shaneandjoy.com

Blast from the Past

noreply@blogger.com (The Davisons) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:25:00 +0000

Let's not talk about how long it has been since I have posted something on here. Shall we?

Great! My feelings exactly. Forgive and forget. ;-)

This summer Joy and I had the privilege again of helping out down in Marseille with the Port Project. Hopefully you remember what the project is all about. The project offers the Word and other Literature about Him to the many, many travelers that take the giant ferry boats South across the Mediterranean Sea into North Africa every summer. This summer was another great success as several thousands accepted this Book that could very possibly change their lives forever.

While working the project this summer, I had a huge surprise that came out of nowhere. I was in the distribution center, where we package up all of the material, welcoming a new group of volunteers for that week. In this group there was a young college age girl that looked very familiar to me, but I could not put my finger on who she was or how I would know her.

After I was done telling everyone about the ins and outs of what we do at the distribution center, she came up to me and said, "Do you remember me Mr. Davison?" As soon as I heard her voice, I knew exactly who she was. I called her name (Jenn) and said, "What in the world are you doing here?"

Jenn was one of my students in Ivory Coast, West Africa, when I taught music at a boarding school in Bouaké from 2000-2002. The last time that I saw her she was in 8th grade singing in my middle school choir. Now she is a senior at the University of Arizona. Can you believe that? Talk about a blast from the past. Joy was also her teacher. In 2002, from January to May, Joy was in Bouaké doing student teaching for her Education Degree. I think Jenn was in her 8th grade English class.

Jenn spent 3 weeks working the Port Project this summer. She grew up around ministry in West Africa. Her French is excellent, and she was able to have a lot of meaningful conversations with people as she was offering them the Word. It was so great to see her still making ministering to others and sharing the Good News a priority in her life. We were proud of her, and we told everyone that we knew Jenn "way back when".

I wish I had a picture of her to share with you. All of my photos from Ivory Coast are in albums in storage back in the States. That was before I went "digital". And I am sorry to say that we did not get a photo of her from this summer either. We just don't take a lot of photos of people offering packets to travelers down at the port. That would be culturally uncouth. ;-)

NC in the House

noreply@blogger.com (The Davisons) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 20:56:00 +0000

At the beginning of this week we had some house guests from North Carolina. These three ladies were part of a team that visited us here in Aix to see what we have been up to and learn about the work we are doing here. There were 9 people on the team in total, with 7 students and 2 adults. We had a great time hanging out with them. We showed them the ropes here in Aix. They learned a lot about culture and life here in France. They participated in some "cultural challenges" that included learning French vocabulary, the cost of living overseas, and navigating the streets of Marseille. The three team members that stayed with us even joined us one morning for our Beginner English class. Our class members were wowed by their accents. ;-) It was a real blessing having these guys with us, but their time here was too short. They were only here for five days before having to head up North to visit our friends and colleagues near the city of Nantes.

Chawarmas and the Origin of Man

noreply@blogger.com (The Davisons) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:18:00 +0000

Today I was sitting at my favorite chawarma shop having a chawarma. I don't really remember how the subject came up, but one of the guys that works there said, "I watched a program on TV last night that said that the first man on earth was from Africa. I think that is true." He asked me what I thought.

Now I am no theologian nor am I an expert in Geography, but I believe the first man on earth was Adam and that his first steps were taken somewhere in the region that we today call the Middle East. Now the location is somewhat disputable. I can probably reference 12 different books with 12 different opinions on the matter for you to look at with the touch of a button. I think "somewhere" in the Middle East is a pretty safe assumption, and although that is close to the continent of Africa, it is not in Africa.

So, I said, "I disagree." He retorted, "No it's true. I saw it on the television." I, of course, asked, "Do you believe everything you see on televison?" That brought a laugh out of the other guy that works there. The laughing guy is actually the owner of the shop. Anyway, the conversation continued further, and we ended up talking a bit about spiritual things and some other stories from the Bible before more customers came in. Who knew chawarma's would make for such interesting conversation?

I am going back tomorrow to tutor the shop owner in English. Who knows? Maybe the conversation from today will continue.

Spring is on the way

noreply@blogger.com (The Davisons) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:13:00 +0000

In our back yard is this beautiful almond tree. It has just bloomed in the last couple of weeks. It doesn't stay like this for very long though. Over the next couple of weeks our back yard will be covered with these white petals. Then, by the end of March it will basically be just bare limbs again. Along with these blooms also comes the gentle, but very noticeable, hum of bumble-bees. They usually keep to themselves. Although they sometimes get confused and begin ramming themselves repeatedly into our closed windows. I don't mind it though. It means that Spring is just around the corner. Now don't get me wrong, I love winter, especially when it snows, but I am tired of being cold. I am ready for a little warmth.

Flowers for Joy

noreply@blogger.com (The Davisons) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:39:00 +0000

For Valentines Day I, of course, bought Joy flowers. Not just fancy flowers in a vase, but also some flowers to plant outside. We picked them out and bought them on Feb. 13th with plans to plant them on the 14th, Valentines Day. However, it was too cold on the 14th, about 45 degrees if I remember correctly, so we had to put it off for a few days. By the end of the week it had warmed up enough to brave the planting process outdoors. Now, Joy nor I either one really have a green thumb, but Joy likes flowers so we usually try to do a little something to brighten up the outdoors.

So far everything seems to be thriving. It has only been a couple of weeks, but our pots and flower boxes are looking good. Plus, actually having flowers in the boxes seems to keep the neighborhood cats from using them as a litter box!

We will keep you updated on the flower situation as it "grows".

Pun intended. ;-)

noreply@blogger.com (The Davisons) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:43:00 +0000

On Sunday night I led the worship during the service. It has been a long time since I have done that. It was great. Well, I think it was great. ;-) Regardless of what others say, it felt great. The Lord really met with us there for the entire service. I went a little old school for the most part and did some of my favorites. Well, some of my favorites that went along with the message. Let me put it like that. We did Shout to the North, oldie but goodie. We did Chris Tomlin's Kindness, one of my absolute faves. We did Your Love oh Lord. You can't go wrong with a little Third Day in the mix. We also did, Grace Flows Down and Amazing Grace/My Chains are Gone to finish out the night. Good times. I have to give a shout out to my good friend Hilary, who joined me. It was a good night.

Jean Battini

noreply@blogger.com (The Davisons) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:33:00 +0000

We met Jean a little over 2 years ago, and we instantly fell in love with him. He always had a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye. He was 92 years old when we met him. He usually needed someone to help him get around, but he was always full of life. The love of God just flowed out of him. When I would greet him and ask him how he was doing the response was often the same. "The Lord has given me another day. I'm doing great!"

Jean passed away this last week. He would have been 95 next month. It's a sad time. He will be greatly missed, but it is also a happy time because we know that he is heaven rejoicing and worshipping at the feet of his Savior and King. Jean Battini lived his life for Jesus Christ, and anyone who had ever spent 5 minutes with him knew that fact.

Jean knew about our work here in France, and he was always encouraging us in our efforts to reach North Africans. Almost every time I spoke with him, he would ask, "What are you doing this week to reach my North African countrymen?" You see, Jean was born in Algeria, so this subject was very close to his heart. In fact, he would often tell me, "You reach the Algerians first and they will help you tell the others." Actually, there is some truth to that. There is an unbelievable movement occuring among a certain people group in that country.

I will miss Jean, his smile, and encouraging words. But we will meet again one day, and I hope there will be plenty of his "countrymen" there to meet him too.

People is not a newspaper.

noreply@blogger.com (The Davisons) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 16:35:00 +0000

Last week in English class the students had to write sentences about things that they usually do during the week. For instance, On Fridays I have a chawarma for lunch. Now that is just an example. It is not true. I try to have a chawarma two or three times a week. ;-)

Well, one lady shared the following sentence with the class. On Saturdays I read the newspaper people. She could tell by our (the teachers) bewildered looks that something was not right. After some explanation from her and from us, we figured out that she was talking about People Magazine. Then the women beside her said, "Oh, I read that on Saturdays too." So, we all had a good laugh. We did not realize that we had such "celebrity junkies" in our class. ;-)

After the laughter calmed down, the first woman's husband (also in class with us) said, "I told her that it was not a newspaper, but she wouldn't listen." So, we all started laughing again.

The Mystery of the Chawarma

noreply@blogger.com (The Davisons) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:42:00 +0000

Had me a chawarma today that was out of this world! Man! My mouth is starting to water all over again just thinking about it. A chawarma is kind of hard to explain. It is kind of on the gyro side of things, but not really. You could compare it to a philly cheese steak, but not really. One might mistake it for a kebab kind of sandwich, but not really. It's a chawarma! And there is nothing else like it.

Sometimes I get 'em like a sandwich on a round bun type of situation. Other times I get them on a petite baguette kind of bread. My absolute favorite is on a galette, which is kind of like a large tortilla, but again, not really. These photos don't really do it justice, but it will give you an idea of what I am talking about. Thinly sliced meat, throw some veggies in there, some french fries, and then top it off with "the white sauce". Now "the white sauce" is also a bit of a mystery. It's not mayo. It's not ranch. It's just the white sauce. No other way to explain it.

Joy doesn't really like it when I go hang out at my favorite chawarma shop because I come home with my clothes smelling like I rolled them in a barrel of fried food, but it is just part of the experience. You have to take the good with the bad. It's a great place to hang out, meet people, and of course get a chawarma. It's the kind of place where everyone knows your name. You know what I mean. Except the guys in the shop yell "Thomas" when they see me instead of "Norm". Good times! Usually, after my chawarma, I will get a hot mint tea. Dude! I will have to tell you about mint tea some other time.

The copymeister! Makin' Copies!

noreply@blogger.com (The Davisons) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 13:25:00 +0000

This week I have been in the business of making copies. It is time to turn in our application to renew our residency cards here in France, and that means paperwork. Of course, the application is very vague about these things. It states, "include originals and photocopies." That's it. It doesn't say how many copies, but it is plural so we understand that to mean more than one. So we have the original and two copies of everything. Not to mention another copy of everything for us to keep in our files here at home, just in case we ever need them for anything. I think I have probably made about 120 photocopies on our little HP home printer this week. It is very tired, and also very low on ink. Well you gotta do what you gotta do!

The copymeister! Makin' copies!

Classic.

The Trouble with Homophones

noreply@blogger.com (The Davisons) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:57:00 +0000

The trouble with homophones is that they are tricky. In our beginner English class this morning Joy spent quite a bit of time talking about a few homophones. There, their, and they're are particularly difficult for native English speakers, but especially for those learning English as a second language.

I must admit, I am the world's worst when it comes to homophones. In fact Joy has forbade me (I am pretty sure that is the first time I have ever typed the word forbade) to send out any kind of updates, newsletters, or blogposts until she has proofed them first. I always use their when I should have used there, or there when I should have used they're. Sometimes I even use they're when I should have used their. Can you believe that? Don't even get me started on spelling. Spellcheck is the greatest invention ever! I used to be a pretty good speller. I never won a spelling bee, but I made it to the last round a couple of times in elementary school. Now that I have learned French, my spelling is out the window. How bad is it that I have to look up the word appartement in the dictionary to see if you spell it with one p or two? Or is it apartment? I have no idea!!!!

(Joy is going to let me post this even though she has a problem with my homophone usage and my spelling of the word apartment.)

Do you smell a camel?

noreply@blogger.com (The Davisons) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 18:09:00 +0000

Joy and I were at the post office yesterday morning. While standing in line I kept smelling something familiar. It wasn't a terrible smell that I needed to get away from, nor did it smell great or inviting. It was just a familiar smell, but I could not place it. Then I said something about Joy's purse. I don't remember exactly what it was. I think it was something like, "Did you get a new purse?" I never know when she gets a new purse. I usually notice a few months after the purchase, which was the case this time. She said, "I got it a couple of months ago in the market. I like it, but I need to let it air out because it smells like a camel." That was it! That is what I was smelling! CAMEL!!!

When I lived in Côte d'Ivoire for a couple of years I would sometimes purchase leather goods that were made from camel skin. It has a very distinct odor, and that was the smell that I could not identify. I visited Timbuctu, Mali once and actually took a camel ride out in the desert. Let me tell you, the real thing smells much like the leather products that are produced from their hide. So, if you ever received a gift made of leather from me around the time that I was in Africa, there is a good chance it is genuine camel skin. Go give it a sniff and you will know exactly what I am talking about. ;-)

Parlez-Vous Français?

noreply@blogger.com (The Davisons) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:57:00 +0000

This weekend I went to a conference in Toulouse. It was a good trip. I met some new people, and learned some new things. The biggest challenge for me was the constant concentration I had to maintain because the entire conference was in French. Now, I have been studying French for a couple of years now and I feel like I know a lot. However, I don't know it all and I don't pretend to. I can have a conversation with just about anybody, but some conversations are easier than others. Some days the French is flowing pretty good, and other days it does not roll off the tongue as well as I would like. There were a few times when my friend Didier, a native French speaker, would say to me, "you look pretty tired", and I would respond to him, "I have to work a lot harder than you do in order to understand everything that is going on around here." I said that all in French of course which extended my concentration efforts.

Good Times Great Oldies

noreply@blogger.com (The Davisons) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:38:00 +0000

We were so happy to have our friends, the Derby's, here for a visit. It was way too short of a visit, but we will absolutely take what we can get. Micah and Becky are a part of the Mediterranean Team with us. Most of you know that Becky was diagnosed with cancer last year, so they were unable to return to France with us. We have long been looking forward to when they would be able to visit us in France again. The finally came a couple of weeks ago. Truthfully, it was like they had never left, except for the fact that they have not been here. When I first saw Micah, after their arrival, he did not seem out of place. It was not odd at all to see him here in France. We picked up right where we left off. We went to cafés together, we stayed up late playing card games. It all felt very normal, until the day came when we had to take them back to the airport. That was not normal, and it didn't feel good. But I don't want to talk about that. I'll just think about the good times and look forward to their next visit.

Nous vous aimons beaucoup, mes amis !

Good to be back

It's snack time

Aunt Joy is sharing her slushy

What a day!

Good times, great oldies

How about some R & R?

Uncle Shane, Aunt Joy, and the boys

One Year Back in France

noreply@blogger.com (The Davisons) — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 21:37:00 +0000

It's our anniversary! Not the kind of anniversary you may think, but an anniversary none the less. Actually, Joy and I celebrated six years of marriage just a couple of weeks ago at the end of July, but today we celebrated the one year anniversary of our return to France. Yep! It was a year ago today that we finally made it back to our adopted homeland. Our friend Matt Price picked us up in Paris that day. He had been waiting two days because our flight was cancelled the day before. We finally made it though. We were happy to see him.

I am not much on reflection, but I must admit this last year has had ups and downs. It was definitely a busy year, but that is good in our line of work. I hope the years to come will be even busier. We have been blessed, and we look forward to what He has in store for us and our team.

Happy 4th of July

noreply@blogger.com (The Davisons) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 13:56:00 +0000

Well, last night my neighbors here in France didn't know why we were grilling out and celebrating, but we knew why. It was America's birthday. Our entire team came over last night, minus Darren who was camping, to have some burgers, sausages, hash brown casserole, grilled pineapple, and some German chocolate cake. Good stuff!

Although my neighbors don't know much about America's Independence Day, the French did fight alongside America during the Revelutionary War. Louis XVI, King of France at the time, spent a lot of money sending his military across the Atlantic Ocean to aid the American's. He did this mostly to prove to England that France was powerful. Unfortuneately, Louis liked spending money a little too much, and a few years later the people of France decided they had had enough and overthrew the monarchy. This day is now known as Bastille Day and is celebrated on the 14th of July. So, in 10 days, most of France will be in the party zone--lots of fireworks and food.

I love fireworks. I have always loved the 4th of July. I would save up and buy as many fireworks as I could. My sister and brothers would all bring their families to our house. My dad would man the grill, my mom would make the hamburger patties, my brothers would pull out the guitars, and we would enjoy each other's company until dark. When the darkness arrived then we would pull out the fireworks. ;-) Good times!!

Happy 4th of July!!

Poppies! Poppies!

noreply@blogger.com (The Davisons) — Sat, 10 May 2008 14:55:00 +0000

Joy and I took a drive on Friday in search of poppies. This time of year when you drive around in Southern France you will see poppies here and there almost anywhere you go. In fact we have ONE, I say again, ONE, in our front yard. You will find a few clusters of them hanging out in different places, but the goal of our trip was to find a field full of them. They were a little more elusive than we had hoped, but we found them. Here are a few snapshots of what we discovered.

Goin' to the Chapel...

noreply@blogger.com (The Davisons) — Wed, 07 May 2008 09:37:00 +0000

This weekend our good friends Dominic and Hilary got married. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding. The weather was perfect. It is usually sunny here in Provence, but it does rain on occasion. Not this day though. The sun was out and the grass was green. Beautiful. Actually, I could have used a hat because my little bald head got too much sun, but I didn't think my FWBBC Flames cap really matched my ensemble. Dom and Hil are both from the States.

Dominic leads music at our gathering on Sunday nights. Hilary often helps him out, but she has about four other jobs around town. Two or three of those have to do with music as well. They had dinner at our house one night and we busted out the guitars and played some music for an hour probably. It was a blast. That was the first time I had done that in a long time. The last time I sat around and played some music with someone was last July with my pal Travis back in Illinois. Too long!!

Anyway, they are hitched now, and the world is a better place because of it. Congrats my friends!

Uncle Shane and Aunt Joy

noreply@blogger.com (The Davisons) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:42:00 +0000

In the work that we do, we often have to wear many different hats. Some days we are teachers, some days a cab driver, a journalist, a computer tech (I usually have to call my friend Eddie to help me with that one), and other days a I just have to be good with a broom. By far our favorite job, and by the way it is actually on our job descriptions. Honestly! Our favorite job is being Uncle Shane and Aunt Joy. We love being Uncle Shane and Aunt Joy to our team niece and nephews. Xavier and William Derby are currently in the United States with their mom and dad, Micah and Becky. We got to see them last month. They are the cutest little twin boys you ever did see.

Here are William and Xavier in their little suits. It is virtually impossible to get both of them to look at a camera at the same time. I blame Micah. He practically blinded them with the camera when they were babies. ;-)

Below is Joy reading a book to William. Well, she is actually just holding the book. He is pointing to the cars. They both love to say cars. Caws! Caws!

McKenna and McGwire Portell are here in France with us. Their parents are Darren and Dana. We get to see them often, and we love it. In fact, just last night they stayed the night with us. Darren and Dana had an early appointment this morning in Marseille so instead of getting the kids out early they spent the night with Uncle Shane and Aunt Joy. We played nintendo together, read some books, and the kids even helped make dinner and some cookies for desert. Yep, we love being Uncle Shane and Aunt Joy.

Two Extremes

noreply@blogger.com (The Davisons) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:21:00 +0000

Not long ago in the little French church we attend here in Aix a set of twins were born. Two boys. Their names escape me right now.

Here is a picture from their first day at church. The man holding them just turned 94 back in March. I wanted to get a picture of them together. The two extremes. Little ones who are just beginning their walk in life, and an older one who is nearing the end of his. All three are different and unique in some ways. But in other ways they are the same. They have each impacted others lives. For us they have each been a blessing.

Here is a picture with Mom and Dad.

Football in France

noreply@blogger.com (The Davisons) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:01:00 +0000

I know, I know, the Superbowl is old news now, but I have just gotten the opportunity to write about it. I don't really want to write about the game as much as I just want to tell you that I watched the game. That's right! I saw it! All the way from over here in FRANCE!! You may not think that is such a big deal, but to a football fan, like myself, that is a huge deal. I wouldn't have guessed in a million years that the Giants would have beat the Patriots, but they did and I got to watch it all, live and in color! ;-)

They had the entire game, minus the cool commercials, which I heard were not that cool this year, on regular French tv. It was on channel 2 to be exact. But I didn't want to listen to French sports commentators who think a football is always round, usually black and white, and you are not allowed to touch it with your hands. (For those of you who are sports challenged, I am talking about soccer. Almost every country in the world, except America, calls soccer by the name football.) Anyway, I didn't want to listen to the French comment on the Superbowl, so I went over to Darren's house where he has a "super duper" tv channel called the North Amercian Sports Network. We watched the game just as if we were watching it in the States. Again, minus the commercials, but they did show the half time show, which was a surprise. I didn't figure that they would show it.

The other difference is that we had to stay up all night to watch it. I think the game started at 5pm Central Standard Time, which is midnight for us here in France. So, after the game was over at 4am Monday morning I got back in my vehicle, drove home, and got into bed, where Joy woke up complaining that I was making her cold. ;-)

Krippy Kreme in France!

noreply@blogger.com (The Davisons) — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 17:01:00 +0000

I know that is not how you spell Krispy Kreme, but that is how me and my Legacy of Praise boys used to say it. We used to have a secret language that we would speak with each other. Actually, the language wasn’t secret it was really the change in phonetics that was hard to figure out. It worked really well on words like biscuit, Memphis, and internet. If you know a member of the Legacy of Praise quartet, or a former member, ask them to give you a demonstration. You won’t regret it! Oh, if you know Joni Thomas, well it used to be Thomas, it is Hubbard now, she is really good at it too. ;-)

Back to the point, which is Krispy Kreme Donuts in France! Now, if you live in France on a regular basis, don’t get your hopes up. There is not a Krispy Kreme Donut Shop in France, to my knowledge, but they did make an appearance last week. Some friends of mine had to make a quick trip to England last week, and they asked me to drop them off and pick them up at the airport. So I did. Apparently in London, at the airport anyway, they do have Krispy Kreme Donuts, so as a thank you my friends brought me six regular glazed donuts of the Krispy Kreme persuasion! What a gift! I was so surprised! In fact, I must confess, I ate two of them while driving back to my house. WAIT!! Before you start lecturing me about eating while driving, let me say that it was after midnight and there was not one other car on the road that night. It is only about a five minute drive between my place and theirs. So just chill out!! Although, it was a little difficult with a stick shift. ;-)

When I got home, Joy was already asleep, so I left the priceless gourmet creations on the rolling cart in our kitchen that we are currently using as our kitchen cabinets. When I got up the next morning, Joy was already downstairs. I stuck my head in the hallway and asked her if she saw my thank you gift that our friends got me for driving them to and from the airport. And with a mouthful of glazed delight she confirmed with a hearty but muffled “Yes”! I teased her a bit and asked her, “Who said you could have one of MY donuts?” She reminded me of our five year old commitment, “What’s yours is mine”. I asked her to save me one for breakfast. She promised she would, and then she went the extra mile, disregarded her own satisfaction, and saved me two! ;-)

Shane Had a Good Birthday!

noreply@blogger.com (The Davisons) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 15:19:00 +0000

Shane's birthday was this past week and he had a good day! Thank you to all of you who sent him emails, cards, & presents:) It was exciting opening the mailbox and seeing a new card or several cards each day...it was some of our first fun mail at our new house. Joy made apple pie (Shane wanted apple pie instead of cake) and our Team family came over for supper and to share the pie! McKenna & McGwire decorated a huge bag for his present and had great fun watching Shane pull all the newspaper out looking for the actual present...he did finally find it in a small box at the bottom of the bag!!

We are working to get our house all set up before the holidays. We have ordered the kitchen cabinets and the delivery date is set for November 16th, with the installation on the 19th & 20th. We didn't know that our small kitchen would require two days for cabinet installation, but that's what the company told us...so c'est la vie en France! So now the only boxes left to unpack are the ones full of kitchen stuff. Yeah! This week we've been working to get things hung on the walls and Joy has been recovering from a nasty cold.

Other than that we have been enjoying being back in Aix for fall this year. It's hard to believe that we've been back for three months already...although there are some days when it doesn't feel like we were ever gone. We are so thankful for God's faithfulness in bringing us back to the place where He wants us serving Him!

We Got the Keys

noreply@blogger.com (The Davisons) — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 19:21:00 +0000

Last week we were able to go up to Nantes, France for the International Fellowship. We heard some great reports of how God is working around the world. We also had the opportunity to fellowship with some friends that we don't get to see very often.

Yesterday afternoon we finally got the keys to our house. Because of some miscommunication we thought we might not get to move in until November 1st, but everything worked out and we had our walk-through yesterday. At the end of the walk-through we were handed the keys. This morning we worked to clean the house and then began to take a few boxes over. We have a moving truck reserved for the official move-in on Friday. We're excited about being able to finally settle in and unpack our belongings.

In case you want to write to us or send us any packages:) our new address is on our "More Info" page. We don't have a phone number yet, but we'll post it when we do.

Waiting to Move

noreply@blogger.com (The Davisons) — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 10:08:00 +0000

It was a week ago Friday that we signed the papers for the house we are going to rent here in Aix. However, we can't move in until October 1st! So we are waiting to move. We moved out of the Portells' home last Saturday (we are so grateful they let us stay with them--and grateful that McKenna let us stay in her room while she shared a room with McGwire). Since we can't move into our own home yet, and staying in a hotel would be very expensive, we moved into a guest house here in Aix owned by another mission agency. It is in a great location, we have free internet, a washer & dryer, and a kitchen so we don't have to eat out all the time.

This week our container finally arrived! It was like working a giant 3-D puzzle to get our belongings into our storage unit with the furniture that we already had here in France. Our storage unit in now very tightly packed and very full!! Lucky for us we get to wait almost a month before we get to move it out of the storage unit and into our house:)

Thanks so much for your prayers for our container to arrive & that we would find a house! Please continue to pray for us as we keep stabbing away at the language (and I do mean stabbing--the other day I knew I was butchering every word & sentence that came out of my mouth, but I didn't know how to fix it).