30 years!!

30 years ago, today, April 16, 1982 the Farrells arrived in France.  The "beginning" actually started  at the end of February.  We had our commissioning service at First Baptist in Mt. Pleasant MI. We finished packing our barrels and had a week-long "Moving to France" apartment sale.  On March 24 Mike and Dad took our barrels to New Jersey.

February 27, 1982

 We left for France on March 29.  We left from Detroit.  Mom and Dad, Grandma Baker, my brother, Dan and his wife, Kathy with Joy and Faith and my brother John were all there to see us off. 

March 29,1982

We didn't fly directly to France.  The missionaries there were having their bi-annual conference and had asked us to come a couple of weeks later.  So we flew to Scotland.  At that time my sister, Faith was a missionary in Scotland.  We had a wonderful visit with her and even got to celebrate Easter in Scotland.

Rather than flying to France, we took the hovercraft. The Hovercraft was a kind of boat that sat on an inner tube.  (Google it!! :) )When it came up on the shore it deflated. Inside were seats like on an airplane.   Faith drove us from Edinburgh to Dover.  We stopped overnight in York and in Canterbury. 

We got on the hovercraft, (which doesn't exist anymore,) and arrived in Calais France!!!  We had three babies, nine pieces of luggage plus carry-ons and NO strollers.  Plus at that time Emily was not walking because she had fallen on a stairway and hurt her leg. 

FRANCE!!

The boat kind of bumped it's way over the English Channel on the big inner tube that it sat on.  Not a very comfortable ride.  But it did get us to France.  When we arrived John Stauffacher and Paul Leslie were there to meet us.  We walked through a darkened terminal.  Everyone else had already gone through.  It took us longer because of everything we had.  We got the van packed and made the 5 hour trip to Bretigny sur Orge which would be our home (that we shared with the Leslies) for about a month.  Then we were able to move into our own house.

Waiting in the Hoverport while Mike transferred everything from one place to another.

 The Lord has been faithful all of these years.  We now feel more at home here in France than we do when we are "home" in the United States. 

30  years (ok, 29) later!!

P.S.  A week later we took Emily to the doctor.  Come to find out, her leg was broken (horrible mother, that I am!!) and she was in a cast for 6 weeks.

Poor baby!!

My babies!!

All grown up!!

"Great is Thy Faithfulness!!"