We had a great Christmas (missed you Rachel!) and ushered the New Year in with a worship tabernacle at church.  It's just been a nice vacation break…so good that I couldn't remember what day of the week it was today…pretty rare for routine guy like me!  We're also particularly thankful for an unexpected gift from our French church that covered the replacement of one of our refrigerators that had just breathed its last.

I think 2012 stands to be an auspicious year if for no other reason than for the elections/regime changes in several countries in the world (I know of at least the States, France and China and of course North Korea that just happened).  Then there are questions about finances, etc.  Times of transition are such key times for the Lord to accomplish much in our hearts and in redemptive history.  May He and His will have complete preeminence!

Last month...er...last year

• Friend in a coma - I really want to thank you all for praying for Tim.  He came out of his coma and came home half-way through December, about a week earlier than expected.  The applause that erupted when he came to church was soooooo sweet!  If you think about him, pray that God would get maximum mileage out of this shaking experience at this crucial age of his life.  God is so good!
• Christmas visitors - Seth (Noah's buddy from the States) has been having a really good and eye-opening visit.  He came laden with some Christmas goodies and will be returning with some fun stuff for his family as well.  We'll cram some more sight-seeing in tomorrow before he leaves Wednesday.
• College application - Seth helped get Noah's application in and now we're waiting to see what the school says, but it's nice to get that out of the way!

This month...

• Christian Education Conference - Technically, it's in February (i.e., I'll be asking again!), but this month is prep time.  Each year there is a Christian Education conference held for French-speaking Christian Schools.  This is virtually the only source of input and encouragement for Christian teachers in France.  The conference is held in different locations each year and this year it's here!  It's been hosted here before, but this year there is a challenge.  We just found out before Christmas break that the venue where it was to be held is NOT, after all, available.    So it's back to the drawing board fairly late in the game to find a venue to host 300 people.  Our church remains a possibility, but that comes with its own challenges, such as ongoing construction (a good thing that it's progressing, but disruptive for hosting a conference).  So, we covet your prayers for discernment about the venue and grace for all the administrative effort needed to prepare for the conference.
• School IT work - After several years of trying, I finally got our internal server switched at school over Christmas break.  Obviously, the real test will be when everyone returns to school this Thursday.  Please pray for a smooth transition and rapid resolution to any problems encountered.
• Marriage ministry - We want to see this happen, but we've got to get some items translated for it to move forward.  We can verify translations, but not being French, we can't initiate them (we'd screw it up too badly - easier for them to work from scratch than to fix our poor translations).  So we really need another French couple to be willing to join the effort and we need French native translators for translating the materials. Please pray for God's people in this effort and God's timing as we continue to dialog with the ministry leaders in California.

Many, many thanks for your prayers,

David