I love parts of Eugene Peterson’s the Message. If you’ve never heard of it, the Message is a contemporary language version of the Bible, and it makes it really easy to read and understand. I really love the way he translates 1Corinthians13 at the end (there are no verse numbers). “Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.” This verse is really speaking to me lately, as we try and figure out our roles at ICCP here in Aix. I have been getting really frustrated lately with all the “responsibilities” and “jobs” I thought I had. Then I realized something-I am not in France just to learn French, I am not here just to help with Children’s ministry, and I’m not even really here to add something to this team we are now on (although I hope I do!!). God called us here to love people and to serve them, and that’s it. I had the amazing opportunity to love and serve some Muslims in Amsterdam, I get to love on kids at church and at my girls school by volunteering to teach English each week. I am excited as some new team members talk about social activism and serving the hungry and homeless of Aix. This is what I feel like God called us to-not to stand on a corner proclaiming His love-but actually showing His love in how we integrate ourselves in our new community. There is a sense of hopelessness in Europe-you can see it and feel it. But as followers of Christ, we are called to hope unswervingly, and this is what I want to do. I want to hope and pray that God will use us in France to draw people to Him so they can experience the love we have in our lives. Even though we have gone through things here that we might not have ever faced in the States, our lives are richer for it, and we have seen the strength and power of God like never before. Because He has loved us so extravagantly, I want to love others. Pretty simple to say, harder to do, but worth the effort.