Connections in Paris

An hour ago I dropped my son off at the birthday party of Lindsey-Meryl. She turns 6 and is one of his classmates. Two weeks ago she was one of 14 guests at our son's 6th b-day party. It was our first time to invite her. Today was our son's first time to be invited to her place.

While I walked, our son used his new "Cars" scooter for the 8 minute walk to her place. While outside her building, Louis-Rudophe, another of our son's classmates, showed up with his mom and brothers. Our son and he happily greeted each other. This was good, as they didn't like each during the last school year. Once, L-R pushed our son over in class and got a time-out for that.

When we entered Lindsey-Meryl's apartment, I noticed that our son was the only non-African background kid in the room. This mixing of races and cultures is definitely normal in our part of Paris. I was a little surprised to not see some Caucasian background kids from the class at the party.

For our son's party, we had a hard time narrowing the guest list. Because this is the last year their class is together before they move on to different elementary schools, we decided to invite the whole class. 14 kids came, including 12 from our son's class. I think that there were only 4 kids in his class that didn't come. From the feedback we got, everyone enjoyed the "pirate party."

Right now, we get along with pretty much all the kids and parents of the classes of our son and older daughter at this school. We don't have any "political" agendas about excluding this or that kid because he did this or that to our kids (although we need to be attentive to 2 kids in our daughter's class).

While walking to today's party, we greeted a Polish mother of a classmate of our daughter. While going back downstairs, I got to speak with Louis-Rudolphe's mother for the first time. Rounding a corner near our apartment, I saw a former neighbor (of Polish origin) and her teenage daughter, who was short 8 years ago, but now towers over her mother. I joked to her about how her daughter was taller than her now and that my kids will soon be taller than me. I waved at a worker (of African descent) at the frozen food store near us as we made eye contact. Immediately afterward, I greeted another neighbor, a pretty French woman married to a doctor.

It struck me that, 8 years ago, we didn't know any of these people. But now we know each other, at least by face, well enough in order to greet them in one way or another. Some say that Paris is an impersonal city. Perhaps it feels cold and lonely to some people. But, our part of town is home to us, in part because we know more and more people here. They and we are part of the neighborhood.

But our world stretches beyond the neighborhood as well. Yesterday and today, we have had visits from Americans passing through Paris. Both Christy and Dan love France and feel a call to it. Both are artists. Both are Wheaton graduates as well, although from different eras. Christy's parents were cross-cultural ministers in the former Zaire. She majored in theatre and minored in French. Dan majored in art and has more recently worked at a big church in California helping produce high end video and technical productions.

We've had them over before and I've maintained some type of link with both of them over the past few years. Being involved in a networking ministry mandates that we have some people that pop in and out of our lives. It's need when we have convergence between faith, art, and French, as is the case with Christy and Dan.

With Christy, it was a short lunch visit over cordon bleu, rice, and brownies. With Dan, it was morning coffee, followed by an Asian lunch of egg rolls and rice.

Soon it will be time to walk back to Lindsey-Meryl's apartment to get my son. I'm glad that my kids are privileged to get to mix with the nations in Paris. This is no small privilege, as God created the nations and loves each of them.