Useless to Useful

Posted on February 14, 2010 by David

Today in church I was having a hard time following exactly what was being preached on, the joys of attending church in French. I understood the main point he was getting at because I followed along when he read the Scripture from John chapter 2 on the miracle Jesus did at the wedding feast when he turned water to wine.  To the majority of the French, wine is the most important liquid on the planet and I’m pretty sure there are more government agencies that inspect and govern wine in France then water, so I was trying hard to follow along with what he was saying. I thought I understood what he was saying but then he said something else and all the French laughed; I didn’t see any language students laugh.  Some Sundays I seem to follow along better than others, I guess some people use more words that I understand.

As I was sitting there I said a brief prayer and asked God to reveal what He wanted me to understand and almost immediately I understood the point that the speaker was making. Jesus took the useless water and made into something useful for the wedding feast. When Jesus is in control he will transform us for his plans and his Glory just like he transformed the water into wine.

My prayer is that he will continue to transform me day by day.

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Corrections

Posted on February 10, 2010 by David

For the last few months it has felt like we have been living in a constant state of being corrected. After months of hearing similar statements it’s hard to isolate constructive words of instruction and criticism.

  • You’re saying it wrong
  • You spelled it wrong
  • You can’t use the verb that way
  • You can’t walk there
  • You can’t take that
  • You need a different preposition
  • This is not the correct article

The other day I read a blog that highlighted the importance of being corrected. It gave the example of how Jethro corrected Moses and one of the points that hit close to home with me was “correction is an opportunity to cultivate valuing God’s glory and other people’s good above our reputation. It helps us not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think.”

My prayer this week is that I will not let my pride get in the way of my learning of French and that I will not grow frustrated when I don’t have the correct words to say but I will continue to press on toward the goal.  I pray that I will remember that I am to offer my body as a living sacrifice and that includes my mind, I know that I am not to conform to the world and I am thankful that he uses others to correct and teach me the French language.

For the last few months it has felt like we have been living in a constant state of being corrected. After months of hearing similar statements it’s hard to isolate constructive words of instruction and criticism.

· You’re saying it wrong

· You spelled it wrong

· You can’t use the verb that way

· You can’t walk there

· You can’t take that

· You need a different preposition

· This is not the correct article

The other day I read a blog that highlighted the importance of being corrected. It gave the example of how Jethro corrected Moses and one of the points that hit close to home with me was “correction is an opportunity to cultivate valuing God’s glory and other people’s good above our reputation. It helps us not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think.”

My prayer this week is that I will not let my pride get in the way of my learning of French and that I will not grow frustrated when I don’t have the correct words to say but I will continue to press on toward the goal.  I pray that I will remember that I am to offer my body as a living sacrifice and that includes my mind, I know that I am not to conform to the world and I am thankful that he uses others to correct and teach me the French language.

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Skype

Posted on February 2, 2010 by David

SkypeI’m thankful for the invention of Skype. We are able to see family and friends back in the states and they are able to see us and seeing someone face to face makes them almost feel like they are in the same room with you. This weekend we were able to feel like we were back at our home church in Missouri when we skyped in for the service and the pastor was able to ask us some questions and everyone was able to see us and listen to our responses. It was also nice to be able to greet people as they left the church and watch the church service live from France!

Skype is also being used in Bible Translation. The Mara Cluster Project conducted a Bible translation consultant check of the Gospel of Luke, chapter 22 in the Simbiti language. The consultant was in Holland and the translation team in a small town in Tanzania. Computers are playing a critical role in accelerating the pace of Bible Translation.

God created computers for missions – He just lets everyone else use them. (Unknown)

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Praying in another language

Posted on January 28, 2010 by David

Today in chapel we had a special prayer service. The advanced students listed some of the prayer concerns of the countries that they are preparing to serve in and one of the students will be serving with us in Cameroon. After they finished sharing the needs we broke up into smaller groups and picked one of the countries to pray for. I still struggle to find the words quickly in French and I know that this will come with more practice but as I was praying (mumbling) I kept thinking about Romans 8:26.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

Merci Seigneur pour ta Parole et pour ta grâce. Aide-moi avec apprendre la français. Amen


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Violence in Nigeria

Posted on January 21, 2010 by David

Sometimes is difficult to understand why doors are closed when everything seems to be pointing in a certain direction but one of the cites that DeAnna and I were looking at serving in was Jos Nigeria (english speaking) but doors were closed and we were shown the direction he wanted us to go was to Cameroon. Today I pray for those in Jos and am thankful for his ways.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.  Isaiah 55:8

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/africa/Religious-Violence-Nigerian-City-Spreads–82183557.html

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Puppet Show

Posted on January 14, 2010 by David

We had two little boys that were looking for something to do on the day off so DeAnna build a puppet show stage for Jonah out of a box that she found. Then we downloaded some pictures of different monsters and tapped them to a piece of cardboard for puppets and voila instant puppet show stage and puppets for free! Jonah had fun pretending to have the monsters fight each other and it was fun to watch him hide behind his stage and act out the entire performance.

His brother was occupied with something else until he realized how much fun his brother was having being silly and making up monster stories. But the stage said Jonah’s Spectacle de Puppets which meant, at least to Jonah, that his brother could not play behind the stage. I suggested to Jonah that he hire his brother to work for him and he could share his monster puppets. Without blinking Jonah said OK to me and then he said to Joshua, “You can sell popcorn for my puppet show.”

Posted in France, home, Kids | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Official Medical Exam

Posted on January 12, 2010 by David

This afternoon we were required to complete our Carte de Sejour (residency papers to stay in France).  My appointment was 1 hour before David’s, so I traveled to the office and started being processed.  The first stop after reception was height & weight, the second stop was vision & blood sugar, the third stop was radiology (they were checking for TB, maybe it is just me, but shouldn’t they check this during the Visa procedure before a person enters the country and exposes people for several months), the fourth stop was to talk to a doctor without my shirt on – I automatically thought of the Jerry Seinfeld joke about having to undress at doctor’s offices and when he says, “The doctor will not talk to you unless you are not wearing clothes.”

He was evaluating my paperwork that I carried from room to room.  He asked me, “Did you marry your cousin?”  Very puzzled, I said, “NO!”  He said, “Why is your nom (last name) the same as your husband’s?”  Remembering another time I ran into this confusion with registering the boys for school here, I explained that in the United States women usually take their husband’s name and do not hyphenate with their maiden and married names, like in France.  He looked at me very seriously and said, “I think you married your cousin.”  He then continued with the medical exam, medical results and looking over my immunization records.  David’s only question was why didn’t you have your appointment at the same time as your wife? I guess they don’t schedule cousins to have appointments at the same time.

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Snow

Posted on January 7, 2010 by David

Jonah shared with me on the way to school that he knows what snow is made out of as it snowed on us on our walk to school this morning. So I had to ask, what is snow made out of? His response was frosting because it tastes so yummy, glitter that makes it sparkle and chopped up ice cubes. (He didn’t explain the chopped up ice cubes to me, he thought I could figure out that is what makes it cold)

We have been learning different ways to compare things in French class which made me think about the difference between my walk to school this morning and my walk home for lunch. What a difference a few hours make to the beauty of the freshly fallen snow. On my way to school the sidewalks had fresh snow that fell all night and was very clean and beautiful. By the time lunch came the snow looked dirty and although a quick snowball fight with Joshua was fun I couldn’t help but wonder how many people stepped on the snow to take away the sparkle it has when it first falls.

How many times have I been able to see snow in my life, one of the new students shared with me that this was the first time his children have seen snow and the first time for him in over 20 years. For those of you covered in snow I invite you to enjoy the sparkle in the snow.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Psalm (51:7)

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DeAnna’s Lotion Choice

Posted on January 4, 2010 by David

Although we have been in France for over 4 months, we are still able to have new experiences – The following happened to DeAnna.

Do you ever feel like your life is similar to a Saturday Night Live skit?  I do and especially when living cross culturally learning a new language.  Well, I ran out of the body lotion I brought with me and since my legs look like alligator skin I thought I need to buy some body lotion. I also thought I could probably find some really good hydrating lotion since we are living in the land of cosmetics. I went to the store only to find an aisle of a mix of confusing lotions, body washes and hygiene sprays. I picked up bottle after bottle trying to make out what they each did. I could pull out a few words that I understood, at least enough to distinguish between the three uses. I finally decided to go with the cheapest lotion (I’m the queen of cheap). Two nights ago as I bathed, I shaved my hairy legs. After wards, I was looking forward to using my new lotion. It came out of the bottle yellow and creamy looking – good start. I slathered the lotion on my legs, put on my pajamas and went to bed shortly thereafter. Yesterday, while I was still in pajamas (capri pant pajamas), I was by a window in the sun and thought wow – my ankle looks very weird, it is two-toned. So I put both legs in the sun only to discover that both ankles were a splotchy two-tone. Well, you’ve probably guessed it, my new lotion is a self tanner – I didn’t see that one coming when I bought the lotion. The word lotion is on the bottle, but it also says éclat d’été (summer glow).

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Yummy Cake

Posted on January 2, 2010 by David

We were introduced to a new tradition that the French celebrate after Christmas called Galette des Rois which means the Kings cake. From what our friends shared and what I was able to find on wikipedia the cake is “to draw the kings” to the Epiphany. A figurine, “la fève”, which can represent anything from a car to a cartoon character, is hidden in the cake and the person who finds the trinket in their slice becomes king for the day and will have to offer the next cake.

So here is a cake that has been baked with a trinket in the cake. But they don’t just put trinkets in the cakes here, they bake porcelain pieces to a nativity scene in your cake. Then the youngest child hides under the table and calls out everyones name to see who gets the next piece of the cake until everyone has been served and the entire cake is gone. As everyone eats their cake the game is to be the one to find the porcelain piece which enables you to be the king for a day and add a piece your nativity.

I am happy to announce that I found the lamb! I didn’t get to wear the crown very long because Jonah wanted to be the king. Today we went and purchased another cake since we enjoyed the fun dessert, the cakes remain on sale most of January and seem to be on sale everywhere and I’m sure I can make this a language learning activity!

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