Happy New Year 2008

There's only 5 minutes left in 2007 in Paris. Earlier tonight we had a toast with non-alcoholic sparking grape juice with our 2 older kids. Our nearly 6 year old was excited about it and clinking the glasses and saying "tchin, tchin."

Should get into the living room to welcome the new year with my wife. 2007 has been full of surprises. My mom's death is a reminder to not take anything for granted.

Will write more later.

Christmas day 2007 in Paris

It was a good day together with our family (my wife, 3 kids, and me) and some friends.

It started out rough, as our youngest child vomited 3 times last night. We didn't have the best night's sleep. But the older 2 kids slept well and had good days. Our youngest wasn't her usual bubbly self, which was a bummer.

We enjoyed the afternoon and early evening with 8 guests, including 2 whom we had never met before. Not everyone spoke English nor French, so communicating was more challenging than usual. But it was a good mix of people.

The meal was great. We started out with foi gras on toast, cheese in a bread loaf, and an assortment of drinks. We had turkey with dressing for the main course, accompanied with mashed potatoes and green beans. The next course was salad and cheese. We then had a choice of 3 desserts: Tiramasu, a raspberry log cake, and a pear and chocolate ice cream cake. We finally had coffee and Christmas tea.

People were very generous to our kids.

Now it's time to get to bed.

Sadness if also part of Christmas by Nole Findlay

I found this great article just now by Noah Findlay and titled "Sadness Is Also Part of Christmas" in the Detroit News (Sunday Dec 23). It can be found at http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071223/OPINION03/712230320#

It starts out with "A few weeks ago I came across a column in a small town newspaper that started with these words: 'Back when everyone we loved was still alive.'"

It concludes with the following:

"We might find Christmas less of an emotional tug-of-war if we were less resistant to taking some time for reflecting on the memories that make us ache and offering more tolerance to those who just can't muster the joy the season requires.

That wouldn't have to turn Christmas into a maudlin affair. Christmas still should be about the gifts and glitter and good times. It really is the most wonderful time of the year.

But acknowledging that a strong stream of sadness also runs through Christmas would make the holiday more honest."

Preparing for Christmas celebration, sad news

Tonight my wife and I wrapped up the gifts. The majority are for our 3 kids, who were quite excited today. Our youngest, who is nearly 2, ran around the apartment saying, "I'm a princess." I hope that she maintains this self-image of herself when she's older.

We've been cleaning and arranging some parts of our apartment for Christmas. I found some papers dating back 3 year. I'll have to do better with reading mail.

My dad telephoned with some sad news: my Aunt Nevy had died of a heart attach in the Philippines. Her health had been failing for sometime and she was being treated for some type of cancer. But now she has joined my mom in heaven.

Random thoughts about Christmas with 3 days to go

It's Saturday afternoon and my wife and 3 kids are all napping, so all is temporarily quiet on the home front. The older 2 kids finished school yesterday and are now on Christmas break for the next 2 weeks.

With my mom's passing in November, this has been a different Advent season for me. I've been more reflective the last 6-7 weeks about life in general, family, ministry, priorities, etc. I'm concerned about what kinds of things my family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues will say about me at my funeral or memorial service. Did I treat people well? Did my life make a difference? Did I attract people to Jesus?

This was the first year I hardly put anything on the Christmas tree. Except for helping buy it at IKEA, I wasn't really in the mood to decorate it. Fortunately, my wife and kids got excited about it. I'm staring it as I type and it looks nice. Nearly all the ornaments are things that we've picked up over the years in France.

I was at le Pavé d'Orsay 2 nights ago for a Christmas party and concert by Brian Beise. Brian's singing of old and new songs helped me get into a Christmas mood finally. Our kids are learning more and more French Christmas songs in school. I bought a 4 CD set of 100 mostly French Christmas songs several days ago and we're all enjoying them. There favorite one is "As-tu vu?," which they sang at their school Christmas program last Saturday. The music of Christmas that I know in French and English helps me get in the mood.

Earlier today my nearly 4 year old daughter was asking about Jesus? Was he a baby? Was he a boy? Did he become a man? What did he look like? These are dumb/smart questions that shake up my "theological" world and force a reality of a child to these concepts.

It's been fun to see all 3 kids get excited about different parts of the Christmas celebration. Antoinette bought all 3 of them Advent calendars with chocolate inside of them. Each night after supper, if they have eaten well and helped set the table and clear their dirty plate, they get a piece of chocolate. They all have Santa caps that they enjoy wearing.

We will have our usual "waif and stray" meal on Christmas Day for our friends without family in Paris. I'm not sure yet of the entire guest list, although we have at least 5 guests who plan to come. We'll most likely invite more tomorrow at church.

Today I went through my closets and drawers and pulled out some dress shirts, 2 blazers, and some t-shirts that I no longer wear. I will bring those to church tomorrow, as our church hosts a Christmas Eve supper for poor people. Part of that involves getting to pick up some "new" used clothes. I hope that these clothes that I no longer use will bless someone with much less than me. In general, I really don't feel like buying clothes now, unless it is something that I will really use. What good is a closet or drawer full of clothes that I never wear?

We plan on having 3 afternoons of cookie baking during the 2 week school break. We've invited a number of school classmates (and their parents) to pick one of the 3 days and RSVP. It should be a good way of bridgebuilding in the neighborhood.

Now I need to close and play with my son, who is patiently waiting. Perhaps we'll play Candyland, one of the early Christmas presents that they got.

Why Men Hate Going to Church?

I've nearly completed my 2nd reading of Don Miller's "Blue Like Jazz." When I mentioned that I was reading this on Facebook, a number of 20 somethings said that they really liked the book. One woman in her early 50s said that she had read it, but didn't see what was so great about it. The contrast between her view of the book and that of the others was fascinating.

I have begun reading David Murrow's "Why Men Hate Going to Church" (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2005). This should be an interesting read and forum for discussion. I'm not sure what readings this book will trigger afterwards.

As I see my nearly 6 year old son struggle to integrate in the Sunday morning system at our church, especially compared to his sisters fairly easy adjustment, I have lots of questions. It seems that the current structures of many churches try to make boys and men passive and more easy to be controlled. But I don't think that this is biblical nor is it conducive to helping develop strong churches that are open to adventure, a trait that is more typically musculine and than feminine.

What kinds of exercises, programs and training would help my son develop into a healthy and biblical man who loves God with his whole heart, mind, and soul and who loves his neighbor as himself?

Medical exam

This afternoon I had a routine physical. I went to the same doctor with whom I had my last physical 9 years ago. In middle age, this is not good to wait so long between physicals.

Some people don't like going to the dentist. I have never minded and have had a good relationship with my current dentist since 1992. He now does our whole family whenever we're in the area in Michigan.

I've pretty much had eye exams every year or at least every other year, again at the same eye doctor since 1992. Glaucoma runs in my family, so I want to watch out for this.

But I don't like going to the doctor. I try to avoid this, even when I have a cold or something similar.

I'll need to get some lab work done later this week as part of the physical.

Preliminary results are that I will need to work on losing some weight, getting into a regular exercise routine, lowering my blood pressure, and improving my diet. A brisk 30 minute daily walk is recommended. I would rather work on lifestyle changes, rather than getting onto prescribed drugs that will be hard to stop once one begins.

One cool thing about the visit is that his new office is right by the Trocadero Place and has a magnificent view of the Eiffel Tower. I rarely get to that part of Paris...and will be back in January for a follow up exam.

A New Generation of Workers

Tonight we had Catherine over for supper. She's in her early 20s and has been in Paris this semester taking some French courses, as she's majoring in French at the University of Hawaii. She came to our church in September through the recommendation of Janet, a former language school classmate from Albertville (1988-89) who now works with YWAM in Hawaii. She's been faithfully coming to our church on Sundays and makes intentional efforts at speaking French. She's returning to the U.S. next week, so we were glad to have her over at least once now. She got along great with the kids. I wish that we had invited her over sooner.

I just read an e-mail from Ashley, a college sophomore at Michigan State University who is interested in studying French and doing ministry here in summer 2008. She got our names through her home church, which also happens to partner with us.

For the last several days, I've been following the news about the killings at the YWAM base in Arvada, Colorado and at New Life Church in Colorado Springs. While I've never been with YWAM, I love YWAMers whom I've come across during the last 20 years. In Paris, I've been privileged to cross paths with probably 100 different YWAMers over the years. In August, I went with my parents to the weekly Friday morning prayer meeting at New Life Church. We even walked in the lobby where the murderer was taken down by courageous volunteer security agent Jeanne Assam.

Anyway, it's sad to think of the snuffed out lives of YWAMers Tiffany Johnson (age 26) and Philip Crouse (age 24) in Arvada and sisters Stephanie Works (age 18) and Tiffany Works (age 16) in Colo Spgs. Stephanie had just returned from some mission work in China.

I do find it exciting to see a new generation of potential workers rising up. One of my favorite aspects of our work in Paris is getting to help and encourage different ones. One never knows how God will use these different ones. But that is up to Him.

Tribute to Tony

Yesterday I learned that our friend Tony S. died of complications after surgery.

I first met Tony at a church retreat at Charbonnières in spring 1995 with St. Michael's Church of Paris. I got to know him better when we were in the same French-speaking small group 1997-98 and worked with the Alpha Course together. When my parents visited France for the first time in 1998, Tony drove all of us to the St. Michael's spring retreat at LaPuye, with stops at the Chartres Cathedral and the chateaus at Blois and Chambourcy.

Tony was of Lebanese descent, was never married, and worked in finances. He must have been good at reading financial info, as he made his living buying and selling different currency. He was generous to my wife and I.

Tony was more "liberal" in some of his theological ideas than me. However, he definitely loved God and sought to follow Him. Some of his ideas stimulated my thinking, even though he was sometimes more blunt than I would have preferred. When we were struggling with the choice between 2 churches in 2000, his comments made it obvious that we should choose Belleville, which is where we've been for 7+ years.

Tony had some major heart problems while we were in the U.S. 1998-2000. He probably should have died back then. He thus has been living on borrowed time for nearly 10 years.

I expect that he may be chatting with my mom now in glory. I look forward to seeing Tony again sometime.

Family service at church and puppet show on the street

This morning we attended the bi-monthly day-long service of the Belleville Reformed Church. We arrived at our usual 9:00 a.m., as we forgot that it began at 10:00 a.m. today. This ended up being ok because it allows us time to talk with a lot of people in an unrushed manner. We enjoy so many people at the church, but rarely have time to get to talk with many of them.

We didn't stay for the whole day. But what we were present for was very kid friendly. There still are quite a few families with kids the same age as ours, which is nice. Pastor Serge is consistently doing a brief kid sermon, which I commend him for, particularly as he is a single man in his early 50s who has never had his own children. He is making an effort to reach out to the kids.

One highlight for our kids was getting to pass out a special gift (a heart cookie) to everyone in the congregation. Our friend Liz (who is also our older daughter's hero right now) went with our kids and helped them distribute gifts from the baskets. I think that part of the spiritual development of many people, especially children and men, is to be able to help and serve.

I spoke with an early 20 something young man named Michael. We had heard of each other through Facebook, as we have lots of common friends. It turns out that he is the son of a French pastor whom I know from another denomination. It was interesting hearing a little of his journey from his father's church to our church. I think we need to listen to young people like Michael and try to understand what is important to them.

After nap time, I went to my son to a puppet show done in a mobile tent in our part of Paris. We went to another production of this same production group last year. In France, they call puppets "les guignols." Begun 199 years ago in Lyon, France, les guignols are still very popular here. The story is often involves a police man, a robber, and trying to catch the robber. This show involved trying to get back a gift from Santa's home that the robber had taken.

There must have been 100 children and adults at the show. I noted that there were Africans, Asians, Arabs, and light-skinned Europeans present.

I would love to see my faith impact the young at my church, as well as those not-yet in the church people who are on the streets of Paris.

New ministry supporter

Yesterday we received the kind of e-mail that we love. It was from Pastor Marty of a church in Utah that we visited in August 2006, right after my wife hurt her knee. We were in town to visit friends Steve and Cathy, whom we met while being in the same Sunday school class in Wheaton 1998-2000. I still remember meeting them our first Sunday at that Wheaton church. It's funny how some encounters end up developing into important relationships that span the years.

When we visited our friends, we were in bad shape. We were already tired before my wife hurt her knee. Her injury nearly put us over the top.

Despite this, our friends opened the door to a contact in the church. The injury actually delayed our visit by a week, which allowed us to be there after Pastor Marty had returned from vacation. While the service had a full schedule, he allowed us to show our presentation during their church's service.

In God's grace, VCC has decided to start partnering with us beginning this January.

Who would have thought that a church in Utah, of all places, would be sponsoring us? Sometimes it can be easy to think that our own cleverness is why God has specific churches join our team. In this case, this church is a real grace gift that we really didn't deserve. Thanks be to God.

Opening night art exhibit of a neighborhood friend

This evening all 5 of us went to an opening night "vernissage" of Marie, mother of one of our older daughter's classmates. It turns out that we have walked by her studio dozens of times over the years in our wandering in the neighborhood.

Marie does painting and sculpture with clay. Tonight's exhibit featured her work, as well as 3 others. During last school year, we learned that she was an artist. We missed her vernissage of last June when we were in the U.S.

I had seen her husband around the school, but hadn't connected her and Marie until today. They have 2 sons, the younger of whom is in our daughter's class. Our kids and their kids played together during the reception.

It was a good time of networking tonight, as well as relationship building.

Thanksgiving, one month anniversary

On Sunday evening we celebrated Thanksgiving with 1 British friend and 4 French friends. We had hot cider and warm cheese inside bread for appetizers, turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, corn, bread, and cranberry sauce for the main course, followed by salad and cheese, finally pumpkin pie and whipped cream for dessert. This was the first time any of our guests had celebrated it,

At the end of the evening, we went around the shared at least one thing for which we are thankful. I mentioned my mother.

Yesterday (Monday Dec 3) was the one month anniversary of her passing. It seems like this first month has gone by in slow motion. It's been a good period of reflectiion about her life and example. As of tomorrow, it's now time to start stepping out more in the past routine.