Last day in America

Gentry and I are going to France for some time (we are guessing one year). This blog will help us remember the journey because I have a tendency to forget and from what I've gathered through hours of intense research and reading, that tendency does not get better with age. 

The idea to move to France started over a year ago before Gentry and I got married and was more of a joke. Gentry would say, "so when are we moving to France?" She would say this because I am french and lived there until I was 8.  So we are joking about moving to France and yada yada yada we are leaving for France tomorrow (5/28/14).

To clarify for all of those who think that since we are moving to France, we MUST be living in Paris, we are actually moving to the city of Marseille. It is pretty far from Paris (7 hour drive). The city is on the Mediterranean so the Panda Express diet I've been perfecting will finally pay off.

We don't have too many details on our future home. We know we have a furnished 2 bedroom apartment about a quarter mile from the Church we will be going to (Chapelle de Fuveau - Church Website). The church usually rents out this apartment for year long student/interns they have join their missionary training program called Christians On Missions (CEM) but instead are letting us rent it from them.  Pretty sweet deal to not have to search for an apartment and to get one for only $775 a month.

Craig and Katie Young are American missionaries at the church and have been helping us so much with making this whole thing possible. 

Here is what google can tell us about our future home and church.  The apartment is in one of the below buildings.

We have moved out of our rental house, we have sold a car and "rented" the other car to my brother. We had a garage sale to get rid of some of the many things we did not need. The end result is a very full 10x10 storage unit in Athens TX and the rest is coming with us in 3 suitcases and 2 backpacks. Feels good to be running lean (but I do miss my ping pong table).

Going back to how we go to this point, I do remember the moment Gentry and I realized that the idea of moving to France was a pretty big decision.  The lighthearted thoughts that got us to the idea of moving needed to be reevaluated to make sure this was the right move. Gentry and I have both had some pretty major changes occur in our faiths the last few years and for me especially, the idea of living life completely for God is something that is finally making sense and finally something God is making a real desire.  Finally understanding just a little bit my identity in Him made us stop and ask if this lined up with what we were really trying to do in life. 

Since that night, we have had a lot of things happen to help us feel very confident in our decision. Super thankful for that because the questions and doubts will always be there when making a big move like this but those can be handled much more easily when you know you are loved by the God that created everything and who has complete control. Just writing that out makes me feel good.

We are excited to see how God will use us while there and excited to do some new activities not offered in scenic Dallas TX.
I do want to give a quick tribute to some key American items that will be missed:

-Chips and Salsa all the time
-Over sized portions at restaurants
-Cardinals Baseball, Cowboys losing but expecting to win, PTI
-Mac n Cheese
-Saying hello without touching cheeks
-Quoting Seinfeld
-Sarcasm
-Panda Express, Freebirds, Bueno, Chik Fil A, Rusty Taco, Torchy's Taco, Whataburger, Papa Johns, Wendys, Arby's, La Pop, Chipotle, Canes, and so many more.


Some things I will not miss:
-off season sport radio talk on the Cowboys
-any pre NFL draft predictions/analysis
-30,000 dollar millionaires
-visiting a friend in DFW and driving 50 minutes to get there
-Highway 635
-the way my body feels 15 minutes after finishing a meal at any of the places listed under items I will miss.

Next post will come when we are actually in France.
Mike