There's a Glory Somewhere Further

Hold my hands, my broken child,
I won’t let you slip away,
When the trees all dance in anger
And the night swallows the day.
Hide your face against my shoulder;
Let your fear dissolve to sleep
And I promise I will never leave you,
But sing you comforts sweet.
There’s a glory somewhere further
You can’t see it, but I know.
And someday when you’re older
To its splendor we will go.
So sleep within your innocence,
Though your nightmares cause you fear,
For there’s hope within the morning, child,
And I am always here.

"Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning"

Hello everyone--

Just wanted to give you all a quick update. Yesterday I found out my grandpa is still really not doing well, and it looks like this may be his last couple of days. I have decided to fly to Cincinatti tomorrow to be with him and with my family. I'll be staying a week there. Can't really describe all the emotions right now, but I am feeling more at peace and relieved to see my family. Please be praying for us.

Love, Jess

"Not all who wander are lost..."

Spring Break is upon us at A.B.S....thank goodness. I must confess it's been nice to have a weekend with absolutely nothing to do.
I've taken advantage of the free time by getting to know the city some more. This has to be one of the greatest places in the world to simply wander around.


I love just walking around in the gardens here, and this week I've been able to faire une promenade in such places as the beautiful Luxembourg gardens, and a park near my apartment called le Parc de Butte Chaumont. This mean "bald hill"--so named for a massive rock face in the center of the park.


It is about a ten minute walk from my house, and I can't believe I hadn't discovered it until now--there are about 4 different levels of pathways wandering all down a hill to the center of the park, where there is a large pond. Or, you can go above, on the top of the rock face to look over the streets of the city. It's quite a large park, with man-made waterfalls and buckets of flowers strewn along the pathways.

One of the best afternoons I've spent here yet was spent wandering up and down the winding paths--it was sprinkling, making the air around you smell like Spring; an intoxicating mist of moist earth and sunlight.



I also got to visit the Musee Rodin with a friend who was visiting. It was so cool to be able to see so many of the works I had read about and seen. He had such an interesting method of work, and it was cool to see the many versions and reproductions he has done.






I am actually going to Lyon later this week, so hopefully will have another post about that soon. Thank you to all of you who have been praying for my grandfather; I really do appreciate it.

A bientot

What Firm a Foundation

Dear Friends,

At times I feel as if I am leading a double life. There has been such a whirl of joy and sorrow these past weeks I feel my head spinning. At times it feels as if it is more than I can handle. Still, I know God's timing is perfect, and he has set each event in place exactly as it should go.

As most of you probably know, my grandpa took a turn for the worst this last week. As I was talking to my sister on skype and hearing the update, I heard my parents in the background trying to get a flight out to Cincinnati to see him. I later found out that, after having not found anything, they jumped in a car and started driving up to Ohio, despite the snow storms looming over that area. I can't describe to you what turmoil that night presented.

Since then, they have arrived, and said that there is still hope, though there seemed none only the day before. We continue to pray fervently for our Papa, and ask you to do the same. We know God can still heal his fragile body.

It is so surreal to be here right now. I am surrounded by such beauty in a place I've always dreamed of coming to--and yet I am here at a time when nothing seems more important than to simply be with my family. And yet, again, being isolated from friends, family, support, and sometimes it seems, hope, I have been able to find comfort only in God and his word. Perhaps he knew I could bear it no other way. If nothing else, I have been encouraged through scripture of the goodness and kindness of our God. We serve a faithful king, and no matter what happens, his name is to be praised.

I still ask for your prayers for my dear Papa, as well as for our family. Thank you all so much. I love you all.

Lara's Visit! (Prepare yourself for pictures)

Ok...it seems like it has been forever since I last posted, and I have a lot to tell. My friend Lara got to come visit me this weekend (she's from WM and is studying abroad in Florence this semester) and we had such a blast!! We did so much!
The first night she was here we went out with some friends; the next day we went to Sacre Coeur and walked around a bit in the Monmartre area. After that we went and met my friend Kai (who's from Germany) and his sister Jana who was also visiting at the Eiffel tower. We climbed up to the second level (668 steps!!!) and just enjoyed the beautiful view. It was an amazing day...such beautiful blue skies!!!


After that we went to Hotel de Invalides, where Napoleon is buried. Unfortunately it was closed, but we still walked around for a bit, and then headed to the latin quarter where we all got crepes, and then Lara and I got dinner. We crashed after that, we were soooo tired!! Haha.

Next day we woke up and went to Notre Dame. On our way we stopped by this really cool bird market--they had a ton of all different kinds of birds, plus some bunnies we got to hold, haha (:

We were going to go up into the bell towers of the Notre Dame, but it was a really long line, so instead we went back home and then met Kai at the Arc de Triomphe. We all went to the top (more steps, haha) and enjoyed the view/took pictures, and then Lara and I decided to go to the Louvre.


We walked all the way down the Champ D'Elysee and through the Tuillieries Garden and then went in the Louvre for just a little while--just long enough for Lara to snap a picture of the Mona Lisa (she had been there before and so didn't want to stay too long).

From there we headed to church, and after that we met some more of my friends at this little blues bar in the Latin quarter. It was so fun!
Monday morning we woke up early and went and bought tickets for the opera. The rest of the day we went window shopping and just walked around, and then came back to my apartment and tried to plan some for our trip in the summer.

That night we got all dressed up and went to an Opera in the Opera Garnier. The Opera itself was a little strange (it was a more modern one), but it was just so amazing to be there! The singing was, of course, fantastic, and the opera house is so amazing--so ornate and beautiful. I'm really glad we got to go.


She left the next morning, and now I'm back to the routine of school. Feeling a bit under the weather since she left, but I'm hoping that will pass. Here are some pictures from the weekend. Haha...believe it or not I don't think I put even half of them up!

Talk to you all again soon!