remember that our minds can't contain His wholeness. It is also comforting knowing He is EVERYWHERE. Keeping this in mind, I know God will be keeping me safe as I travel this upcoming year. I know cause He's already there with me. Bah! God is bigger, and I can't even try to imagine just how big. Plain and simple.

So why is it so hard for me to trust Him sometimes? He will always pull through for exactly what is best for me. I think it will be a continual lesson of laying my pride aside and being patient for whatever He has instore for my life. That is a prayer request for sure.