Baptisms

Every now and then, we get these amazing reminders of why we are here. Yesterday was just that sort of day. The church was packed, as friends and family members came to show their support for Carole, Jerôme, and Samia--the three who would share their testimonies. After hearing their stories and praying for each one, the we all loaded into cars and drove to a nearby lake, where the baptisms would take place.

Samia was baptized by her husband, Renel and my dear friend, Christine. Graham has been in a small group with Renel over the past year and prayed for Samia. What a joy to see her come to faith! Christine was in my small group, and she is currently discipling Samia.

Last summer we arrived in Loches just in time to see a teenager named Héloise get baptized. Yesterday, her mother, Carole took the plunge. Carole was baptized by our pastor, Raphaël and our friend and colleague, Becca.

And this is Jerôme! Jerôme came to faith  last spring (he can tell you the exact day and hour!) after  being befriended by many in our community. He was baptized by Hélène--the university student that  told him the plan of salvation, and  Raphaël, a colleague who has been discipling him.

After the baptisms we had a barbecue at the park. It was like a great big family celebration. 

What joy to be a part of this community of faith. We are truly, truly thankful.

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Ten Totally Trivial Tidbits

1. Did you know that the marshmallows that go in Lucky Charms are made by Amish people? Did you know that they sell whole BAGS of the reject marshmallows (poorly shaped, slightly discolored pink hearts, yellow stars, blue diamonds, etc.) in Amish stores? Did you know that my sister brought me a giant bag of reject Lucky Charm marshmallows? I pour them over my Rice Krispies to have a make-shift magically delicious breakfast.
2. Gemma is obsessed with her micro tennis balls. OBSESSED! She can jump up and catch them in the air, she'll play fetch for hours, and when no one will play with her, she carries one ball in her mouth while playing soccer with a second ball. We have to take them away from her and hide them because she gets so focused on playing that she has accidents. She cries when we hide her balls.  
3. Our family (all four!) went to check out a community choir this week to see if it was something we wanted to join. We (all four!) LOVED it. I am in the alto section, David and Graham are singing tenor, and Chandler is a bass. The people were great--very welcoming; and, they sing a nice variety of music, from classical, to madrigal, to contemporary. So this year, we (all four!) will be spending Tuesday evenings with Les Baladins.
4. A 17 year old neighbor boy asked David to give him voice lessons, so David encouraged him to come try out the choir with us. He enjoyed it, and will be joining Chandler in the bass section.
5. I am working on writing a summary of a chapter of a book on church planting. The book is in English, but the summary needs to be in French. It is a good challenge for me.
6. After three weeks in school Chandler is the top of his class in both Math and History. I hate to brag (okay, really I don't mind bragging about the boys!) but he is even pulling a decent average in French! How does he do it? With a smile on his face and a song in his heart! I am sure that his daily prayer times with his friend Josiah are helping, too. 
7. Last weekend we had the privilege of attending the baptism of our dear friends' eight year old son. We spent Saturday night in their home and talked and laughed well into the night. It is such a blessing to have friends that feel like family--especially when living so far from real family. 
8. Speaking of baptisms, this Sunday our church will baptize three people! We will have the baptisms at a nearby lake, and a barbecue afterwards to celebrate. Pictures to follow....
9. David has joined a small local gym where he can work out and play a weekly racquetball match with a friend. 
10. Last night I taught Graham how to roast a chicken. Today I am making chicken stock. The house smells amazing! 

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Jack and Gemma...

...have moments of sweetness!

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Plum Shawl

Remember this?

It's finished!

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Deus Absconditus

Our Bible reading this morning was about the Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years. The desert: That is where God has me right now. It is a hard place to be, and frankly, I am weary. I am parched. I am desperate for a touch from God.

To God, my defender, I say, "Why have you forgotten me?" Psalm 42:9

I am learning what it means to "embrace the darkness," which initially looked like this: I walk in obedience where the path is known, and I stand in readiness where the way is yet unclear. And I wait.

Days. Weeks. A month. Three months.

How much longer will you forget me, Lord? For ever? How much longer will you hide yourself from me? Psalm 13:1

Deus Absconditus--the God who is hidden.

One friend reminds me, "God does good work in the desert."

What "work"? I wonder.

Another friend sends me a chapter from Richard Foster's book on prayer. He writes, "Through our barrenness of soul, God is producing detachment, humility, patience, perseverance."

I feel all of these things clamoring for my attention, but I don't want them. I prefer the warm-fuzzy feelings associated with a father-hearted God that holds me in an eternal hug. I prefer acceptance to detachment; competence to humility; satisfaction to patience; and ease to perseverance.

Lord, help me to want what You want!

Perhaps "embracing the darkness" is not as simple as I first imagined. Perhaps my approach of "obey and stand ready" is more like "enduring the darkness." To "embrace" it, I need to welcome all that it brings with it, and not just hold on until it's over.

So I open the door of my soul to blessed Detachment, who promises to wean me from every source save One.

I bow to sweet Humility, letting every sense of competence scurry out into the night.

I invite dear Patience to make herself at home, trusting satisfaction to come when Patience has done her work.

And finally, reluctantly, I set a place at the table for the mighty Perseverance. He always comes hungry, and I just know he'll eat me out of house and home. But I'll have to trust that the One who sent him will supply me with all I need.

So while God remains hidden, I entertain his craftsmen--I embrace the darkness. I allow their painful chisels to chip away at my heart and transform my life. It's hard, and it hurts.

But in embracing the darkness, I embrace Deus Absconditus. I hug a hidden God. Or perhaps, more accurately, I let the hidden God hug me. 

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Alarms, Pajamas, and Card Keys

Last Saturday I arrived in London around lunch time. After many delays, my sister got to our hotel just before midnight. Of course, we did not go right to sleep! We chatted for at least an hour before turning out the lights.

Then, at 4:14 a.m. we were awakened by a loud alarm. In shock and confusion, we pushed every possible button on our cell phones and watches before realizing that it was our FIRE alarm going off. Certain that it was malfunctioning, and horrified that it might wake slumbering neighbors, my sister tried to call the front desk. The line was busy.

Out of curiosity, I peeked out our door and discovered that, in fact, the hotel's fire alarm was going off and people were hurrying towards the fire escape. I grabbed a sweater and my room key, my sister grabbed her purse, and we joined the calm crowds in the stairwells, exiting in a collective haze. As we slowly gained consciousness we realized two disturbing things:

1. Everyone else seemed to be fully clothed, while we were scantily clad and shivering in our jammies; and
2. What my sister believed to be her purse strap was, in fact, a bra strap, which means that she had a bra hanging conspicuously on her elbow. Of course, we had no pockets in which to stash said bra.

We huddled together in the brisk morning air for about 25 minutes, watching the arrival  of fire trucks but seeing no evidence of fire. Finally we were permitted to go back to our rooms. Anxious for our warm beds, we were dismayed to discover that our room keys no longer worked.

Going against the flow of traffic, we walked the stairwells back down to the lobby (the elevators were packed to the gills, so walking seemed the wiser choice.) As mortifying as it is to stand outside in the dark wearing one's night clothes, I can testify that is it much WORSE standing among fully dressed crowds in a brightly lit hotel lobby. But stand we did, as it seemed every card key in the hotel would need to be reactivated. 

When we reached the desk--which was being run my ONE (yes, one) rather distraught night clerk, we learned that there had, in fact, been a small fire in one of the upper rooms. She did not have any details, but seemed rather traumatized that the only instruction that she had been given throughout the entire ordeal was to NOT leave her post. 

Bra in hand and room key re-activated, we hoofed it up the stairs back to our cozy room. We drifted off to sleep thinking about fire alarm fashions and the beauty of a bathrobe!

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Oxford

                                         

I just returned home from Oxford, England, where I spent three wonderful days with my oldest sister, Barbara. Barbara is a professor at Indiana University and she was invited to present a paper at a conference on Ethnography at New College. While at Oxford, we walked and toured and shopped and had tea--activities that were sewn together by one long three day conversation spanning numerous subjects. It had been over two years since we last saw each other.

Here we are at Christ Church College, where some scenes for the Harry Potter movies were filmed--most notably those which took place in the Great Hall. Sadly, there were no floating candles, no magical ceilings, and no moving portraits.

We stopped for a pint at the Eagle and the Child (more commonly referred to as the Bird and the Baby). As you can read in the sign, this pub was the place where Tolkien and C.S. Lewis hung out! Pretty cool stuff, if you ask me.

Oxford is a beautiful town, and the weather was perfect. My big sister spoiled me by treating me to many meals. My kids are grateful for some favorites (like Jif peanut butter) that she schlepped across the pond for us. Last night--after 5 hours of travel on 3 different trains--I arrived back in Loches. Today Barbara flies back to the States. I am so very grateful for our time together.

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