Arc-en-ciel

Yesterday we were able to see a double rainbow (arc-en-ciel=rainbow in French) after we dropped the kids off at school and we were walking back to our class for lunch. As the rain stopped and the sun began to peak through the clouds I looked for a rainbow and right behind us was one of the most beautiful rainbows I had seen in a long time. The colors were very brilliant and as we continued to walk we were able to see the complete rainbow covering the entire town of Massy.

Now it was easy to get discouraged yesterday because it was windy, a little chilly and the rain started half way on our walk to the kid’s schools, the umbrellas were in our backpacks at our school because it was sunny when we left for lunch.  Also, all our families in the states were enjoying the day off feasting on food that is difficult to obtain in France. In the middle of all this we were reminded of God’s Promise with the rainbow that He gave us, and we stopped and gave thanks to the God of the Universe in the ally, we gave a prayer in French and continued on our way to school.

Yesterday for dinner we were able to enjoy a smoked bird (chicken), green beans with ham, stuffing and some fresh du pain (it was still hot when I picked it up from the bakery after class) and a delicious chocolate pie. Although we were far away from our families on another continent for our first holiday away we had many things to give thanks for. We enjoyed listening to what the boys were thankful for at the dinner table before we ate and we were reminded once again of all that God has blessed us with and what to be thankful for.

Dites merci au Seigneur, car il est bon! Oui, son amour est pour toujours ! (Psaumes 136 :1 La Bible)

French lesson #41

I’ve been learning that there are slight differences between some words but it’s important to know what the differences are so that you can use the words correctly. I was glancing at the homework sheet that our instructor handed out and I noticed a picture of a stuffed animal and it had a different word for a child’s stuffed toy compared to the book that I had just read to the boys in French last night that talked about a child’s stuffed toy. My confusion was between the French word poupée and doudou these words sounds exactly like the English words for poopie and doo doo. If you have not used these words when potty training you might not see the same amount of humor that our class did on Friday.

So without thinking, something I have a hard enough time doing in English, I asked our instructor for clarification on the difference between poupée and doudou, in French. She explained the difference to me. But while explaining the difference between a stuffed animal (doudou) and a stuffed doll (poupée) there was a sudden burst of laughter in the classroom. I finally realized what I had asked and I saw the humor in my question so I said no, I have a doudou in my backpack (Jonah’s stuffed Stitch walked with us to class and I was holding him for the way back.) That only made it worse and to top off the laughter I had to explain to the instructor why all the American’s were laughing so hard. So when you hear a child in French say Je veux une poupée they don’t have to go to the bathroom they just want a doll.

French language lesson

Today we learned that you can start your day without washing (se laver) but it’s not possible to be sitting in your chair without getting out of bed (se lever). So after our instructor smelled a few students and graded their hygiene along with their pronunciation we moved around the class to list other reflexive verbs that we know. The first few that were listed I knew and when it got to me I said se maquiller which means to put makeup on.

Not really a big deal until the next question is to your wife asking if your husband wears makeup. Her answer was yes. There was one time for a tv interview I had powder applied to my forehead because there was a slight glare so my wife smiled and said yes he wears makeup, and since I didn’t raise my hand for washing or taking a shower earlier I now had the privilege of creating the past tense form of putting makeup on.

So now I am able to also use the reflexive verb s’amuser (to have fun) as we practiced making up sentences and writing down the sentences that our instructor gave us.

Hidden Fun in France

After traveling to Versailles and then up to Montmarte and then back to the Tour Eiffel (aka the Eiffel tower) on Saturday I can safely say that the highlight of the boys day was not in the attractions that are listed in the tour guide books. They did enjoy the light show to celebrate the 120^th birthday of the tower which kept us in Paris later then we normally stay, but this allowed us to see several hidden attractions!

We started our day walking around the chateau at Versailles that is way bigger than anyone really needs and we found out that the French security guards at this location were very fearful of a child on their father’s shoulders. But it gave me another chance to practice my French when the guards came up and asked if I spoke French I could say yes and then they would say “Il ne peut pas être là-haut” so I would take Jonah off my shoulders.  The boys were not overly impressed with the immensely large chateau at Versailles but they were very excited that there was a yellow M across the street from the RER stop where we stopped for a quick snack after our visit to the chateau.

On our way to Montmarte we were able to watch a FREE puppet show underground on the Metro and then when we hopped trains we were able to listen to a rendition of “La Bamba” in English, I gave this guy a euro because the boys enjoyed dancing along with his singing. But the guy that took his picture didn’t give him any money so the singer expressed his dissatisfaction with him in French and also in English, so my lesson for the day is if you take a picture of a performer on the train be prepared to put some money in his change purse. After we left Montmarte to head to the show at the Eiffel Tower we heard another rendition of “La Bamba” this time in French, I would have to say that the first singer had a better performance. After the light show we were able to witness what I thought was the breaking of a World Record on the train, I watched a man solve the Rubik’s cube in less than 15 seconds 3 times in a row. I looked it up and the 15 second mark was broke back in 2003, so I guess that’s why he was still practicing on the train.

 

Waiting at La Poste

I had a few letters that needed mailed out so I headed to La Poste. I didn’t put my watch on before leaving because I wanted to practice asking the time, if for some reason I needed to know what time it was between when I left the house and when I got back, normally only 5 minutes there and 5 minutes back.

I made it to the post office and there was a man waiting by the door for the post office to open, so I practiced asking him the time and he didn’t have a watch either. He also forgot his cigarettes because he asked me if I had any and I couldn’t help him with that or the time. Je ne fume pas, I think that means I don’t smoke or I’m not on fire; but that’s what I said and he stopped talking to me. But the sign on the door said 8h30 and I didn’t leave the house until 8h20 so I knew if couldn’t be that long of a wait. Another few people arrived at La Poste and I could understand that they were telling each other it was after 8h30.

After standing there for 10-15 minutes one of the other patient potential La Poste customers shared with one of the other gentleman that his zipper was down. He waited to share this information until the woman that was waiting for the Poste to open finally left. The man with his zipper down did an about face to the wall and zipped up his pants, then everyone there checked to ensure they were fully zipped. A few of the men chuckled so I’m not really sure if I learned the proper way to address this situation in the future in France. Do you wait until only men are present, and is it OK to laugh? Finally the post office opened 30 minutes after the time posted on the door and I was able to get my stamps without further incident.

 

Lost in translation

Today at lunch we were asking the boys different questions in French and waiting for them to come up with a response. We were just asking them if they would like different types of food that we had on the table, practice for them and for us. Jonah did not think this was a fun exercise. If you haven’t heard, Jonah who is a strong willed four year old, has made it his goal to ensure his entire pre-school class can speak English since according to him they are not talking right. Since he is the only non francophone in his class I asked him what he said when he didn’t know the answer to a question his teacher asked him or one of the other students in the classroom and he said he would say “Jonah say pah.”

That phrase is very close to one of our most frequently used phrases and I’m not sure if he picked it up from us or if he was taught this at school and this is the phrase he got from it. The actual phrase is “Je ne sais pas” which sounds very very very close to “Jonah say pah”, especially for our English tuned ears. Either way he was saying that he didn’t know and got down from the table not knowing why mommy was laughing so hard. So next time I hear someone say “Je ne sais pas” and I begin to laugh you will know why.

Our Friend Clem

Last night a dear friend of ours went home to Heaven. Clem was special to our family in so many ways. He was one of the very first people that we met when we first start attending Deerbrook, we sat in front of Clem and Ginny almost every week before having children. Clem was in one of the first small groups that I attended at Deerbrook and I was able to study Wild at Heart with him, it was with this group of men that I first shared the battle my mother was fighting with Cancer. Every week he prayed with me and DeAnna for God’s will to be done, not an easy prayer to pray.  Clem was one of the first people to see Joshua after he was born and brought him a blanket that he had knitted just for him, 2 weeks later my mom went home to be with Jesus.

Clem’s passion for prayer and for praying for others was contagious and he was a prayer warrior that understood where the war was raging and he was fighting every day. When we first were considering serving with Wycliffe I went to the prayer room where Clem was and shared with him the call that God was placing on our lives, he prayed with me and then he anointed me with oil. Clem and Ginny were the first partners that we had and have continued to be great encouragers and supporters every step of the way, when I was visiting Clem in the hospital before we left Ginny even shared with the nurse what we were getting ready to do.

Monday morning I was awakened early and I felt that I needed to pray for Clem and I picked up my Bible and the book under it was A Handbook of Basics for Christian Soldiers by Clem Birkmeyer, he gave me this shortly before we left the states and I finally finished reading it on Monday. There were many insights in this book, but I thought I would share one thought as a reminder to myself.

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love – I Corinthians 6:13.

I guess it finally comes down to just one thing; every individual person, whether he is involved in the government, the church, or in his personal life, must decide in his own heart to give his first allegiance to his Lord Jesus Christ in preference to any other cause or party. When you look at the big picture, and realize that God Almighty is greater and more powerful than any other organization or purpose that mankind can imagine, the bottom line is that God is going to have the last word. He is going to win the final battle.

We will miss Clem and our prayers go out to the Birkmeyer family. Heaven has a new resident that truly understood the big picture and I’m thankful that I was blessed by him while he was with us.

Trusted Frenchman

I must have mastered the correct look for a trusted person in France. Yesterday while I was standing in line at the grocery store, sometimes these waits can be 10-20 minutes, the woman behind me began speaking to me about her fromage (cheese) and after I politely nodded and agreed with what she was saying she asked me to watch her cart, no big deal but the cart also came with her enfant (child).

So as I slowly advanced in the line I pushed my cart forward and pulled hers behind me. I smiled and said hello to the little girl but she didn’t seem to interested in carrying on a conversation with this weird guy that her mom just left her with. I was pretty surprised that this person was so trusting with her child or was it that she really didn’t want to lose her place in the line? Thankfully the woman came back and after we exchanged a few words about the correct cheese she thanked me for watching her child. Yet another lesson I needed to learn about the French – children are not permitted to speak or make noise in a store but they may be used for saving your spot in the check-out line.

Study break

We just finished up a week of testing and now we have a week and a half off from school. It felt like a week of finals but we kept having tests on the same subject, either oral, written or grammar – and for some reason that I haven’t figured out yet, spelling counts. No points for correctly spelling words just missing points for incorrectly spelling a word.

We are glad to be able to have a break to put into practice the French that we have spent the last two months learning. I know the boys are excited to not have to go to school for a whole week! We are planning on doing some short day trips to see some of the sights that we have not seen yet in Paris and revisiting one or two of the places that the boys really enjoyed.

The boys are doing well in school and Jonah was finally sent home with some of the work that he has been doing for the last 2 months, we were curious what they did all day since he never came home with any papers and Jonah just said that he didn’t do anything except take a nap or celebrate someone’s birthday.

Scripture Celebration

I wanted to share one of the amazing stories from the fall Scripture Celebration in Orlando Florida, where they celebrated the dedication of 17 New Testaments last week.

Andy had just finished the New Testament in the Lelemi language in Ghana after 17 years of working on it. He realized that at that rate it would take over 1000 years to complete the remaining 79 known languages in Ghana and while he was at the dedication of the Lelemi New Testament  a man came up to him and asked “We are so happy to see this dedication for the Lelemi, but what about us?” He was speaking from a neighboring village for the Tuwuli language. “Will you come and help us write the Bible in our language.”

Andy and his colleagues realized traditional methods would delay getting the scriptures to the people so they decided to try a new method – A multi-language approach. Andy would spend more time teaching and training local translators and less time doing the translation work himself.

By using a common trade language and a common meeting place he would coach several mother tongue translators all at the same time which allowed the teams to feed off of each other’s energy and expertise and 4 different language communities pulled together – Tuwuli, Selee, Siwu, Sekpele. They used specialized computer software called CARLA (Computer Aided Related Language Adaption) that allowed them to complete 4 New Testaments in 1/3 of the time that it would have taken Andy to complete one.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9 (New International Version)