Day 1

So I've survived the first day. The day started out slowly. I got up at roughly 9 and everyone had already left. I had expected the eldest to be home since school started late for him. Anyway I was alone in the house for a while before P and T got home. We dropped T off at school and P showed me around a bit before getting back home. I was mostly just sitting down not doing much while I waited for P to get her stuff done before I drove her to the bus. The car being British didn't really help with the stress of driving a car you aren't used to and not quite knowing where you were or where you were going. It sounds a lot more dramatic than it really was.

After navigating my way back home I had a few minutes to spare before picking up O from school. Since it was close and I wasn't completely sure about where it was I decided to walk instead of taking the car. I reckoned it would be easier to get a hold of the area by foot. I picked her up from school and we walked home.

Later on a neighbour came over and left her boy here while she went off to pick up her daughter. I got to practice some of my French even though some of the conversation went in English. She wasn't gone for too long before she came back to get her son. We talked some more so I got to practice a bit more and the rest of the chaps turned up. I've spoken with them a bit trying to get to know them a bit. We got to messing around a bit which was nice. Everything loosened up after that. The chaps are great, at least they haven't killed me yet. Then another neighbours daughters came over for a short while and then P came back home.

P made supper and we got to talk a bit and get to know each other a bit better. We ate and sent the chaps to bed. P is a very nice person. It seems like we're going to get on well. I've only been here one day and I already feel relaxed with the family.

The Arrival

Here I am. I survived the trip. P picked us up and we dropped Hannah off close to where she'll be staying and off we went home. Tomorrow I suppose I'll get a little tour so I'll become familiar with the area.

A leap of faith

Today is the big day. I'm moving to Paris, or one of it's suburbs to be precise. I don't really know what to expect. Now we're going to put my French to the test. You'd think I'd be more excited about it but right now I'm fairly neutral. I suppose it will come later when I'm actually there, surrounded by French people. 

I remember sitting outside on one of the nice summedays thinking about moving to Paris. At that point I was still a bit unsure about going there. I suppose I was a bit worried that the only reason I was going was because of Hannah. After some soul searching and prayers I came to the conclusion that it was more than that. The fact that Hannah will be there is only a bonus. But if I was meant to go, why didn't I already have a place to stay and something to do? September was closing in and I still didn't know what I would do there. 

Later I spoke with Hannah and she said "What if you just buy the plane ticket and trust that God will fix everything? Wouldn't that be a big leap of faith?". I had been thinking something similar myself while I had been out. 

Not long after that I went to a youth weekend. While I sat there I felt compelled. I just knew that I needed to speak with a specific person. I sat waiting for the person to sit down. After running back and forth this person comes and sits down beside me and feels that they need to pray for me. Anyway we talk for a bit and one thing that this person says is "Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith and trust that God will take care of you". From that moment on I simply knew that Paris was my next stop. 

A long time passed and at the end of august I still didn't know what was happening. I remember talking to M and discussing my stay in Paris. I felt called to Paris but I still didn't know what I was going to do there. I told him how frustrating it was that it was getting so close without me knowing. "I have no problem trusting God will take care of everything, but does he have to wait so long to do it?" The next day everything fell into place. I know what I'll be doing. Even thought it was scary at times thinking about the future it still paid off to persevere.