France

Photo Friday: Americans in Paris

/ Lon Hetrick

Trois Belle Femmes

[Trois Belle Femmes on the streets of Paris. Taken with Nikon D40, May, 2013.]

This Photo Friday I’m sharing a small gallery of memories from our visit with Haley (middle in the photo above) in Paris. She will be coming home at the end of this month after a year of working as an Au Pair for a french family.

Our lives are so full of surprises; who knew we’d have a daughter living in Paris for a year? We never know what Providence will bring our way. Yes, Providence is an old fashioned word. But, in this crazy world, it’s a great comfort to trust in God’s wise and powerful governing of all things for His glory and the good of His children. Remembering Providence is especially comforting when we feel crushed by the memory of our big, stupid mistakes.

Hetrick Ladies in the Park
On the Street Near the Louvre
Motorcycles are a way of life in Paris
At the Eiffel Tower
Flowers on the Street
Dinner at a Café
A Curios Spectator

Monet’s Irises

/ Lon Hetrick / 1 Comment

Monet's Irises

[taken with Nikon D40 in Claude Monet’s Garden, Giverny, France, May, 2013.]

God’s first assignment to Adam was to tend a garden. I can’t imagine it being more colorful than the garden at Claude Monet’s home in Giverny, France.

This Photo Friday of irises in Monet’s garden calls to mind Adam’s creative commission and Monet’s ability to capture the impression of light, color and form on canvas.

You can see more photos from our visit to Monet’s garden on Lon’s personal Facebook page. (btw – we also have an Average Us Facebook page. Give us a “like.”)

Letting A Daughter Grow and Go

/ Dawn / 7 Comments

Eight years ago, my then 11-year-old daughter, who was tormented with anxiety and depression, looked at me with blackness in her eyes and said, “Momma, death would be better than this.”

The author and her daughter on her 18th birthday

Dawn & Haley on Haley’s 18th birthday

Then

She was diagnosed with social and separation anxiety, and the years between now and then were filled with many black days, much prayer over her, and a season of medication, as she was completely emotionally and spiritually dependent upon us; especially me, her mother. We put in a lot of hard work teaching her to trust Christ, and giving her the practical tools for living with a predisposition toward mental illness.

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