The Doldrums

Our traveling day from Munich to Lyon, France was our longest and most tiring yet. We woke up at about 5am to catch a 7am train. Felix kindly drove us to the train station, which was definitely a blessing, not having to catch the S Bahn that early in the morning. We took 3 trains that day, 4 hours from Munich to Zurich, 3 to Geneva and 2 hours to Lyon. We got a little lost walking from the train station to the hostel, but we eventually made our way in the blistering evening heat to our place. Sadly, our toilet didnt work in our room (we later found out that the water had just been turned off there) and we had to take the elevator down from the 7th floor to go to the bathroom. Thankfully, our shower worked! Im sure it had hot water, but it was so hot here that I ended up taking cool showers for the past couple days. We are spending the next 2 nights in another hostel in the city, because we hadnt booked anything for those days because it is extremely expensive here and everything is booked. God was good, though, and provided for us 2 nights in the cheapest hostel in all of Lyon.

We didnt meet anyone at our last hostel, and honestly its getting kind of discouraging. There were some students from Louisiana staying there for the summer, but they were into themselves and busy with their own groups of friends. Sadly, they also seemed to be those obnoxious, loud and inconsiderate Americans who thought they could do whatever they wanted and get away with it. We have higher hopes for this next hostel, though, because it seems to have a good community area and people actually hang out there during the day.

Lyon is actually a very beautiful city. The rooftops have tons of chimneys, reminiscent of Mary Poppins and the chim chimney song. We hiked up a street yesterday to some Roman ruins, an amphiteater that was now used as a concert and theater venue. It had a fantastic view of the city, with buildings spread out everywhere and peeks of the 2 rivers flowing through. It has been so incredibly hot here, reminding us that its summer! I guess we keep forgetting that its summer because its been cool in a lot of places, and we are so busy we dont remember that people are actually on vacation. Walking along the river really makes us want to go swimming, but the slight murkiness makes our decision for us. Lyon is a great city to explore, with tons of little nooks and crannys where you can find small stairways, parks, cafes and fruit stands. Caution, though, before you think about visiting here make sure you have lots of money to spend!! We have been eating relatively well here, making pasta for dinner, sandwiches for lunch, and having eggs for breakfast. We were concerned about how expensive it would be, especially when we didnt know how expensive our last 2 nights would be, but God has definitely provided!

Yesterday we went to Sunday morning services at a Protestant church near our hostel. It was a very small church, but it was wonderful to attend a service that was less formal and ritualistic as all the others we had been to. What stuck out to me the most was how this church did Communion. When the time came, the whole congregation (which was maybe 40 people) got up and stood around the church in a circle. The pastor blessed the elements and then passed the plate of bread around, and then the goblet of grape juice. It was so inclusive and welcoming. Even though we didnt speak French very well, and the majority of them didnt speak English, we had a bond, a sense of community in Christ. I really liked how they did this, taking the individual element out of the practice. Now I am by no means advocating passing a goblet around our church of about 400, sharing germs with all those people, but the act of standing together around the church and passing the elements to one another held a sense of reverence and respect for what we were doing.

Prayer Requests:
We are all so weary. The travel is taking a toll, we are getting tired of having to compromise and work out everything together, we are all a bit homesick and are disappointed and discouraged that we havent met anyone. I know that we are all looking forward to our next city, because we have heard its incredible, and then our Midsummer Retreat and then Bergen. Please pray that God sends people in our direction, that we are able to encourage and lift each other up when we really dont want to.

Praises!
We have kept in contact with Kellie, the British girl we met in Brussels and who came with us to Berlin. Her whole trip was about finding spirituality, and the meaning of life, that was actually why we started talking to her. We had seen her reading a book about modern spirituality, so we asked her about it. After talking and spending time with us, she is going to start attended a Bible study at home with her friend Ruth, who has been inviting her for a long time. Pray that God works in her friend Ruth, and that Kellie will be drawn even closer to the Lord.

Also, a lot of people have been reading the books we give them, especially Blue Like Jazz. Pray that the books may touch their lives and stick in their minds and hearts!

I love you all, and thank you so much for your support!! In my learning about giving, my eyes have been opened to the fact that we are being supported both financially and through prayer by so many of you back home. I thank you so much for your gracious support. Even knowing that you read my blog means so much to me!!