It's right out in the countryside. About 20 minutes my SatNav said. So we should arrive just on time at 20:00. And we did.
But the village was quite dark and it was hard to see the house numbers. Like England that were odd on one side and even on the other. And like England, you could see the side you didn't want, but the other was much harder!
Neither were the numbers about the same on each side (eg 18 opposite 19).
So it was with a little relief that we found a door, knocked on it, and to have it opened by a lady we knew! We gladly came in out of the cold.
Now home groups appear to be new in France, at least in this area and with this church. They are not very regular and usually move from house to house. There appears to be an unwritten understanding that the host(ess) provides lovely food after the spiritual side is done. And so it was tonight.
But on this occasion, there were not many there. Half term holidays claimed some. Perhaps the remote location claimed others. It is no matter. Those who were there had a great evening.
For June and I, it is a usual experience that when God trims down a meeting to just a few, that those few have an unusual time. Something out of the ordinary happens. And this night was no exception. Rather than have a 'Word' prepared, the 'few' started just to talk and enjoy the Lord. We shared experiences, and the prepared Bible verses proved most useful. An evening of great encouragement, and so much so that the food arrived very much later than usual. Even then the discussions continued between mouthfuls. With some reluctance, we called a halt to go home (not least to avoid over eating) and the SatNav entered into the spirit of the unusual evening by taking us a different way home.
Tea and bed to round the evening off nicely.
