“ETINCELLE”
This last chapter is the chance to end the year on a meaningful note. Je ne veux pas le rater.
Yet I sit at the dining room table, facing the blank screen, listening for inspiration as the rain falls outside. “Il pleut, Bergère !” Jean-Marc sings. Behind me, my husband is tinkering in the kitchen: pots and pans meet like noisy tambourines as he filters his latest batch of ginger-lemon kombucha. When he’s done with the pan-clanking, he scrapes a piece of burnt toast. After a crunchy breakfast, he makes his way over to the fireplace to begin tearing up a cardboard box. The range of noise plays like a pick along the chords of my concentration.
Bon. Réfléchis ! Think! A meaningful “note” to end the year…. What about the early morning conversation with Jean-Marc? And that “spark”…
For several years now, we’ve begun our day reading from The One Year Love Language Minute Devotional. I appreciate my husband’s willingness to review this book with me, especially as we differ in our beliefs. I believe in Jesus. Jean-Marc believes in nature.
But this morning, I took a small leap of faith. Ever hopeful my better half will one day be overcome with a firm conviction, I doublechecked his spiritual temperature:
“What would it take for you to believe in God?” I ventured.
“A spark,” Jean-Marc decided, after a moment of reflection.
“A spark? Do you mean you need to feel or see something to believe?”
“I guess.”
I considered the spark that would change everything. Entre le doute et la foi all that was needed was…une étincelle… A spark was possible. But it might not happen right away. What if it took a lifetime? Doubts crowded in as I closed our book. I watched my husband leave the room to disappear down the stairs. In his peaceful wake, Ricci leaped off the bed to join him. That’s when the thought came:
Let faith be that spark.
The words sounded brilliant in the moment and, buoyed by the idea, I quickly dressed and hurried downstairs—only to find myself easily aggravated by the clatter of pots and pans, burnt toast, and cardboard.
It’s easy to feel faith-filled while reading an uplifting meditation. How quickly it dissolves into impatience and grumpiness. Forget let faith be that spark. How about let me be that spark? As my mom says, “Let this experience polish you up.”
And what is polished, sparkles… I’m smiling now, wondering which comes first—the spark or the sparkle, the chicken or the egg. Life will always be a mystery. But one thing feels certain: how we move through the ordinary moments matters. In kindness, patience, and love. Belief begins there.
That’ll close this chapter. Until the next, I wish you a sparkling new year, full of faith, hope, and love: un sacré trio of étincelles to light the way.
FRENCH VOCABULARY
Je ne veux pas le rater = I don’t want to miss it
Il pleut, Bergère ! = It’s raining, shepherdess! (a line from a French nursery rhyme)
bon = well/OK
réfléchir (réfléchis) = to think (think!)
une étincelle = a spark
les étincelles = sparks
sacré = sacred / blessed
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I guess I would have to ask the question:
How would you recognize The Spark? Surely life has already sparkled for Jean-Marc many times already. In fact, The Spark has most likely appeared and not recognized for what It was. Sound familiar? Bonne chance!
Happy New Year, Kristin.
What Bob said: “Happy New Year”, Kristi and family. With love and appreciation from a very cold SW Virginia!
Such a beautiful post. I loved the audio, the description of the sounds as he moved over to the couch . Perfect thoughts for the new year💛🙏💐🐾
I love this! Thank you for starting my day with such a lovely message.
So beautiful! Wishing you and your family and Very Happy New Year filled with love, health and happiness.
Happy & Blessed New Year wishes to you & yours!
As a person of faith, myself, I think your husband ‘believing’ in nature is very funny! Because, of course, who has created all the nature he loves? God, of course. I love nature; I live in the middle of a large woods. My joy in nature is increased by the minute, mathematical precision that God has put into the nature & the entire world he has made. Right down to atomic & subatomic particles there is an order, it is all so clearly planned & created. No mere chance could create such.
I would be interested in what you both think of the books of Lee Strobel, a lawyer who started out wanting to ‘disprove’ the Bible & ended up coming to faith in Jesus Christ, his & all of our, Savior! God works in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform.
The only other thing I would say is: pray without ceasing for your husband & all in your life who need to know God & know true peace! I’m sure you already do. The Bible tells us the prayer of the righteous availeth much.
Best wishes as a sister in the faith,
Hi Kristi,
Love the post today and the photos! You could focus on Jesus as the Good Shepherd who helps find the lost. Pray for JM to open his heart and pray that Jesus will reveal His love to him.
Happy New Year!
Blessings,
Eileen
Lovely photos to accompany a thought provoking post. I have always heard the phrase, lead by example. You can be the spark that ignites his flame. Live your beliefs and trust God to help him notice the good that you do. The idea of a joint morning meditation is wonderful and be thankful he is willing to share that with you. Be patient, do not push, let your light shine and pray that God will help him open his heart. Have a blessed new year and let nature lift your spirits and rejoice in what God has created for you to enjoy and enrich your life.
Our dear Kristi,Milleurs voeux pour une bonne et heureuse 2026!!!( et toujours!)
Every post you write is full of inspiration and faith! But today’s reaches out and wraps itself around and through all of our hearts! Faith! YES!!!
Followed by hope and gratitude to our Father for so many unending blessings!
Especially for the gift of you in our lives! You lead us in ways that are impossible to put in words!
Arms tight around you and your beautiful family.
Love
Natalia xo
Dear Kristi,
I hope I am not being presumptuous or intrusive in sharing a thought that came to mind after reading your beautiful message today.
Faith can be different for different people. As he relates to nature, Jean-Marc might be experiencing belief in his own way. The beauty of the terrain, changing of the seasons, phases of the moon and tides of the sea, the balance of flora and fauna and so much more. Does believing in nature indicate a faith in something bigger than we are? Perhaps his spark will come to him someday, although Jean-Marc seems to sparkle in his own way now as you do in yours, sharing a faith that may manifest itself in different ways but showing kindness, patience and love. Faith in something larger than life itself can bring comfort. Wishing you all faith, hope and love in the New Year…the greatest of these being love, which then opens up to faith and hope.
I am reminded of the hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful. It brings together God and Nature.
Thanks Kristi! What glorious pictures. And what lovely moments in your home. I felt like i was there. And I understand how one can feel spiritual and peaceful one moment and angry the next! I guess that’s my goal for the coming year. To be more aware and change my ways. Happy New Year!
I am with JM. I was a church/ religion person because my mother told me this was the way. It was good enough until I began to experience god in nature and felt moved to pray there as I felt wrapped in the arms of god. I didn’t feel this in church although there is nothing wrong with being there. It is nice and quiet.
What I don’t understand is why “religious” people, I.e., those who go to church, and believe in Jesus or some other entity, always try to get others to do what they do and believe what they believe. I find that a very arrogant, self righteous
attitude of being in the world. “I have the truth, no mystery, Jesus is God…and there is nothing else to talk about! “There”! , they say. (because somebody told us so) God is Mystery! No one knows who or what god in its essence is. Early church fathers decided to make Jesus God because of the political strife people of that day and that location were experiencing. (Counsel of Nicaea and of Constantinople.) So many jumped on board and started to follow this because they were told to. And to avoid fire and brimstone of hell, they were told.!
Nothing wrong with emulating Jesus , Buddha, etc, etc. We try to emulate parents & teachers, etc and that is not a bad thing.
Sooner or later, if we remain open however, we will begin to ask questions. The “old” answers will no longer fit and we begin a truly spiritual quest to find new answers to old questions. “We must put away the ways of a child” who swallow whole what they are taught by humans without question. Questioning takes us to a deeper place…and that is good. And some are comfortable where they are…a lot easier, spiritual lethargy.
I will follow my way and let others follow theirs. No need to tell them what to follow.
Lovely newsletter as always. I have to note though that the previous writer is absolutely correct. Those who are not religious simply aren’t religious. In many cases some of those people are the most moral people you will meet. The spiritual world doesn’t interest them which is probably why they are so in the moment and trying to make their life as meaningful as possible. When a problem presents itself they don’t ask a god to solve it but take care of it through hard work. To those nonbelievers the vocabulary of the faithful is incomprehensible.
In that we respect different religions we also need to respect the nonbelievers’beliefs. They have the same rights to hold those ideas as the religious do theirs.
But we are believers in God, we just don’t believe it is Jesus or Buddha, etc. we believe in the mystery & that is humility. God is too vast to be relegated to a mere human. And we pray when we have problems, and we pray with so much gratitude for god’s presence in our life and for all the things god has given and and continues to give! We pray for others suffering, etc. & for those who have died. And God is so present in our lives, we would not want it any other way! If I did not have god, I wouldn’t want to be here. God is everything and all else flows from that.
Perhaps God and nature are one in the same? Maybe you and Jean-Marc are closer together in your beliefs than you think…. Happy New Year!
Yes
What a lovely piece for the end of the year. Thank you, Kristi, for these thoughts.
I have loved reading you for many years. You keep me in contact with france my favorite country in the world. One of the things I really appreciate about the French is they are secular in other words they believe in science and logic. Leave Jean Marc alone in his beliefs. As a Secular person I know how tough it is to live in the world of the religious. We can leave you to your fantasy. Atheist don’t preach and we don’t try to change other people please remember that. Boné
Wishing you a happy new year
Yes
What a lovely way to end the\is year and begin the next. Happy New Year and know that your writing is a spark in my week.
I have been following you for at least 17 years This is probably my favorite blog post you have ever made. I appreciated your post about revealing your sobriety and, little did you know, it really touched me. I mean, it really touched me. The post today reminds me of a song we used to sing in our youth group, “Pass It On” (I am revealing my age). “It only takes a spark to get a spark to get a fire going.” When a friend of mine hit a really hard spot in her life. She said she called on the Lord because she had witnessed my faith. At the time, I had probably known her 20 years. We never know what people see in us. I have said to people who do not believe in Jesus, “ask God to show himself to you.” Don’t make a request to see Him in certain way. Let it be His way, but obvious. I can’t doubt that God would reveal himself to them. I pray today that Jean-Marc will see a spark. That your faith, and that of your mother, will be an example to him, once the spark is ignited. God can do BIG things. May God bless you and may He ignite the spark in Jean-Marc, and receive all of the glory.
Let this experience polish you up…I love this!
Amen!
Happy Sparkling New Year to you and your beautiful family! I love your thought-provoking and kindly words. Looking forward to Jackie’s next post.
Merci, Kristi, Tu es une étoile!
Catholics believe that the Book of John, which unlike the books of Matthew and Luke with Nativity parables, omits the story of the birth of Christ in favor of a group of parables of the SIGNS which Jesus performed. It was written for an audience of unbelievers. There are all kinds of spiritual experiences which cause people to believe. Some people struggle throughout a lifetime to learn about and study their faith, others just believe instantly or possible intuitively like John, and, of course, there is the famous parable about Doubting Thomas who needed to see and touch before he believed.
Wishing you good health, joy, and prosperity in the New Year!
Amitiés,
Joanne
Yes!
Happy New Year to you and your family! Your writing brings joy into my life, and I am grateful for it and for you.
Your writing is so polished already, but this post definitely adds a new kind of sparkle; a sparkle of seeking. Some are content they have found God in beautiful Nature, some in beautiful Church, some in their own beautiful Hearts. All are right. God is in Everything and Everything is in God! All One. All God.
Yes! Absolutely!
Beautiful entry today! Merci!
Joyous New Year, Kristi! Thank you for always adding sparkle to my day! I enjoyed your thoughtful message and your photos.
Dear Kristi – your desires for Jean Marc are good and aligned with the Lord God’s desires for him (and for all mankind).
I point you to the Bible, where you can find all truth. I would urge you to read the bible together (the one needed for this kind of spark). The Word of God is needed and hearing it is the beginning. Romans 10:17 says “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”
I am open to a private conversation with Jean Marc (or anyone) seeking to know more about Jesus and the salvation and eternal life with the Father, that comes by Grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ alone.
We can all learn how to have the assurance of salvation and eternal life in Christ – it’s no mystery. It’s in the bible for all who seek to know Him and know truth.
With love and prayers, ~Beth
Happy New Year, Kristin. A beautiful reflection. Can I add a thought? I have always been taught that faith is believing without seeing. That’s what makes it hard.
Bon bout d’an! Thanks for yet another great blog! I appreciate having this new “window” into your lives. You have hinted at how Jean-Marc “sees the world” but this confirms my suspicions. Be encouraged that you ARE a spark to him (and many others!) so continue being faithful in that. And keep on praying since only God can open a person’s eyes.
Bonne année et surtout la santé. ❤️
Kristi, I will pray that Jean-Marc receives a faith étincelle in 2026. And I wish you a very successful and happy New Year. Looking forward to your next message!❤️
What a beautiful encouragement in faith to remind us of the truth of Christmas. Praying that all the family will experience the blessing of the true joy, peace and hope of Christmas now and in the new year.
Happy New Year!
Happy new year 2026. May God bless us all. After many science classes, believing without evidence can lead you astray. It’s easy to believe in nature. If you don’t learn it’s lessons, it’ll cost ya. But I start a lot of days watching “Understanding the Universe”. The universe is profoundly humbling. Our nature is pretty Earth specific. That said, my spark was a lot of grief and loss. Overwhelming. Others have had far worse, but this was mine. At wits end, I asked God/Jesus for help because.. why not. All I can say is that I changed… peace that surpasses understanding. Surpasses the limits of language. Though, to this day, when things get stressy, a slow and thoughtful Lord’s Prayer gets me back on track. Don’t fret the small stuff? And the big stuff is in big hands. IMHO.
Bonne bout d’année, Kristi ! Merci pour un bel article. Je prie pour une étincelle pour Jean-Marc pendant cette nouvelle année.
My husband and I have visited France for the past twenty years and have made many friends there. The differences in culture are very apparent when discussing faith. Or lack thereof. We have learned to tread carefully, letting the Spirit lead. The amazing news is that we have had the privilege of leading a couple of friends into our Father’s hands. Not because of our words but because of our lives. What a privilege. I will be in prayer of your sweet husband.
Beautiful post, the love and human struggle are palpable, honest and touching. The view from my small corner of the world is that we are all held by the same Mystery, which seems to love us unconditionally & delights in our individual ways of learning, loving & being human. So, sparkle on, Jean-Marc! Sparkle on, Kristi! Sparkle on, everybody!