Parlez-vous française?

Posted on November 16, 2015 by David

When we arrived in Paris, France in 2009, we were on a mission – to learn to speak French so we could go to Cameroon.  It was an extremely hard year for us.  Neither David or myself ever had the desire to go to France – it wasn’t on either one of our bucket lists.

We did what we do; we adapted to life in the Paris area.  We buckled down and learned to read, write and speak French as best we could.  We enjoyed taking in the beauty of Jardin de Luxembourg.  We enjoyed the convenience and efficiency of public transportation – trains and buses.  We enjoyed eating wonderful baked creations from the boulangerie.  We enjoyed visiting Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, Versailles and learning about the long standing history in France.  The boys enjoyed our visits to the Playmobil Fun Park.

We have friends who live in Paris.  We are glad to report that we have been in contact with them via social media and they are safe.  Please continue praying for France and all who have lost loved ones.  Please pray for peace and comfort for all who are affected near or from afar.

Below are pictures from our time living in Massy, France.

009 100_1297 100_1313 100_1334 100_1383 100_1440 100_1451 100_1530 100_1531 100_1537 100_1564 100_1678 100_1882 100_1878 100_1886 100_1907 100_1948 100_1964 100_2051 100_2331 100_2390 100_2434 100_2500 100_2515

Posted in France | Tagged | 3 Comments

You Never Know

Posted on November 11, 2015 by David

Recently our pastor shared that you never know what someone is going through, so be nice to others.  I’ve known this for years and have had many times in my life where I was judgmental and later found out more about that person and felt so ashamed of myself.  It’s so true that you never know the road someone else is walking.  There are people surrounding us that are struggling and let’s face it we all struggle.  I think it’s important to answer the question, “How are you?” honestly.

The past three weeks have been difficult weeks for me.  In 2012 when we were in the USA for four months our focus was Jonah’s health, healing and therapy.  I thought I did all I could for my own health problems while we were at our debrief, however, I knew things weren’t right.  I sought additional medical care and needed to have surgery.  I whisked through the surgery, was cleared to leave again and we were on a jet plane returning to Cameroon.  About four months after returning to Cameroon, things weren’t right again.  I sought medical advice from my US doctor, sought medical advice from nurse friends and drove across Cameroon to see a missionary doctor, who is now my friend – thanks Trixie.  I was holding out until our return to seek additional medical attention.  I couldn’t schedule with the doctor I wanted because she was scheduling five months in advance, so I went with the three month in advance doctor in the practice.  I went for my medical check-up and it didn’t go well.  I had two different blood draws that week, the initial exam and an ultrasound.  The next week I had to return for another exam and was told to see another doctor about some of my blood work results.  Last week I had two biopsy collections performed and was told to schedule a return appointment in 7-10 days to go over the results in person.  I have to admit, I was scared and nervous.  I was thinking the worst, especially since her first inclination was to meet in person for the results.  I kept telling myself to calm myself down that I was only being asked to come back in person so she could charge another office visit, however, deep down that wasn’t convincing me to be calm.

In the past week, I’ve written this blog in my head many times for both good or bad results.  I’m so relieved and happy to report that the biopsies came back benign – no cancer cells present at this time.  I’m praising the Lord for His answer to prayers.  I know I’ve been a bit of a space cadet these last several weeks.  My mind has been elsewhere and I haven’t been sleeping well.  You just never know what someone else is going through.

Posted in home | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

What’s Going On?

Posted on November 6, 2015 by David

We are asked frequently, “what keeps you busy these days?”  In essence, what do you do with your time?

First of all, we are still missionaries with Wycliffe Bible Translators and we are on home assignment (furlough) for one year.  It’s suppose to be a year of rejuvenation after living overseas six years (filling our tanks so to speak after depleting them non-stop).  However, we aren’t just taking time to rejuvenate for one because it’s frowned upon by others and two because we like to serve in areas we can.

David volunteers two days a week at our home church helping in the office, with IT and with finances.  He also volunteers about 30 hours weekly from home with You Version Bible App. He helps solve problems people have in using the free App.

DeAnna volunteers one day a week at Jonah’s school.  She also has been staying occupied with running our home, communicating with those who financially and prayerfully partner with us, presenting about Cameroon in different settings and trying to solve some on-going medical issues.

Posted in home | Tagged | 3 Comments

Fresh Eyes

Posted on November 4, 2015 by David

I’ve been in awe of the beautiful fall colors in nature.  I think in part is due to not being exposed to fall colors for many years.  I remember in a Beth Moore study I participated in many years ago to point out beauty in nature and comment as, “Look at the sky God painted for us.”  I’ve been thinking, “Look at the trees God made and painted for us.”

Yesterday when I went on my walk I crunched some fallen fall leaves underfoot and smelled that incredible dusty, leaf smell and was immediately transported mentally to great memories of jumping in leaf piles.

Enjoy the beauty of the trees God made and painted for us.

IMG_0123 IMG_0124

 

Posted in home | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

My Provider

Posted on October 29, 2015 by David

I’m a H.O.T. (Honest, Open & Transparent) person.  Sometimes it’s not a great quality because I tend to share TMI (Too Much Information) and sometimes I fear I come across as too blunt or potentially harsh.  I also laugh at myself frequently.  I’m a klutz.  I’ve accidentally stabbed myself with a meat fork while walking to a grill.  I’ve walked directly into metal door frames that separate two glass doors.  The list goes on and on with all the injuries and embarrassment I’ve endured due to my klutziness.

I’m a peculiar person – I like loops.  When I run errands or go somewhere I like to make a loop.  For some reason, it bothers me to back track.  It’s the same in stores, I write my list in the order of the store because I don’t want to back track.  When stores change their layout’s it really bothers me.  My exercise of choice is walking.  I have several walking loops. I have my 3-mile loop, 4-mile loop and 5-mile loop.  Depending on the day I go on one of these loops.  Last week I was on my 5-mile loop.  This loop is a beautiful loop with a perfect combination of tranquil neighborhoods and nature.  On about mile three, nature called.  I hoped and thought I could surely hold it, however, my body wasn’t getting the message that I wanted to make it home to go.  Side note, I’m a princess when it comes to toilet paper.  I like Charmin!  In Cameroon there wasn’t Charmin, but I did find toilet paper that passed my softness test and it was expensive, but in my mind money well spent.  Here I am in the middle of my walk, in nature by a small creek and I’ve got to go.  I was trying to convince myself I just couldn’t go in the woods because I didn’t have toilet paper.  As I’m slowly walking at this point contemplating what to do, I saw a strand of toilet paper.  This strand was long, it was clean (it looked like remnants from someone tee peeing a tree), it was dry – no dew  and it was Charmin.  Thank you, Lord for providing even the simplest, yet necessary things in my life.

“And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches…” Phil 4:19

 

Posted in home | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Love

Posted on October 27, 2015 by David

Last week David was looking through Operation Christmas Child videos in hopes to find one that would be shown during church service.  He came across one of Christmas boxes being delivered in Cameroon.  It showed delivery in Baka land and also in Yaoundé (where we lived).  Although the video wouldn’t fit the criteria for showing it during service, David sent me the link so I could watch it.  It brought a smile to my face and a tears to my eyes.  I was a bit surprised at my reaction, but I was also comforted in my reaction.  Let me explain.  We lived in France for one year.  It was the hardest year so far of our marriage.  France for us was difficult and we were happy to leave at the end of our language study.  I appreciated our time in France because it was necessary and did help prepare us for Cameroon, however, viewed it as a necessary evil.  It has taken me years to reflect upon our time in France and have the feeling that I would want to return as a visitor.

Leaving Cameroon was different.  We had plenty of challenges there, daily life was much harder, our stress levels were high, however, it was also hard to say goodbyes and leave.  So I was comforted and encouraged when I watched the video and had an emotional reaction of happiness and missing it.  I was glad that was my reaction.

A little side note, when I have my quiet time, I read from my Bible that is falling apart and has my chicken scratch all over.  This Bible is a translation that is in my heart language.  I often feel as if this translation was written just for me.  This Bible stays at home due to it’s condition (I don’t want to lose parts of it) and I have a different Bible I take to church or to a Bible study, etc…  This morning during my quiet time, the passage to reflect upon was 1 Corinthians 13.  Of course many of us know it as the love chapter.  The verse and notes that stuck out to me were:

If I could speak in any language in heaven or on earth, but didn’t love others, I would only be making meaningless noise like a loud gong or clanging cymbal.

The notes I wrote next to this verse were written during a quiet time I had while in language study in France.  I wrote, if I learn French (at the time I was doubtful I would learn French), but never loved anyone in using my French, my learning it would be pointless.

When I read the verse and my notes, I smiled.  Wow, the Lord helped me learn French, allowed me to love others in using my French and brought this video in my path so I could see His hand in my life.  Merci Seigneur!

 

Posted in Cameroon, France, home | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Next ticket

Posted on October 21, 2015 by David

unnamed533420 was not just another number; it was an opportunity for me to help someone engage with the Word of God.

I once heard it said that God gave us computers to help advance and accelerate Bible Translation, and he just lets everybody else use them. Well now I’m saying that God has given us smart phones to be able to read all those translations anywhere we go He just lets everyone else use those too.

As a Wycliffe member and a User Advocate with YouVersion app I’m thankful that I’m able to connect people around the world with the Bible in their heart language and provide them with a way to connect with God’s WORD in their heart language

How can volunteering as a YouVersion User Advocate connect someone in Ethiopia with the scriptures in their mother tongue?

Well let me show you a recent dialogue that I had with someone.

1

Well it starts out simple. How can I change to my language on my phone, I do a quick check on my phone and see that the Amharic language is there, so I type in ##switch in my message box and it fills in the rest of the message for me except the sentence about Amharic.

2

I get a reply the next day that YouVersion doesn’t have the Amharic language.

3

Undeterred I just figure, they must be clicking in the wrong place because the language is there.

4

I receive another message the next day thanking me but after a thorough search it’s still not there.

5

So thinking maybe just the Bible wasn’t there I asked if they even saw the language.

6

And it wasn’t there!

7

So I send a screen shot of my screen and ask them to send one back.

Screenshot_2015-10-19-14-45-12

9

Screenshot_20151020-120316

Before I looked at tickets that morning I read my email and saw that YouVersion had just added another 86 languages and Amharic was one of them so I asked the user to clear their cache, which I do by simply typing ##cache in the message box and they responded by saying “It is all done now! I just got the best app in the language of my heart.”

12

11

Praise the Lord one more person engaging with God’s Word in the language of their heart.

One ticket at a time.

Posted in Wycliffe | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Encouragement

Posted on October 12, 2015 by David

It’s hard to explain the emotional, physical and mental toll of going through transition and adjustment.  We’re trying to give one another grace.  School here is very different than school in Cameroon.  The boys have been on a bumpy school transition.  This is the first time Jonah has ever attended school in the USA.  The last time Joshua attended school in the USA was for Kindergarten.

Part of Jonah’s class schedule is keyboarding.  Our boys have never had keyboarding.  David and I have tried to get the boys to play keyboarding games, etc… over the years, however, they would fight us on it.  Jonah has had a lot of frustration with keyboarding due to the amputation of one finger and limited motion of another on his left hand.  We have received numerous emails from his keyboarding teacher about him falling behind in his keyboarding class work.  He’s had homework to complete at home.  On Tuesday I received an email from his keyboarding teacher.  My mind immediately wondered – is he behind again?  did his frustration get the best of him and he lose it at school?  It was a wonderful surprise.  It read – I want to let you know that I have selected Jonah as the Elective Student of the Week. I chose Jonah for many reasons, two of which include his work ethic and  the way he constantly shows respect to both peers and teachers throughout the school day.

David and I were invited to the opening assembly time on Friday to watch him receive the award.  It was a surprise to him to receive the award and a surprise to see us at his assembly time.

receiving awardStudent of the week

Posted in home, Kids | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

Trees

Posted on September 28, 2015 by David

Once upon a time there was a young man and young woman who were excited about graduating college, starting careers, starting a family, earning money and living happily ever after.  During this time in their lives, they purchased a home that was a dream home to them.  While living in this home they planted two trees that were supposed to be the fastest growing hybrid trees, making claims that these trees would be fully grown (60 feet) within 10 years.  Their neighbors who purchased expensive, nursery trees that were larger at the time of planting, laughed at them saying this young family fell for a scam.  This family planted their sticks of trees in 2007 and had their oldest (4 year old at the time) pose by the trees.

front yard treebackyard tree

That family had their lives turn upside-down and inside-out as they decided to fully commit and say, “yes” to God’s call on their lives and needed to sell their home.  When they sold their home, they instructed the new owner on how to care for the trees to help insure the trees growth.

This family returned to the area after eight years of planting the trees and drove by their previous home.  They were shocked and amazed at how large the trees had grown.  They smiled because they knew the new owner cared for the trees they planted, insuring their growth.  They smiled when they looked across the street at the neighbors trees that were planted close to the same time and those trees haven’t grown much at all.

front treefront and back tree

Posted in home, Kids | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Grasshopper Grip

Posted on September 23, 2015 by David

A couple of weeks ago there was a grasshopper sitting on the passenger side mirror of our van when we went to get in the van.  I was surprised that the grasshopper didn’t jump off when the door opened and closed.  I thought once we start moving, the grasshopper will jump off.  That didn’t happen.  This little grasshopper held on tight as we started down the highway.  We were traveling at 60 mph and his antenna were laying flat in the wind, but he refused to let go.  This grasshopper continued on the side mirror for about 10 miles until when one of his legs lifted a bit he lost his grip and flew off.

grasshopper 2

I’ve felt much like this grasshopper for years now.  I feel with all the transitions and challenges we’ve faced that I’ve been trying to hold on without losing my grip – survive!  Since our return, I’ve been well aware that I need to be still and acknowledge God as the supremacy in my life.  This time of limbo is very difficult – not knowing what’s next – where will we be living for the next school year?  what role will we be filling?  will others want to be part of our team?  are we hurting our boys by living a nomadic life?

I’ve been taking time to rest in His grip.

grasshopper

 

Posted in home | Tagged , , | 2 Comments