Katie Blow
In February 2011 I realized God was giving me an assignment: to go to France - He had given me a passion and a heart for the country and He wanted me to go there to bless the French people and to help build His Kingdom. This revelation took a long time to really work its way into my heart and even longer for me to accept it for my life. Katie B
In June 2011 God miraculously opened the way for me to go to France to spend a year of my life (my gap year). So in September 2011 I left Wales, the only home I had ever known and set out full of doubt, fear, excitement and anticipation, ready to live out the adventure God was calling me to embark on with Him.
This blog is an accurate and detailed account of that incredible adventure which I hope will inspire and encourage you and help you to understand the adventure God has called us ALL on.
"I say this because I know what I am planning for you,"says the Lord. "I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future." Jeremiah 29:11
Travel Blog Posts
Another ordinary week (please don't be put off by the boring title)
Published: May 25th 2012Europe » France » Alsace » Guebwiller
May 25th 2012
It has been another ordinary and pleasant week but I fear that if I go into all the details I will bore you dear readers, so I will do my best to include only the 'interesting' stuff. After holidays and bank holidays (they seem to have a lot in France) I have finally managed to have a full 'working week'; that is to say both my Monday and Friday classes. And life with children is rarely dull, as I have been reminded this week; challenging and amusing, yes but NEVER dull. It is Monday afternoon and I am on sieste duty with the little ones as usual: I have four 4-5 year old boys to manage - Florian, Joas, Elian and Josias. We start by making a trip to the toilet (I tend to leave them ... read more
La Marche Pour Jésus (The March for Jesus)
Published: May 23rd 2012Europe » France » Alsace » Strasbourg
May 14th 2012
On Saturday I was delighted to have the opportunity to take part in The March for Jesus in Strasbourg - the perfect place to pray for the nations of Europe! And there was certainly a very European theme - at the end of the march we were even given the honour of having a meeting in the European Council - this Europe theme really spoke to me of the plans God has for me concerning Europe (not just France!) We (I went with a surprisingly small group of people from church - I was surprised that more people hadn't wanted to take part - for me the idea of marching through the European capital, praying and worshiping God was just SO exciting!!) began the march next to the European Council and not far from the European ... read more
Alsacien sight-seeing and a city break in Strasbourg
Published: May 13th 2012Europe » France » Alsace » StrasbourgMay 9th 2012
My day of freedom finally came on Friday when as scheduled, I went over to Colmar to see Daniele, the English teacher from school. Her holidays had been worse spent than mine and she was clearly full of bitterness, hurt and sadness, making conversation with her sometimes difficult and I found myself constantly praying for protection around myself against the negativity emanating from her. I began to think that perhaps it had been a mistake to do something with her, getting the impression that she wasn't really in the mood to enjoy herself. But God puts certain people in our path for a reason, right? We headed off from Colmar to a small picteresque town called Riquewihr. On the way we stopped at a war memorial for the Allied Forces which acts as a great look-out ... read more
May 7th 2012
The day after the birth I joined the family on an exclusive trip to the hospital to visit mother and baby. Cedric bought Laetitia an amazing boquet of flowers which I was rather envious of and wondered to myself if my future husband will be quite so affectionate and romantic as that. Anais, as the excited and proud big sister, made sure that she got first hold of the baby when we arrived. I sat down next to her to admire the tiny form in her arms. I wasn't expecting Anais to suddenly turn to me and offer the baby into my nervous 19-year-old arms, which have no experience of baby holding (Anais on the other hand seems quite a pro). I took the tiny baby hesitantly and once safely cradled in my arms, I stared ... read more
Fille au pair duties (the frustration and the humility) AND the arrival of the new baby!!
Published: May 12th 2012Europe » France » Alsace » GuebwillerMay 5th 2012
I had told myself that the Easter holidays would be used for getting out, exploring and actually doing something rather than staying in the rural, dull and secluded world of Rimlishof. It's funny how quickly we forget the Proverbs which says "We can make plans in our mind but it's the Lord who decides what we shall do." God had clearly decided that I would be staying in the rural, dull and secluded world of Rimlishof and on top of that, I would undertake fille-au pair duties. What fun..... As Laetitia was still pregnant when I got back from Switzerland, we waited still for the arrival of the new baby. And we waited.....and waited.....in the meantime Laetitia was back and forwards to the hospital and the midwife. On Friday, I spent a stressful hour or two ... read more
May 5th 2012
Once again, I allowed God the honour of waking me up that morning - who needs an alarm clock when you have the Holy Spirit? It was a beautiful sunny day and the panoramic view before me when I drew back my curtains was breath-takingingly beautiful. It was also great motivation to get ready and start the day. At 8:00 before breakfast I decided to take a walk - being outside with such a great view before me gave me a different kind of closeness to God - His might, power and majesty and at the same time, I kept thinking, this same God who made these huge mountains, loves me! The breakfast table conversation that morning soon turned to the night before, when Alana had been filled with the Holy Spirit and how later God ... read more
April 27th 2012
I woke up on Tuesday morning at 6:30, having agreed with God the evening before that I wouldn't set my alarm, but that I would act in faith and let Him wake me up when He wanted me to. Breakfast wasn't due until 8:30 so I had plenty of time to spend with God and get myself ready. I began by opening the curtains and drinking in the stunning view of the mountains - I could have spent the whole day looking at the view - it was just incredible. After reading my Bible and sitting listening to God (it was just such a luxury to be able to get ready in the morning like that, preparing myself spritually before doing anything else and to not have any pressures) I finished doing the not so spiritual ... read more
April 26th 2012
A chance to pray and worship for the nations of Europe in a prayer house in the middle of the Swiss mountains was something I couldn't resist and I'd jumped at the opportunity to go. We left Guebwiller at 8:30 on Monday morning (a bit later than expected - some of the group's time-keeping skills are a bit naff). 'We' included a small international group from Eglise Josue: some Americans, some French and one Welsh (me!) After nearly an hour and a half of driving we caught our first glimpse of the Swiss Alps - incredible! We were all completely blown away by the sight but it was nothing to what God had in store for us once we reached the prayer house. We left the main road at a big town called Thun and wound ... read more
A day out to Kaysersberg and a bit of Alsacian sight-seeing
Published: April 20th 2012Europe » France » Alsace » Kaysersberg
April 20th 2012
In stark contrast to the previous week, this week has been busy and fun, the highlight being my afternoon out with Lydie, my French teacher. After doing the round of cleaning at school, we headed off to the picturesque Alsacian town of Kysersberg. As we descended the road into the town, I was delighted to notice what looked like a medieval look-out tower with a stork perched in its nest on top - a real stork! This time I would definitely take a photo! It was certainly a very pretty town, typical of Alsace with its brightly coloured buildings, shuttered windows and quaint little streets. We wondered or rather huffed and puffed our way up to a medieval castle which gave a great view over the rest of the town. We then explored the rest of ... read more
April 15th 2012
Welcome in our new addition to the family: an injured and more than annoying woodpecker, who Cedric found and brought back to the house on Monday. It's not that I don't like animals, not at all but after out-staying his maximum 3-day stay (the amount of time Laetitia and Cedric told me he would need to recover), annoying us all continually by hitting the side of his cage with his long beak (especially when we sit down to watch a film) and escaping on a number of occasions, I've had quite enough of him. The rest of the family are of course all madly in love with him and Laetitia seems to fancy herself a bit of a bird-whisperer. On Tuesday morning I was in the house alone, eating my breakfast when I suddenly realized that ... read more
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