NEW FRIENDS

One of the things I love most about our life in Paris is the diversity of our friends.  We don't all look alike, we don't all believe alike, we don't all think alike and we don't all live alike.  Among our closest friends are John and Sharon.  David met John early on through the men's Bible study (which, by the way, he attended even before we moved here!),  and we always referred to him (John) as "John the Boatman" because he lived on a boat and that differentiated him from other Johns.

As happens, I later met Sharon and we've been doing a study with our pastor's wife and another new friend on Thursday mornings.  You know when you meet someone and you just click with them?  I've always believed you don't really choose your friends...you may choose who you hang around with, but a true friend is almost like magic....you meet and immediately there is a connection.  A gift from God.  I love when that happens!!

So, that's what happened with John and Sharon.  We visit at church,  had coffee after Bible study,  had lunch after church.  I have loved getting to know Sharon and hearing her story, which is soooo different from my own.  Both John and Sharon are Americans, but their journey has been very different from ours.  Sharon had a successful career as a fashion designer before marrying John in her forties.  Their life together became a moving one as they both sailed and decided to sail the world.  For many years (ten, I think) they sailed exotic places staying in various ports and enjoying the culture of many countries.  Health concerns ended their open sea sailing, they sold their sailboat and bought a traditional Dutch-built steel canal boat where they now live six months in Paris on the canal and six months in their home in the US.

Seraphim-home on water!

This is  John and Sharon's "neighborhood"-this picture was from a calendar page we have

Last Friday they invited us to dinner on the boat,  and we were so excited to see how they live.
We spent hours (literally we left at 1:30 a.m.!!!!) visiting and exchanges stories.  They absolutely love their life and almost make you want to live the same way!!  They're getting ready to head back to the US, and I hate that, but they'll be back in October.  I think this sweet couple will be one we carry in our hearts long after we're back in the States in our regular life.  God is good!