*Matthew 4:1-4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." I've been in France for forty days and forty nights and of course I can't imagine having fasted from food this whole time... I also can't imagine having fasted from God's Word that long either. Though there are times in my life that I have chosen to. I want to remember that Jesus told us we shouldn't live on bread alone but on the words that have come from God's mouth. One is as important as the other, if I truly live this way I believe my view on many things will be more aligned with His heart and I'll be able to see things the way He longs for me to.
*Sunday the 29th marked a full month in France! *I was able to attend the baptism of 2 new Christians in the church. ~ Praise!
*On the 30th we went to the immigration/doctor's office to be examined so that we could receive our "carte de sejour" (resident card) so that we can legally live here in France. It was an interesting experience; I'm glad it's over and only needs to happen once :) But all was well and we were approved immediately ~ Praise!
*Also a praise was - my sister Meridith and her husband Jason (& my niece or nephew!) arrived safely in Kenya! They are doing medical missions there for the next 3 or 4 months ~ Please pray for safety, health, and a productive time for them.
*On the 31st I had my first French class! I have a class every Tuesday evening for two and a half hours with one professor and every Thursday evening for two and a half hours with a different professor. There are about 16 other students and they are almost all from different countries! The teacher only speaks French the entire time - I had no idea how I would get anything out of it that way but I do feel like I'm learning, slowly but surely catching on to things. My teacher writes on the board a lot, and repeats everything multiple times, and gives us worksheets, we've been going over the French alphabet etc. There are definitely many moments throughout class that I feel completely lost and hope I'm not missing anything too important! :) Thankfully there are a few other English speakers that I've been able to lean over and ask them about things I'm confused about. I'm also hoping to make friends with my classmates and hopefully share the gospel with them ~ Please pray for me to have opportunities and to be bold.
*On Wednesday (February 1st) I got to attend a dinner at the Pastor's house along with several other missionary families and it was a great time of fellowship - it's encouraging and inspiring to hear about the experiences of people that have been doing foreign missions for many years.
*Friday (the 3rd) I went to a devotional/game night at the church with the college/career aged people! It's a lot of fun and though it's difficult to communicate I enjoy the time spent with them and the more I'm around them the more I get used to hearing words and phrases etc.
*I love snow and I had hoped that I would get to see some this winter! Snow is a rare thing back home in Tennessee and I heard it's pretty rare here in Bordeaux as well. But Sunday morning when I woke up and looked out the window at least 2 inches of snow covered everything - and it was gorgeous!! It was a cold walk to church but I thoroughly enjoyed it! :) I passed at least 3 or 4 snowmen (who unfortunately started melting today).
*That is all for today but I'll write again soon! If you'd like to write me my new mailing address is: 36 Rue Du Relais Res Compostelle G22G
33600 Pessac - France
33600 Pessac - France
Or my e-mail address: singingnanny@juno.com
*Thanks for reading & praying!
In His Hands ~ Rissa
