Hard Stuff

 This weekend I met a girl who was visiting the church I attend. For this post, we'll call her Molly. Molly lives in a nearby town in  government funded refugee housing. She is 21 years old, and comes from Rwanda. Her parents died when she was three, she was raised by a family that mistreated her. Later, Molly was told her grandmother was still alive, and she went and lived with her grandmother until the grandmother died a year and a half later, and she was alone again.
 All this time Molly was battling health issues herself. The Rwandan doctors diagnosed her with leukemia and gave her less than a year to live. Molly told me everyday for six months she woke up thinking it could be her last. After six months, she figured they must be wrong. When France granted her refugee status, the French doctors took her off the leukemia medicines and are now working on finding out what is wrong. She is still very weak and sick.
 How do I respond to stories like these? This girl is 21 and has had a life similar to that of Job. I know I will encounter more seemingly overwhelming heartbreak and need as I live and work in Africa- and I realize that I need to have a kind of plan so I don't just wallow in other people's misery until Jesus comes back. That doesn't seem like it would paint a very attractive picture to non-believers seeking the Kingdom!
So here is what I hope to do with Molly and future situations:
~Pray!
~Figure out what I can do, and do it
~Realize that I won't be able to fix everything
~Remember that God IS in control and DOES have a plan for Molly's life, and we don't know it right now, but that doesn't mean he doesn't know the plan!
~Use this amazing young woman's story to remind me of how incredibly God has blessed me, and help me remember that to those much has been given, much is expected.

France needs Jesus!! (and so does the rest of the world)

Well, here I am again, awake at an abnormal hour due to a weak moment and a can of Coca-Cola this afternoon.

God has been giving me all kinds of opportunities to share his love lately. I am not writing this post to boast about what I have done, because I really didn’t do much except be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and follow his leading, and pray I didn’t say anything stupid/confusing to the other person in the process- I know that last action isn’t very spiritual sounding, but it is true. 

So, this past week I have gotten to have a conversation with two women who follow two other major world religions, and two women who believe in nothing at all. While I will be interceding for all four women- I have to say my conversation with the two atheists has really left my thinking and praying. 

When I came to France, I was determined not to let all the hype I had heard about the spiritual decline of Europe taint my views. After seven months here, I can legitimately say from my experiences: it’s not hype, unfortunately it is true. While there exists a group of passionate followers of Jesus- the common mindset here does not set much value or seem to be interested in the existence of God in general, let alone a personal Lord and Savior. 

When I was talking to my two French friends about differences between France and the U.S., this of course was a main topic. They both (politely) expressed their incredulity about our nation still being so croyant (God-fearing, faithful). Unspoken translation: “When is America going to finally gonna get smart enough and move out of that phase like Europe has?”(The scary thing is the U.S. is well on our way in that process- but that isn’t what I am talking about right now.)

Here’s my question: When you move past the creator of the universe, what’s your next step from there?

I have thought about this -really-if I were to reject the idea of 1. Jesus as Savior and 2. A creator God in general I would likely turn to science as my God- I think that would be my tendency.  But science wouldn’t fulfill my affective side (I’d say soul, but that’s probably getting too spiritual for me at this point.) So I would begin searching, always searching, picking up things that offer comfort without accountability, only to set them down again due to lack of fulfillment. I would of course “be a good person,” but my happiness would still be based on the circumstances of life and seem a fragile thing.

Sound at all familiar? For me the above describes pretty much every non-believer I have met in my life.

Ok well, it is getting light out, and this is getting super long. I can’t think of a good ending, except-Lets go be lights for Jesus today! Love you guys!

Sister Time!

Well, Katie, Mary and Sadie got in at eight-thirty Saturday morning at the CDG airport. They were suffering from jet lag, eyes glazed over, trying to be happy and excited about being there, but really just wanting to sleep. I knew the feeling, and tried to reign in my excitement and enthusiasm to a tolerable level!

 

I had rented us an apartment for the weekend, it was next to the Arc de Triomphe! Such a fun location, and about the same as if we had rented a hotel in Paris, but the girls could get better sleep here.

We plunged into Paris, I had been studying the metro map, and semi-planned out our day. We walked down the Champs-Elysees- the famous massive avenue full of stores. It’s the place to cruise and be seen. Then visited the Louvre gardens and walked next to the Seine to the Notre Dame cathedral. Along the river are bookstands that sell old books and paintings and photos, that was really fun. 

We waited in the hour+ line to go up to the Eiffel Tower- learn from us and buy your tickets online and wear a jacket! But it was gorgeous, around sunset when we made it to the second story- the third was closed for repairs

Sunday we visited the Louvre museum and saw maybe ¼, probably closer to 1/5 of it- it is sooo big! Everyone had told me this, but I was still just floored when I saw it for myself.  

We walked around the Jewish quarter, saw some other cool historical sites I am forgetting the name of now around the area. We went and saw the Sacre-Coeur basilica that night, really pretty all lit up. 

My thoughts on Paris- it was amazing! The thing is I was with the girls most of the time- and I am gonna have a good time pretty much anywhere with them. The true test of Paris came on Friday when I got there a day early due to my forgetting about the time difference and planning an extra day of our trip- so I got to explore Paris all by myself- and I was still enthralled! The difference was I didn’t have anyone to say “wow look at that old building!” or “what language do you think that group of people we just passed was speaking?”

I can totally see why Paris is the number one tourist destination in the world.

After Paris, we took a train back to Chambery (around 3hrs). The girls stayed the night with me and took a train to Rome Wednesday morning. They came back to me on Friday, and stayed a motel here until the following Thursday. I took that week of school of and took them around to all my favorite places in this area. This leg of the trip was more relaxed and chill- better too because they had gotten over their jet-lag.

I am so glad the three of them came, it was a wonderful time together! 

Et viola! Thanks for reading!

We always have a choice

It is 3:30 am, and I am blogging because I sure can't go back to sleep. Spiritual warfare? Vanilla coffee from the machine this afternoon? A combination of the two? I don't really know. But I drafted this blog in my head earlier, and now I am putting it to paper (metaphorically speaking.)

"We always have a choice." That phrase has been rolling around in my head the last week or so. Like a lot of fundamental truths, it seems like an easy concept but actually has the potential to change lives if we truly embrace it.

And I get it, I'm 25, young and optimistic maybe. But I've seen enough to know know a lie from Satan when I see one.The hopelessness that I hear in peoples' voices when they talk about their lack of options seems to be a common denominator. That sentiment of  "I have no choice." Satan keeps using the same lie because we keep believing it. That's what he does- there's a reason he's called the father of lies.
To cite a few examples:
The kids I talked to who told me they just can't stop being violent. Lie- they aren't lying-they actually believe the lie that Satan is telling them
The girls who told  me cutting themselves was the only way to feel better Lie-"
The old people at the nursing home who are mean and cranky because life has no hope anymore Lie-"

The circumstances in all three of those examples were such that many people would lose hope. The kids and the girls often had been abused in some form or another; and I think we all can understand the hopelessness of life in a nursing home.

But the simple, profound, liberating, beautiful truth is that God always lets us choose how we will respond to our circumstances. I am not saying the alternatives won't be  messy, or scary,or just plain hard; but I have gotten the closest I have ever been to God through the hard, messy, scary times.
I mean if we want to talk lack of options and hope, check out these folks Corrie Ten Boom, Joni Eareckson Tada, or Horatio Spafford- these guys stopped falling for the lie of hopelessness, even in the face of seemingly hopeless lives.
And this goes for every hardship out there: bad day, alcoholism, porn addiction, really bad day, sickness, money troubles, etc.- We can't always control our circumstances, but we always control our reactions.
 We always have a choice.
We always have a choice.

I am a Christian, people should like to be around me.

So, here in France a lot  of the people I come in contact throughout my days are not in a relationship with Jesus. It has been a change from OK/AR/TX culture that I have grown up in, stretching, but only confirming my faith and trust in God.

Its crazy how people are different but really the same at the heart of it all. People are hurting, lonely, and scared. Depressing, but true- it has been this way since the Fall. I don't know how people without Jesus make it sometimes, life can be so hard. And when I hear my friends who don't trust in God say things like " yoga says everything will pass" or " I just have to be strong" I want to cry, I really do. I don't know how that could possibly ease the pain or satisfy their obvious search for deeper meaning; I don't think it does.

Which brings me to the point of this post: as a Christian, I have the source of  love, joy, and peace as my Savior and friend. I should act like it. Seems simple, but I don't think we really get it right all the time. Right now at French school, there are lots of people here from around the world, many not believers. There is a great temptation for me not to invest my time or energy into getting to know them or developing relationships- I know we won't know each other long, and will probably never see each other again. Plus, I am here to learn French, not hang out with other people who make the same mistakes in French that I make.

But, then I remember a magnet my friend has on his fridge in Inola, OK, it says "Bloom Where You Are Planted" and it has a smiling flower on it. I am learning French so I can go tell people about Jesus in Africa, so I am too busy to tell people about Jesus here? Something isn't right with that picture.

So, I try to show that unselfish, irresistible love that Jesus showed me to those around me. I find out what their passions are, their hopes, their fears, and troubles- and we talk about them. If I am brave I pray with them. If the Spirit leads I talk about my experiences with Jesus. It isn't rocket science; its much more important.

On Learning French

Oh man…if I had a quarter for every idea for a blog that I have, I would have like four dollars….speaking of dollars, they are currently stronger than euros!
No but really, whenever I wake up in the middle of the night and can’t go back to sleep, I craft a masterpiece of post, and then in the morning it is gone. I try to blog about things that I don’t talk about in my newsletters so you don’t have to hear the same stuff twice, so my blogs tend to be more philosophical in content, I am discovering.
 But not this one…I thought I would just share some random pieces of information with you re: Learning French.
Lets start with a conversation I had with a patient Leclerc (think smaller Walmart) worker when trying to find the print-picture machine.
Me: Hi, is there a machine where I can borrow my pictures here?
Worker: you mean print your photos?
Me: Borrow.
Worker: Print?
Me: Borrow?
Worker: Print.
Me: yeah, maybe print….
Worker- yes, right over here.
Just so you know- emprunter-borrow: emprimer- print

Smiling and nodding when I don’t completely understand is both useful and dangerous when conversing in French. I just have to make sure the topic of conversation isn’t crucial, and its ok that I only understand the gist of the sentences.
Another thing, lately in conversation I find myself saying “wow yes” a lot, except in French that’s “wow oui” which is “woweee” to my English ears…..and then I feel lame, lol.
My church here has provided me with lots of language learning practice, between sermons and conversations and home group. The home group leader thought I was holding back a bunch of deep thoughts during our conversation- I told him no, in fact I am just trying to stay above water and keep track of the flow of conversation! And if I did have any thoughts, I am not capable of expressing them sufficiently yet. So I am a fairly quiet attendee right now:)
 Overall, it is going well, thanks for reading and praying!

I don't like Valentwhining

Happy Almost-Valentines Day!
How do you feel about this holiday?
I am on board, myself.

I get the argument that it is too commercialized, we should show love all year round, sure. But that goes for pretty much every holiday that extols goodness- Christmas, Thanksgiving, Mothers Day, etc.

And then every V-day I read facebook statuses of single friends and Singles' Awareness Day/being tired of being alone/stuff like that.But I happen to think this idea that 'singleness must equal loneliness' is a lie straight from the pit of Hollywood. But what do I know, I only have 25 years of experience (granted, the first 12 or so years it was kind of a non-issue).

But I digress, if you are really so lonely, go to your local nursing home, sit down with someone (they  most likely won't care that they don't know you) and have a conversation. I bet several things would happen:  1. You won't spend V-day alone 2. You will share some Jesus love 3. Chances are, you'll see what real loneliness is.
The above paragraph sounds harsh, that is why I have never actually said to a Valentwhiner before.

 I love Love. As a follower of Jesus everything I am commanded to do has to do with Love (Matthew 22:37-40) Why would I not love a day based on love?

 Don't hear me saying I think all believers should buy pink bears and musical cards. I think the problem is the fact that this day tends to be centered on romantic love- but you don't have to follow the sheeple that are the American consumers.  You can celebrate V-day with other people who-eternally speaking- are just as significant as any significant other.

I was going to talk about the origins of Valentines Day, about the cool stories about Saint Valentine. But as I read more, there seems to be a lot of different stories, so you can look it up if you would like. He or they sound like great men of the faith. Which we don't really hear much about now amidst everything else.

Tomorrow night, I am going to introduce a couple of my Chinese friends to Mexican food- greater love hath no man than- oh wait no, that's not right:)

I wish you all a Happy Valentines Day!