nice ch. 1
Hello friends! It’s been too long. I’ve had a version of this post saved in my drafts for over a month now, and each time I go to post it I realize how it’s now out of date and have to rewrite most of it. But it’s been weighing on my heart to share a few thoughts and some snaps, so here we are.
We’re coming up on the end of month two here in Nice. These last two months have flown by, filled with travels, illness, community making, and mostly lots of change. I recently finished a book given to me by a sweet friend right before we left California called Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson. I’ve shared a few quotes(in italics) throughout this post, as I cannot recommend highly enough every page of the book.
To start, I will say that both of us feel immensely blessed to be living here and exploring this beautiful corner of the world. No place will ever fill the void of our families being far, and our friends being out of reach to hug when the world is going through scary times. But we will say, that we truly feel for this season we are where we have been called to be. We may not be able to plant long term seeds in this moment, but we feel as if we can unpack, take a deep breath and just be, knowing that we are in the place that feels right for this season.
I was scared when we first moved here that we had made a mistake by choosing to move to a place neither of us had ever lived, where most every territory was unchartered from community to grocery store brands. I’m grateful for the fresh perspective, having lived in Spain before, that these people and places hold value to us, but our worth is not defined by how well we can climatize and blend in to society here. As a people pleaser, I dread having to speak to the people checking me out at the grocery, and disappoint them by revealing that I don’t speak their native tongue fluently. But as a person I realize that we’re all just swimming along the best that we can, sometimes more fluently than others.
I will say, with my six years of French in school coming back to the front part of my brain, the adjustment with language has been a lot easier here.
“I happen to think that if you start doing the work of joyfully, diligently, speaking light into your community with your gifting, people will show up. People will surprise you with their gifts. And you’ll see how friendships are augmenting everyone’s talent in one way or another.”
Homesickness is a phrase that I often toy around with the meaning of. Sometimes I tell Neilson I’m homesick and he asks where I want to go, and I have no answer to the question. It’s just a feeling. I think it’s normal for this nomadic lifestyle to wear down on you at times. We long for a space that’s our own, not an Airbnb rental. A place with a garden, where my sewing machine is nearby and our belongings aren’t scattered in storage units across two continents. But it’s also a lesson in patience; in knowing that we are called to be content with whatever season we are in. Being homesick is just part of who we are as humans, knowing that no home, or space will fill the void of our eternal home.
A few things I’m grateful for these days:
Côte D’Azur blue- expansive ocean views beyond my wildest dreams
Diptyque candles
Oat milk lattes chez moi
Flowers from the market-tulips and rananculas esp.
Nutella crêpes
A community of cyclist’s families, who no matter where they live, present a sense of community. Every time I meet a wife/girlfriend who I don’t know, there is this instant sense of connection we have. So much of a cyclist’s career is glamorous; getting to live in a foreign country for work, and traveling to new places to support our spouses. But a lot of what we don’t share is how hard this lifestyle can be. Finding these people who “get it” without you having to share a single word is like speaking this secret language of solidarity, no matter what our mother tongue may be.
‘C.S. Lewis famously said that friendship is born in that moment when one person says to one another, “You too? I thought I was the only one”.’
friends whose companionship doesn’t waiver based on where we are living, or what vocation “defines” who I am
“That’s community. They look you in the eye and remind you who you are in Christ. They reiterate your calling when you forget what it is. They step into the garden and help you weed it, help you to grow something beautiful.”
Not so long until next time, xx f
