it's my fifth day here in france and i feel like i've done soo much already as an "intern" and a tourist! so far i've had meetings and worked at events and tackled a lot of the sites around the town. i think i've successfully grasped the bus and metro system - i was made for the city! i love public transportation :).

i'm still ironing out my "responsibilities" while i'm here. a big part of my time here will be to intentionally help around the apartment and herd kids. nicole, the mom, is pregnant and there are three little ones already. It can be a bit crazy at times, so i'm glad to do what i can! i learned the route to the school and daycare very quickly so i will be helping with at least one or two trips each day to drop off kids. this allows me to be out in their community and also interact (aka speak french!!) with their teachers. a big part of al and nicole's focus (and their heart) is to build intentional community and love others. often, this is done on a small scale... and that starts with building relationships with teachers, going to the same stand at the market every week, buying bread from the neighborhood bakery, getting their kids involved in community activities, etc. already, i've met a lot of the people that they connect with on a weekly basis. and this week, they are opening up their apartment again to a group of about 10 students who are doing some leadership training in Paris for a short term. it's been exciting to begin to grasp a bit about their ministry here and try to find my niche with them.

another responsibility i have is to be involved with the arts' ministry, la fonderie. as well as help coordinate events at the art center, le pave d'orsay - both of which al works with. friday, i attended a work team meeting for le pave d'orsay. following that, al and i headed over to the train station to intercept a group of about 30 wheaton college students and professors as they arrived from london. as a wheaton alum, al was pleased to help host them while they were in paris as well as network with students and the staff members for future parisian visits. the professors played a concert in a brunch-setting at le pave d'orsay saturday morning. the quartet was very talented and well recieved by all. saturday evening, i was back at le pave d'orsay to help setup and run another concert at the venue!

church this morning was pretty cool. it was all in french and while i didn't catch every word of the sermon, i think i got a pretty good gist. just don't quiz me later. :) i had some "jenn" time this afternoon wandering around paris. i spent a majority of the afternoon sitting by the eiffel tower, taking pictures and sitting and watching people. i enjoyed it.



what tomorrow will bring... i'm not quite sure, but i kinda like it that way. maybe tomorrow will bring pictures at least... maybe.

grace & peace.