Well, it’s Sunday 2:30 pm in France, 7:30 am at home. The trip is going well – I feel like we’re doing a pretty good job or learning some French. Our group blog is at http://blogs.longhollow/france09/ and it has more information than I’ll give here. There are also lots of pictures on there – Eric is doing a great job! You can also follow us on Twitter at @francetrip09 or at http://www.twitter.com/francetrip09.
The main difference I believe our team has had a hard time learning is the meal time etiquette. Dinner here is an intimate respectful time. It’s a formal time with place settings and nice dishes with food that is more fancy-ish. Talking to someone at another table is strictly forbidden and considered very rude. They only serve water and don’t drink but maybe the amount of 3ish ounces. French people somehow live on much less hydration than Americans. Nobody eats until the leader comes in and says “Bon Appetite!” So everyone sits without even water for up to ten minutes waiting. The children MUST try everything, and you must eat everything on your plate. You don’t put on more than you will eat so everyone puts small portions at first. It’s just very different from American culture.
Other than that, there are many other differences as well. Most is mainly the small nuances in the culture but that are very big deals. For example, interrupting shows you are interested in the topic that someone is speaking about. French also will argue and disagree openly without becoming offended. On a side note, I was surprised that they didn’t drive on the wrong side of the road too – apparently that’s mainly in London.
Very important to point out that my body has not adjusted to the time difference well. Therefore I feel like 3/4ths of this did not make any sense so bear with me. I couldn’t get to sleep sleep last night until about 5 am here (only 10:30 pm at home). So that left about three hours to sleep. Whew – but the Lord is providing endurance thankfully! Au Revoir!
My quiet time this morning was in 1 Samuel 9. In this chapter, Saul’s dad was missing some donkeys. He sent Saul and a servant to look for them – seemed like a pretty mundane task. Boring, long, not very rewarding, hot, tiring – not something I’d want to be out doing. They’d been gone for three days when they came to a town. The servant suggested they go find the seer (wise man/prophet) in the town. Saul figured they’d give it a try. They came upon Samuel, God’s prophet, whom God had just told recently that a man would be coming to him that He had ordained to be king. The story goes on, and you can check it out for yourself.
The point is, Saul started on a task that seemed insignificant to say the least – a journey to look for missing donkeys and came upon the biggest life changing event thus far – he was going to be king! In the following chapter, Samuel ordains him. God really reminded me this morning that while I know to look for God in the insignificant events, there’s even more.
I try to look for what he wants to teach me while cleaning laundry, running errands, or encounters with those around me. As I head off on a mission trip tomorrow, I’m also reminded by this story that whatever I think God may be up to in a situation may be completely wrong. I have my reasons for going on this mission trip. I have a passion for children – we’ll be leading a children’s camp in France. Children’s camp is my favorite week of the year – even above all the holidays, everything. I just love it! So to do it in France is that much more exciting! I can’t wait to visit with the workers there, and see all God does through this trip. I’m also excited about seeing a different part of the world that I’ve not seen before.
Those are my reasons for this trip, and I have expectations about what God will do there and what He’ll teach me. But I’m reminded this morning that I have no idea what God will do! My expectations and God’s reality could be as different as Saul starting out to look for donkeys and him being ordained as king! I just pray that my eyes and heart are open enough to see what He wants to teach me. I pray the same for you – for you to be sensitive enough to be able to experience whatever thing God has in store for you today!
And hopefully I’ll be blogging a bit more! I really have been silent just because I haven’t felt led to write anything of late. We’ll see where the Lord leads!
Well, I blogged on vacation so when I came home from vacation I had to take a vacation from blogging so I could recover from the vacation vacation. Now I’m off vacation vacation and blog vacation. 
Speaking of vacation:
1) What are your favorite in-town vacations (or a 30-60 minute drive)? It could be a specific place or general things to do (ie feed the ducks, etc).
2) Favorite cheap date ideas?
I was at my least favorite grocery store the other day (Publix – love the store, hate the prices), where Vernon bagged my groceries. It was in in Florida where we are on vacation or I would make Publix my new favorite store and always get in Vernon’s line.
I was buying rock salt to make ice cream and he asked what it was for. I told him and he explained that he used to have his Daddy’s ice cream recipe, and it was the best ever. He can’t get to it now. It sparked probably a ten minute discussion (there were no children with me, thus the ability to have a ten minute discussion) about his life. It was absolutely fascinating.
I love elderly men. Both of my grandfathers have passed away, but I loved sitting and listening to them talk about their lives and how they grew up. My grandmothers are still alive, and one in particular still tells me some stories. But, older people really just love for someone to listen. For some reason to me, older men tend to be more remniscent than women? Maybe because they finally get in touch with that part of them that will talk once they slow down from their busy careers. Who knows. Just my opinion.
So Vernon really just wanted someone to listen, and I could have sat with him for hours. But we were standing in Publix with no people behind us so I only got to listen for a bit. He talked about how his dad had passed away when he was only 12. He left him, his mother, and his 22 month old brother. Vernon had to go work in a sawmill, and he said it was a hard life. He and his brother both went on to get pretty impressive degrees and accomplish a lot. He told me a lot about those things and what it was like as a kid. He said he always hated when his Daddy told him he was going to make ice cream because it would mean that he was going to have to sit and turn that handle for such a long time.
Vernon just talked and talked. When I left he patted my shoulder and told me to come back. He was just precious. Precious precious precious. I love listening to those old stories. I know everyone doesn’t always have the patience for it, and I wouldn’t want to hear Vernon’s same stories a hundred times over and over. But, I could have asked him a hundred questions!
I always say, and I mean it, that once I’m not so busy caring for little little ones and have more time that I’m going to volunteer at a retirement home and just sit and listen to people talk and tell their stories. I know there is a lot to learn from them!
I have always had very strange, very vivid dreams. Most of the time when I say that someone will say, oh yeah, I had a crazy dream one time and blah blah blah. Then I’ll tell them mine and they’ll say, whoa. Really. Mine are crazy, crazy. When I was a kid, they got to where during breakfast I’d come downstairs and they’d ask what I dreamt about because they were so entertaining to listen to how inane they were. Jason is always amazed at them too.
Some of the time it’s great. I can remember them afterwards because they are very vivid. It’s hilarious to laugh at some of the crazy things my brain comes up with. I can’t usually remember them more than a day or so or I would tell you one to give you an example. Maybe the next time I have a nutty one I’ll share.
But, some of the time it’s not great at all. Because take the vivid and the crazy and add a nightmare, and it’s that much more terrifying. Jason also is amazed at how horrible my dreams can be. And, I don’t watch R movies or read scary books – I don’t do scary anymore, for one reason because of the nightmares. So it’s not something I’m dwelling on when awake at all. It’s just weird.
When I have a really horrible one, I wake up kind of stiff. My body kind of locks up, my muscles kind of cramp up, and they hurt – like deep pain. It takes a while to get rid of the pain part of it – sometimes a couple of hours. Most of the time if Jason holds me I’m okay, but sometimes I just have to get up.
The stiff body part I’ve done a little research on and it seems like sleep paralysis a little. I don’t go into a full frozen state, but it’s very similar I think. It’s basically where something like during REM sleep (when most dreams occur), your body is somewhat disconnected from your brain. When you come out of the cycle too fast (because of a dream), your body is momentarily kind of frozen while your brain reconnects to your body. Does this make any sense? Here’s another article too. I think the first one seems to explain it a little better.
Anyway, I’m awake now from a horrible dream. Too horrible to share. But, it sparked what I thought would be an interesting Monday Musings and typing about something else helps me get my mind off of it. So…
1) What are your dreams like – mostly good, mostly bad? Can you remember them?
2) Do you have any recurring dreams?
I took Katie Beth swimsuit shopping. She’s SIX for goodness sakes – I wouldn’t think it would be so hard yet. For one she has an unusual body in that she’s very tall and slim. Most one pieces never fit because to get them long enough for her torso means they are too loose on her body. So, we usually go with tankinis. And, MUCH easier to go potty!
Also, I’m amazed at the skimpy bathing suits clothing makers are creating for CHILDREN! So many we tried on were inappropriate or just revealed too much. Just an opinion, but the french bikini style from the 80’s – not appropriate for my six year old at least! We finally found one tankini that covered well and a one-piece that seems okay.
However, I sure had a lot of fast forwards to moments at age 13. There were plenty of suits that she didn’t like that I did or vice versa. Only at age six we disagreed about the prints or fabrics and not the cuts of the suit. She is pretty modest on her own right now, and I hope she stays that way!
Of course Everett needed a suit as well so I swooped over to the boys’ section and picked him one up within thirty seconds. Sure don’t have any problems there! Boys in that aspect are MUCH easier.
It did bring to mind one more question about children’s clothing – with boys’ swimsuits and clothes in general – why in the world do they put drawstrings on kids’ clothes that don’t work??? Why??? Especially like sweatpants, etc. It’s crazy to me.
At least we are set this year (hopefully!)… another whole year until we go swimsuit shopping again. And seven or so years until she’s thirteen!
Don’t forget what today is! Be smart and on the lookout for your tricky friends! And you BE a tricky friend! I love pranks, and I have a few in the works… It’s an art to balance between the believable and the ridiculous. You have to have a little of both for the joke to come off.
Last night Jason’s mom came by for a surprise quick visit and since we weren’t going to see her today, I told the kids we could do an April Fool’s joke on her. This was their first experience with April Fool’s, and I must say they jumped in wholeheartedly! We are headed to Florida tomorrow for spring break. When she came in I said, “Well we were debating whether or not to tell you this, but since you are here we thought we would. While we are in Florida for Spring Break, Jason has an interview at a church there, and it looks pretty promising.” She was not too thrilled. (Meanwhile in the background Everett is saying, “We’re going to tell you a joke! We’re going to tell you a joke! We’re going to tell you a joke!” I guess she couldn’t hear him or something.) I gave her a minute or so to absorb it. She asked where we were interviewing, and I said Orlando. We were giggling though so I fessed up. She said she believed us though!
This is a believable joke somewhat b’c we’ve moved 10 times in our 11 years of marriage. Now we’ve only been at three churches once we started ministry – which we’ve now been in for almost 9 years – (WOW?!?! Are we that old??) The longest we’ve stayed in one house was three years – our very first condo and pre-full time ministry. We will have been in this house for three years in November of this year. So she wouldn’t have been shocked that we were moving, but I think she was very glad we weren’t. ME TOO! I’m ready to stay put.
I also called my friend that we are going to Florida with and told her that Nolan’s pink eye was back and rampant (he just got it on Sunday and has been clear for a couple of days now) and that Everett’s eyes were itchy too. She did believe me, but being the good friend she is didn’t really overreact. Just said it was fine but that we may not let the kids ride with each other to give us some more healing time. After I told her I was kidding, she said she was on guard for me and knew I’d do something. I knew I couldn’t do anything too big to her.
I also told Katie Beth it was snowing outside and school was cancelled for today. Wow, kids are a whole new fun set of people to play jokes on! She ran to the window and looked outside and laughed. But, Jason took her to school, and he said he got pelted in the car. “Can I have some money?”, “Why do you need money Katie Beth?” “April Fools!!” “Look Dad, the sun isn’t shining!!” “Where?” (playing along like a good Daddy should” “April Fools, look over there – it IS shining!!”
I remember one year as a kid taking Monopoly money to give the lunch lady at school. I thought that was hilariously well thought out.
I’ve convinced Jason on a couple of April Fool’s over the years that I was pregnant. Or in labor. He’s very trusting. And I’m very believable!
So, I’m done for the day. No more jokes. Ok, well, I may look at Family Fun’s recipe posts for something goofy to make for dinner. Look here for videos or here for non-videos. But, that requires a lot more work to do than maybe I want to do… Look here too for their whole list of ideas.
Are you pulling any April Fool’s jokes today? What are you doing – tell us! Or wait until tomorrow and come back and tell us what you did!
Ecclesiastes 3:4 tells us God gives us times to laugh! Make sure your jokes aren’t cruel – imagine if they were done to you if you would still laugh. And some people, no matter what, don’t like pranks pulled on them. So be sensitive! But, laugh people – laugh!
The differences are evident even at a young age.
A boy can miss the toliet, pee on the floor, step in it, track it through the house, and never notice.
A girl walks into the bathroom, notices the remnants of the non-tracked through pee immediately, and notes that it needs to be cleaned up. (by her mother of course)
My oh my… I’m not sure I like the odds of boys to girls in this family – one fully, neat potty trained girl, one obviously messily trained boy, and another boy not even started. I’m also further resolved that unless we are guaranteed a girl, I’m not so sure I feel the desire to procreate anytime soon. Sorry Jason…
Our kids (at least two of them) are finally in the stage where we can really enjoy some good games and activities together. We’re going to “officially” set aside one night where we play games, do some activity, etc together. Most will be at home, but I’d be open to going somewhere as long as it was interactive and something we all did together. Not many places out seem like that. So, I decided to start a list here of ideas, and please feel free to add in the comments some of your own! I am going to make a huge jar to put all of our activities in on individual pieces of paper. Then, at the end of Family Fun Night, we’ll draw a paper to tell us what we’ll do the next week! So, pull out your thinking caps! They really don’t need to be long activities with the short attention spans. Here a few of my own:
Games (wii and/or board) night
_______ Country night – do food and games/activities from another country and/or culture
Movie night – not watching but MAKING – pull out the video camera, create a story
Cooking – make a special dessert
Marshmallow/toothpick structures – contest?
Make costumes out of toliet paper
Family campout – sleep in bonus room/in front of fire
Ok… there are just a few ideas – throw in yours!
I’m not great at posting recipes mostly because I usually stay with my tried and true quick meals, and because it’s not usually worth it to sit and type it out. BUT, this one is. It looked DELISH to me, but I wasn’t sure how the family would take it. However, EVERYONE loved it! It’s a new quick favorite for sure!
I found this recipe on the back of Bush’s Best Garbanzos. I give all the credit to them – I’m not claiming it as my own, etc copyright stuff I guess.
Rockin’ Moroccan Pita – 6 servings (but I’d say more like 8 at least)
1 T ground cumin
1 t chili powder
1 lb chicken breast, cut in 1″ cubes
1 T olive oil
Combine cumin and chili powder in plastic bag. Add chicken and shake to coat. Heat oil in large skillet over med heat. Add chicken; cook 5 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink, stirring frequently. Take off heat, set aside to cool. (I actually had leftover bbq chicken I had cooked in the crock pot the night before. I just used it, and it was great. I think we could have used the spice of the chili powder or something, but it was still really, really good!)
3 T olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 cans (16 0z each) Bush’s Garbanzo Beans (drained and rinsed)
3 green onions (thinly sliced)
1 red bell pepper (diced)
1/4 cup chopped parsley
6 pita pockets
plain yogurt (or sour cream)
Combine remaining ingredients, except pita pockets, mixing well. Stir in chicken. Divide chicken mixture among pitas, top with yogurt or sour cream if desired.
I skipped the yogurt/sour cream b’c I didn’t think we needed it, but I served it with cottage cheese which was really good. We even kind of dipped it in the cottage cheese so I think it’d be good with sour cream or yogurt. I also served it with tortilla chips, but next time I’ll also have some corn on the cob. It was a yummy summer meal, and my tummy is rumbling thinking about it!
Enjoy!
