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Hello all,

It has once again been a fairly eventful week. We thought that with mostly everyone back in the house things would calm down a little, but they haven't quite made it there. I apologize it has taken so long to sit down and actually do this. Good news - it's 80 degrees here today!!! Finally some fantastic beach weather! Unfortunately, I decided to challenge that weather with losing a pair of sunglasses in the ocean, breaking one of my flip-flops and cutting a gash in my foot in the ocean(hence the title of the blog today, it means sharp)...i'm batting 1000 today =) it's okay though. Got myself all bandaged up now I just feel I may need to replenish the first aid kit here since I've used it so often. It was wonderful to get out in the sunshine, but be able to cool off in la manche (english channel).

A couple of weeks ago (it's hard to imagine it's been that long), we were just trucking away at all of the cleaning and not really seeing our purpose in being here. It's always enjoyable being here of course but it was getting discouraging as well. Thankfully, this week, Katie and I have both sat down with Steve to discuss more of why we're here and other ways we can serve the students and the institute. I am going to sit down with Pia tomorrow morning and try to help out with some of the accounting backlog they have. I'm very thankful that I already know a little bit of the Quickbooks system since that's what we used at my previous job. Since most of the team will be in and out with another group going to Paris, I hope this can take one area of worry away from them. Katie met with Steve more about the student's needs in being here and has discussed the opportunity of doing an english bible study with them in the evenings for all who would like to participate. Sometimes even though you may be singing the same praise and worship songs, it's hard to fully get into the spirit of worship when you're concentrating on saying the words correctly. The do something called reveille each morning which is a time of worship and prayer in French already so this would be in addition to that. I believe Katie will also be doing some data entry through excel to help with some institute organization.

Thanks to Katie, I got to go to church this morning. It was nice being back in a church and getting to worship with more people. It was a little different that the normal service for me but the message was good and strong. The pastor spoke of a divided house and the need to throw Satan out of our lives and not just ignore his presence or be passive about temptation. I hope I will again have the opportunity to attend church because the people were really nice and it was a little fun singing out of a hymnal again although I found it a little more difficult to follow along when you don't know the tune or how to pronounce all the words!

This week Group B (who came in the same day we did) will be leaving. They will first go to Paris with the middle group so Katie and I will be in charge while everyone's gone, but that also means we have a lot of work to do to get ready for the new group to come back in. However, to reward us, we get 3 whole days off!!! After we finish our work on Thursday, we're free until Sunday evening. So, we're going to get up at the crack of dawn with the students to get the work going and then hope a train about 1pm to head to the Loire valley to see some castles! I'm really excited about the opportunity to travel a little bit since we didn't think it would happen and since there will not be any students around it won't be a problem!

I think that maybe sums up all that we've been doing this past week. It's been a little of a whirlwind honestly and I can't believe we've been here almost 6 weeks already. About 6 more to go.

Updates from prior prayer requests:

• Kate and the students from Group A all made it home safely and enjoyed their time in Paris.
• The new group seems to be doing well here and well as been an encouragement for the Group B students who are not quite at the same French level. It's been good having them in the house and getting to know them.

New Prayer Requests:

• I know that God is watching me, but please pray that I will be more mindful of what I'm doing and stop injuring myself. 
• Safe travels for the groups coming into Paris tomorrow and leaving for Paris on Thursday. I know there are mixed emotions of sadness and excitement for Group B as they near the end of their time in France.
• Pray for our safe travels that we are mindful of our surroundings and thoughtful when making plans.
• Pray for the new opportunities we will be starting with the institute. That Katie will be able to find students who want to participate in worship and that the work we do will take some stress away and allow the full-time team members other opportunities of service.

Thank you all for your notes and comments! We love you all! and now I must go help with dinner =)

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