Hope

Posted on March 8, 2010 by David

Today was the first day back to school for the kids after the vacances (French spelling always plural in French). As we dropped the boys off at school DeAnna spotted one of the moms that she’s had several conversations with and who recently had a baby. DeAnna asked her, how’s the baby? The woman responded in tears, My baby is dead – I only had my baby 28 days.

Breaking all cultural barriers, DeAnna gave this woman a hug (they don’t do this in France) and just spent a few minutes listening to her share her broken heart. The woman is not French and her husband is working in another country at the moment and she is very lonely living in a country where she doesn’t speak the language and recently lost her hope.

We offered her our assistance in anything she needs but as she continues to drop her older child off at Jonah’s school we will continue to see her and I hope that the Hope that we have will be able to penetrate her heart. We might be here to learn French but our first job is to simply show the love that Jesus has given to us to those around us.

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. (Psalm 62:5)

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Morning Devotions

Posted on March 5, 2010 by David

This morning after David and I had our quiet time we were discussing the passages we read.  He asked about a specific verse and I read it from my Bible, New Living Translation.  He also was reading this morning from NLT, but his was slightly different than mine.

David asked me for the date of the copyright in my Bible because he was thinking it must be a different edition.  I flipped to the front to see the copyright date and saw something that I never saw before.

The following is what from the front of my Bible. 

Each sale of the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, benefits Wycliffe Bible Translators, which completed its five hundredth New Testament in 1999 and plans to undertake translation work for every language that needs it by 2025.  Tyndale House Publishing and Wycliffe Bible Translators share the vision for an understandable, accurate translation of the Bible for every person.

I purchased this Bible at least 8 years ago and did not even know that I was supporting Wycliffe in Bible translation and the Bible had a summary of Vision 2025 this whole time blows my mind.  David’s NLT Bible had the same statement.  Wow!  God is so amazing in every detail!

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National Disaster in France

Posted on March 1, 2010 by David

Today the President of France declared a “National Disaster” because of the strong storms that battered Western Europe Saturday night and Sunday. The news reports that the wind was 175 km/h (over 100 mph) at the top of the Eiffel Tower. There at least 45 people have died because of the storm around France.

Read More

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Why did you take the picture?

Posted on February 24, 2010 by David

The owner of the pizza shop was confused as he came out of the pizza store, Why? (In English the rest of his sentence was in French). We currently have our first out of town guest staying with us and she wanted to take a picture of a local pizza shop with scooter delivery vehicles. So after shopping at the nearby grocery store she snapped a picture of the store. We were about to be on our walk back home when the man in the pizza shop came outside and demanded an explanation on why a picture was taken.

Our guest wasn’t exactly sure what the man said so DeAnna explained why the picture was taken. He understood her French but he didn’t understand why anyone would want a picture of the pizza shop. So DeAnna tried to explain that pizza shop’s are different looking in the United States. Still confused, I think he decided that we were not out to copy his pizza store and decided to let us go.

I’m not really sure what caused the excitement with at the pizza shop but it’s a new way for us to practice our French. Walk around and take pictures and when someone asks you why, they have begun a conversation with you and you can practice your French and I’m sure they will be quick to correct you since they were quick to question your pictures – My guess this will only work outside of Paris.

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Ultimate quick Tour of Paris

Posted on February 24, 2010 by David

In order to get the best value out of your all day RER/Metro ticket I have created the ultimate one day trip that will allow you to “see” a large percentage of the tourist spots in Paris. I spent countless minutes reviewing my pocket RER/Metro map to determine the best route for the day. This route has been thoroughly tested and I personally have been a tour guide to this plan.

Start – Board the RER at Massy Verrières (B) (Don’t forget to validate your ticket before going up the stairs to the platform)

Joshua and Jonah in front of the Eiffel towerStop 1 : St-Michel Notre Dame – This is a great location to start any trip in Paris. You can start your day off with a quick confession or just pray in the cathedral that has been here since 1163 (although construction was not completed until around 1345) There are signs that say no flash photos but I don’t think there is anyone that enforces this rule because there were flashes going off everywhere.

Stop 2 : Hôtel de Ville – Currently there is an ice skating rink setup in front of city hall so you can either rent some skates or just watch for a few minutes and then cross the street for a quick bite to eat at a world famous restaurant. The English translation of the name is spelled McDonald’s; it’s very popular with the locals and the tourists.

Stop 3 : Palais Royal Musée du Louvre – After lunch the best way to work off the calories is to walk around the Louvre. (Walking in the Louvre is expensive so walking around the outside lets you experience it for free) You can also take the Metro directly there and shop in the Carrousel while you are there and if you have to use the restrooms while you are there it will cost 1 euro. (But they do clean the toilets between each use.) There are plenty of sculptures to see in the courtyard of the Louvre for free so I recommend walking the courtyard but watch out for the birds or they might leave a work of art on you, DeAnna was privileged to have one of these special packages left on her coat. Also, you should be able to talk the street vendors into at least 4 Eiffel tower key chains for 1 euro, so don’t go with their first offer.

Stop 4 : Walk along the Seine – A trip to Paris would not be complete without a stroll down the Seine, so hop back on the Metro and there are multiple stops to pick depending on how far you feel like walking. I think 2km gives you a good feel for the river.

Stop 5 : Pont de l’Alma – For the fans of the Statue of Liberty and Princess Diana this stop allows you to see a replica of the flame that is on the Statue and also under the flame is the tunnel where the Princess Diana had her tragic car accident.

Stop 6 :  Arc de Triomphe – A trip to Paris is not complete without seeing Arc de Triomphe also know as one crazy round-about. I think it offers some of the best views of Paris, but the views are not for the faint of heart since there are 234 steps to get to the top.

Stop 7 : Eiffel Tower – I saved the most important stop for last. The Eiffel Tower, if you really like walking up steps there are 704 steps to get to the top. We chose instead to stick with ice cream and cotton candy at the base and take several pictures to prove we were there.

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Important dates

Posted on February 22, 2010 by David

There are many important dates that I need to remember, some with a higher degree of importance. My wedding anniversary, family members birthdays, mother’s day, Valentine’s Day (almost forgot this one this year) and another date that has special meaning to me is today. February 22, 2004 I had just finished listening to a sermon that was going to have a greater impact on my life then I could have ever imagined at the time. My Bible had a section in the back for Notes that I do not normally use – normally I just write in the margins. But this day I had to write down the three points to Pastor Gary’s sermon.

  1. Get out of debt
  2. Get a passport
  3. Get ready to go

He had just gotten back from India and he was sharing his heart and the passion he had spilled out onto several of us there that day and a seed for missions was firmly planted. Seems simple but it would be another 2 years before I would even start on point number one after I wrote it down but once I finished step one step 2 and 3 came fast. As I think back 6 years ago I could not even begin to imagine learning another language and moving to a place I have never visited but God had another plan and writing down the 3 points was a way to help me remember what I knew I needed to do.

Is there anything that you have written down that you have wanted to do? What are you waiting for?

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Na`vi

Posted on February 21, 2010 by David

There is no one that was born speaking Na`vi since it was created for the movie Avatar for the moon Pandora, that doesn’t exist. Yet there are almost half a million websites that will teach you how to speak this language. I think I’ll stick with learning French for now.

Today is International Mother Language Day (February 21st), the day set aside by UNESCO to promote unity in diversity and international understanding, through multilingualism and multiculturalism. The more I learn a new language the more I appreciate and understand the importance of speaking to someone in their mother tongue.

The movie Avatar does a tremendous job of showing the importance of speaking a mother tongue in order to understand the people and also to understand how to relate to them. Trust had to be gained and that happened in part through the speaking of the mother tongue.

There are 6,909 languages living languages on the planet and the majority of these languages do not have half a million website to learn how to speak them. But there is a message of hope that transcends language barriers and my prayer is that this movie will be used to create a new excitement in the study of linguistics and those 2000+ languages that have not heard the message of hope in their mother tongue will finally hear the message.

For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NLT)

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Shoes

Posted on February 20, 2010 by David

Jonah's shoes

Joshua's shoes

We walk many miles in a day to and from schools and stores.  Joshua likes to run ahead of us because everything in his mind is a race and he wants to win.  We noticed his heels and legs were leaning inward.  With closer examination we realized that the sneakers that we purchased in October are completely worn out.  He literally walked through the soles.  Even though Jonah rides on Daddy’s shoulders the majority of the time, his shoes are wearing out from the inside.  We made a trip to a shoe store and now the boys each have a pair of sneakers to make their walks more comfortable and stable.

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Qui coupe le fromage? (Who cut the cheese?)

Posted on February 17, 2010 by David

Today our school offered an extra-curricular activity of a French cheese tasting.  We had our own at home tasting shortly after arrival and weren’t impressed, so I thought now I might be more cultured.

The chef conducting the tasting forewarned us that we would go in the order of most mild to the strongest.  The chef gave us tips on how to use the cheese in cooking.

We started with a taste of Bruccio, it is made of fresh sheep milk and it was very mild with a ricotta cheese texture. Our second taste test was Saint-nectaire, it smelled like sweaty sneakers.  The taste was mild compared to the smell. The third cheese was Abondance and this was my favorite.  It is made from cow’s milk, very mild with a slight spicy aftertaste.  The forth cheese was Fourme d’Ambert, this cheese is full of green fuzz and smelled like a dirty hamster cage, the taste wasn’t bad.  The fifth cheese was Brie de Meaux, I’ve never been a fan of brie (except when prepared in a puff pastry with raspberry jam, walnuts and dried cranberries).  This brie was okay and I learned that some people buy brie noire (black brie) and it is brie that has aged 2 years and turned black.

The last 2 cheeses she had to keep tightly wrapped in many layers of plastic wrap prior to the tasting because she said the smell is too strong and we would need to open the windows.  She opened the next cheese, Pélardon affine.  This cheese has a grayish, green exterior and is made from goat’s milk.  The smell was strong and the taste was also strong.  I could eat it without complications, but I definitely didn’t need a second taste.  The last cheese, the strongest we tried was Munster.  This is NOT the munster that is normally on cheese party platters in the United States, oh no, this is definitely a totally different breed.  This Munster smelled like a port-a-potty and had a similar taste.

I now know why some people ask “who cut the cheese?” with certain distinct odors, because he/she must have eaten French cheese, to know that distinct odor is similar to certain cheeses.  So there you have it, in case you are wanting to throw a Party of France.

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From the mouth of an MK (Missionary Kid)

Posted on February 15, 2010 by David

Last night our family looked at pictures from the past 10 years.  One of the pictures was the home we sold in Pleasant Hill, MO.  Jonah looked at the picture and asked, “When do we get to go back to our home?”  Without skipping a beat, Joshua said, “First we live in France, then we live in Cameroon and when we go back to the United States, we will just have sleep over’s.”  Wow, from the mouth of an MK (Missionary Kid)

From the book “You know you’re an MK when….”

  1. You do your devotions in another language
  2. You sort your friends by continent
  3. “Where are you from?” has many reasonable answers
  4. You’d rather never say hello than have to say goodbye
  5. You’ve spoken in dozens of churches but aren’t a pastor
  6. You flew before you could walk
  7. The U.S. is a foreign country
  8. You watch a National Geographic special and recognize someone
  9. Your favorite Christmas presents are peanut butter and Kool-Aid
  10. You have a time zone map next to your telephone

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