St. Ceneri and the Miracle of the Spring

Six years ago I was in the middle of planning my first mission trip with K.J. to Paris to Emmanuel International Church.  Since the trip was in May (our anniversary month), and because we were already there, we also planned to stay a week after the mission trip to do a little extra exploring.  My Pinterest search of beautiful places in France came up with a quaint village that we loved.  I have two blog posts of beautiful May pictures here and here.  

While we were driving that little rental car around Normandy we talked about the possibility of life and ministry in Europe.  We talked about it again with Parker at the end of that trip.  We couldn't have known that six years later we'd be visiting this same little village again with our kids and our lovely music leader from EIC Ternes!  

This visit didn't take place in the full bloom of May, but in the muddy middle of the first week of March.  After a sunny and warm farewell to February, March blew in like a lion, and I couldn't get over how cold I felt.  Once you feel the first warmth of spring it's hard to go back to winter's cold.  Even so, the village was as quiet and peaceful as we remembered it.

We squelched through the mud to the river's edge where a sign told us of a miracle spring that came up centuries ago.  The story seemed a little suspect, both because Why did you need a spring when the river was right there?  and because immediately after the saint required another miracle to get across the river, which to our minds, didn't seem like it would be that hard to swim.  

But the stones that mark the spring are really pretty.

We got caught in a downpour shortly after this, and we all climbed back into the car with wet coats and muddy boots, but it was a pretty little spot to stretch our legs all the same.