Evendays

In June, Wife and I headed to Ardèche, France for the work “week” to help get the retreat center ready for this summer’s camp. Wife will be the head cook (ordering food that’s only delivered once a week, preparing it, and following all the French rules); Son 1 will be lifeguard and dishwasher, Son 2 and Daughter will be counselors, and I will be a counselor for the 13-17 year olds.

They say there will be 135 campers this year, ages 7 to 17. 180 people total. So there is much to get done at the center. What with two winters of once-in-a-century snows, we repaired water damage and cleaned up areas so everyone can function safely.

I am excited about this year because two young guys will helping out Craig and I (we were alone with 25 teenage boys last year). And I’m sure the teens are happy about that too. They love having someone they can relate too.

Camp starts next week and lasts 15 days.

Yep. 15 days.

In June we were very blessed to have Robert and his wife and family come with 6 students from Harding University. They joined us for our Sunday afternoon worship after 5 busy days in Geneva. We were able to do the following activities with them:

• English conversation groups (3 classes) in two local Lausanne High Schools;
• Tea with the older neighbors and with the pastor from the local Reformed Church;
• Singing and visiting with the Retirement home;
• Co-leading the Let’s Start Talking Oklahoma/Texas party;
• Lunch Bible Study with the University Bible Study Group;
• Meeting people in town through a giant “truth or dare” that took most of the afternoon;
• Distribution for the Let’s Start Talking project and for a Bible Correspondance course.

Every place they visited invited them back. They were a great witness to the neighborhood.

Holly and Madison from Oklahoma Christian University spent 6 weeks here in Lausanne with the LST project (Let’s Start Talking). This must have been the twelfth time that we’ve had a group come. This year’s biggest draw was the banner I put up in front of the house. We got 5 or 6 participants that way. Others came through ads in the paper or from internet want ads. Some came from years past and some from distribution that was done in mailboxes.

According to the girls, there are 8 who are interested in finishing the workbooks containing the life of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke. We are happy to have that occasion, and look forward to adding those people to our calendars.

Just got back from a 45 minute trip to Romainmôtier, an abbey in a monastic village at the base of the Jura mountains. It’s a little below freezing but as clear as can be. Alps are across the lake, though they seem much closer, while the Jura mountains ring our side of the water.

There was a church on the Romainmôtier site sometime in the 5th century. You can still see the foundation outline from the 7th century constructions. It seems the abbey was, at times, deserted for years because of enemies in the area who had come down from Germany in the 8th century. But now it has all been restored. I’ve sung in it before. Weddings are celebrated there (reservations are years in advance).

The style is the fortress like Romanesque from the end of the first millennium. Son 2 told us about the Cluny monks that built the place. Their motto was "No work and all pray makes Jack a Cluny monk". (I’m still working on what that means.) Some say that these places are permeated with prayer. I don’t know. But finding the balance between prayer and work has always been a challenge, one I will try to do better at this next year.

We’ll be with about 40 Christians tonight to pray in the New Year. Sounds like a great way to bring in 2010.

2009? Well, although I loved certain days, there were some pretty rough times right in the middle of it. Bad news and sad news seemed to fill up the Spring and Summer, and I may never get over that. But I have faith.

BTW, I was comparing faith in the New Testament, checking out ways the inspired writers use the word… "Past" faith looks at all that Jesus did to bring redemption and Kingdom. "Future" faith is that God will keep his promises (think of the encouragement given to the Hebrew Christians). And "present" faith? It’s persevering from day to day.

I know you’ve welcomed Christ in as Savior and Lord and that you firmly believe in the promises our God has offered us. My prayer is that you persevere in faith, hope and love, and that God’s goodness will truly shine on you in 2010.

There are at least two "church" sentences that tend to scare me. The first is: "Jesus spoke to me." That one always gets me, not because I don’t think that Jesus can speak to folks, I’m just not sure that he does. An older man from church told me he is writing a letter he wants to read to the assembly saying that Jesus had talked to him so he wants to share the message. I told him I’d think it over, but would love to read the message beforehand. (Actually, I’m just hoping he will forget about it, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.)

The second sentence is "I have grown so much this last year" or its sister phrase: "I have really matured as a Christian…" I hear this often, especially when said person wants to tell me what I’m doing wrong. Now I know I do a lot of stuff wrong (see my Evendays_confession_just_kidding.org), but it seems obvious that if someone has grown in Christ significantly the last few months, that they wouldn’t have to tell me how much they’d grown. Rather, I would see it and tell them how radically they’d changed.

It gets even more interesting when someone comes to you and tells that Jesus told them how much they’d grown.

Be humble my friends. Do listen to Jesus. But be discreet about all the stuff. At least try to be discreet.

These last two days, I have been working in a company that is laying off employees. It’s the first time they’ve taken these kinds of measures in their 100 year history and it has been painful for their whole "family". 

I’m amazed: People are tough and have resources that go deep. The HR people have been extremely caring and "un"-professional: sharing tears and hugs. By the time the laid-off folks get to the team I’m with, where we talk about the future and processes we’ve set up to help them get a new job, they are worn out but still able to look to the future and see something other than black.

Of the 8 employees I saw yesterday, one had been there 33 years. Another 25 and another 23. They were doing their best even though the foundations got rocked. When our time finished together, I would open the door and there would be standing another of their colleagues ready to take them to their car, or call a taxi, or spend some time talking. It all helped, even if it gave the opportunity for even more tears.

Switzerland voted yesterday not to allow the construction of any more minarets on its territory. Here are my observations:

The polls before the vote showed that only 37% of the voters were for the ban. Someone had to be lying, for 57.5% ended up voting yes.

The media had declared that the initiative would be beaten. Were they ever surprised! Seconds after unveiling the results, they suddenly understood why everyone had voted the way they did. They had become experts again.

Unfounded fear was one reason given for the population voting against the construction of minarets. The experts said there was no reason to be frightened by the growth of Islam. Then one of them suggested that the political leaders who were for the initiative “hire bodyguards” for protection in case of reprisals. No reason to be frightened, yet they need bodyguards? Sounds like someone tipped his hand.

There are but 4 minarets in Switzerland and all are mute. There are thousands of bell towers and some of them ring, and ring loud, at 6 AM.

I do not want to live close to either if they disturb the peace. Yet taking away expressions of worship does no one any good. Those who expressed negative opinions about the minarets were called bigots. Others of the same opinion just shut up, ending any possible dialogue, and taking away the possibility to convince. So Switzerland has awakened with a hangover, and it doesn’t look like it’s going away.

I survived. 

First, 26 miles is a long way to run, walk or crawl.

Second, the first 13 miles are much easier than the second 13.

Third, no matter how long it takes, getting to the finish feels very, very good.

It was a hilly course (the publicity said it was "mostly flat") but the weather was perfect, the little villages welcoming, and the runners encouraging. We were sad that a 24 hour bug kept Wife from running. I think she would have beat my 4 hour 8 minute finish.

I have still to "run" a marathon. My Beaujolais experience included some walking. But with legs like iron and cramps that wouldn’t quit, walking took me, though quite slowly, in the right direction.

Thanks for dropping by. And keep heading for the finish line.

My kids told me that, yes, it is true. The guy who ran from Marathon to tell the king his troops had won the battle died after delivering his message.

Tomorrow, wife and I are attempting the same feat, but at a different place and, we hope, with a different result. It’s called the Beaujolais Marathon. We’ll run from Fleurie to Villefranche-sur-Soane through some of the beautiful wine country of France. Refreshments and tasting are provided every 5 kilometers.

26 miles and a bit more is what 1000 of us will be tackling. The weather should be very nice with a small wind in our faces. I will let you know on Monday if we were victorious or not.

I know, you’re dying to find out…