Evendays

My blogging buddy at Ocular Fusion tagged me, or booked me, as he’d write… So here we go:

1. One book that changed your life: Max Dauner’s 80 page study on God’s Eternal Plan changed me and the way I look at the Gospels. I’ve never taught them the same since. (Only available in French…)
2. One book that you’ve read more than once: Well, 7 books really. The Chronicles of Narnia.
   
3. One book that you’d want on a desert island: A really good hymn book.
   
4. One book that made you laugh: Dave Barry’s Greatest Hits.
   
5. One book that made you cry: Michael Shaara’s Killer Angels.
   
6. One book you wish you had written: The Catechism of the Catholic Church. (So much good in it, but so many things you could make clearer…)
   
7. One book that you wish had never been written: Mein Kampf.
   
8. One book you’re currently reading: Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John and the Praying Imagination by Eugene Peterson.
   
9. One book you’ve been meaning to read: The last 900 pages of Hugo’s Les Misérables. I’ve already finished the first 900 pages.
   
10. Tag five others: This goes against my conscience, so I’ll leave it open, although I’d love to know which book changed your life…

 

Talk about a rude awakening. We left hot , sunny Fresno (102), semi-hot D.C., and got off the plane in Geneva to a chilly, Swiss summer. Friday afternoon was gorgeous with a cool high of 68. SIXTY-EIGHT. (Someone left the frig door open.) This is not August weather. Did we change hemispheres?

Saturday afternoon the storms rolled in. We hadn’t seen rain in over 7 weeks during our travels. Down it came and it didn’t stop all night long.

I’m sitting at my computer this afternoon (3:19 pm) wearing long pants, short-sleeve shirt with a sweat shirt. All the lights are on in my study. Dark clouds cover the sun. My throat aches and I think I’m getting the chills.

In California it’s 6:19 am and the sun is shining on the back yard. The sprinklers have been running for 30 minutes and the Fresno Bee is wrapped in clear plastic just waiting for me to pick it up from the front walkway. Mom and Dad have been up for an hour already and the coffee’s brewed. It’s time to go to the back deck with my bowl of Lucky Charms and read how the Giants faired.

Time to “transition”…

Thanks for the prayers. We arrived home safely after several airports and several more problems with baggage. It seems that America West did not want to transfer our bags to our TED flight. But after a 7 hour wait they showed up in time for us to place them in the hands of British Airways employees. That actually worked out to our benefit, as we used the baggageless time to visit the newer Smithsonian Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport. We caught a 50¢ bus to the hanger and saw planes old and new scattered across the tarmac floor and hung model-like from the ceiling. 

I felt mixed emotions as we peered into the Enola Gay cockpit. 61 years ago this month her crew dropped "little boy" on Hiroshima. As Wife and I stood near the plane, we heard one mother explain to her child that the bomb was dropped on the Japanese as revenge for Pearl Harbor. As we were leaving, another mom was explaining to her child that it was done to bring the war to an end.

Go see the museum if you get the chance. 

Just got back from a fishing trip. Good food, company, beautiful stars and lots of fish. Thanks Mike! 

I’ll be off-line for a while. The family is heading back to Lausanne. It’ll just take us a couple of days to get there. Fresno, Las Vegas, Washington D.C., London (Heathrow), Geneva, Lausanne. Hope they have nice airports.

Be back soon.

I read a report yesterday that about 30% of the kids who are in Fresno elementary schools have English as their second language, and that there are over 70 languages represented in the school district. This reminds me of Lausanne where over half of the first graders in our neighborhood are not French mother tongue.

I speak American nearly down-right perfect. But I’m often caught "not understanding". For example, a few years ago while checking out at a grocery store the check-out cashier looked into my eyes and said: Paper or Plastic? Stunned, I thought a moment and answered: I’ll be paying cash. To which she replied: Paper or Plastic? I took out my wallet and laid the bills out on the plastic counter and said, "I’ll pay cash." She rolled her eyes and said really slowly: Do you want a PAPER bag or a PLASTIC bag? I sheepishly chose paper and walked out with my change (metal) and groceries.

This year, the question at the checkout was "Credit or Debit?" to which I intelligently replied, "What?". "CREDIT or DEBIT?", repeated the check out person. Now, this is bizarre, I thought. They’re asking me if I want them to debit my account or credit my account. Shoot, I’ll pick CREDIT any time.

Which is what I did.

So today, to all you USA residents, please talk slowly, enunciate, and don’t roll your eyes.

We will go see Grandma T. today. At 94, she lives in a care-facility. Last furlough she was still at home, able to make cookies and tell us where the drinks were, show us pictures and explain long-ago faces to us. Though her mind is still sharp, her vision has dimmed. She is frail, unable to get around.

Nephew B. couldn’t even talk when I saw him last. Now he plays baseball and loves donut holes and hits golf balls. And Niece C. could say just two words on her last visit. Now she is almost 5, can talk your ear off and swim like a fish. Though M. and R. haven’t changed much in 18 months, they’ve grown up and gotten more fun with each visit.

Nephew E. is six weeks old. He may have smiled at Wife and me the other day but I’m not sure. Next time we see him he will be hitting baseballs and eating donuts and whacking golf balls. Maybe even swimming like a fish. And he’ll have 2 new cousins.

The most difficult thing about being away is the sense of loss. You miss out on people growing up and growing older. Missed events and missed experiences. I guess, just a sense of loss.

Yesterday was a very affirming day although it was a day of meetings. Bryn and Blake were at College church to report on the Let’s Start Talking project. About 20 children sat around them, listening intently to the two college students tell about their work in Lausanne. None of the little guys, ages 5 to 10, were too interested in making the trip in the future… Steve did a good job on James 5, only stealing two of my verses from next week.

We met with Gene Sue’s shepherding group. They had  questions on stuff we don’t often think about: Is there a home-school movement in Switzerland? How do people from so many language groups get on with each other?

We attended an old-fashioned potluck and then met with the elders. They prayed for us and laid hands on us, telling us how much they loved us.

The 9 members of the mission committee had many questions as we looked at possibilities for the next few years.

Our furlough is winding down. I appreciate the time we’ve spent in California with dad, mom, brother and sisters. And church. Not all our foreign church workers have this kind of experience. Thanks, College church!

Last night, dad took 14 of us out to the Fresno Grizzlies’ game. At the end of 10 innings the score was tied at 14. Somehow Fresno won in the 11th, 17 to 16, after picking up 25 hits.

This morning, I took the family’s biggest/smallest baseball fan out to get donuts. Braedon was singing, "Take me out to the ballgame." I asked him what he dreamed about last night. He said BASEBALL. I asked him what he wanted to do today. He said PLAY BASEBALL. I asked him what he liked best about his visit so far. I didn’t get it all, but I did hear the word BASEBALL.

I love baseball too. But I’m not that passionate about anything (unfortunately).

Uncle Paul is trying to widen Braedon’s horizons. The little guy was out wackin’ golf balls in the back yard just a minute ago. In fact, I’ve got to go now. He just asked me to play…

Thanks for stopping by.

Nothing in this post will be news to you. But it’s all new to me. We still have rabbit ears on our Sony, picking up 2 Swiss stations and 3 French ones. We watch about 5 hours a week, unless it’s World Cup week or Federer is playing in a major.

Difference between here and there are plenty. In Lausanne we can watch 45 minutes without one commercial break, here you’ve got, well, almost as much commercial time as story time.

And what has happened to sports? On ESPN-4a, there were these really big, big guys… throwing darts!

Then a bunch of guys were sitting around a table playing cards and the guy commentating sounded like Vin Scully commenting the ninth inning of a close play-off game. It was so exciting I had to wait for the commercial to go and get my DP. I didn’t want to miss any of it.

And who’s the programming guy putting shark attacks on the Discovery Channel? The kids have learned valuable information that has really spiced up our dinner time conversation!

I had never heard of the Food Channel (did it exist 3 years ago?), but from coast to coast, my relatives know the latest way to BBQ a chicken breast or make that fresh green pea sauce, just right for chilled salads during the summer months. 

The first few weeks, I thought I was immune to the TV programs. But this morning after my run and yard work, I found myself watching on ESPN-15 the Dutchess of Doom taking on the Striking Viking. No, it wasn’t women’s mud wrestling, but trick-shot billiards. I missed the end. Who won?

Wife and I were in Wes’ old shepherding group on Sunday and about 40 people were present. I started my part of the class talking about the difference between mourning and celebrating… That it would be appropriate for us to mourn Wes’ death because we will miss him. His wife and grown children, and their children, will miss him. That shepherding group will miss him. The sick and saddened will miss his visits. The staff at College church will miss him.

But there was some opposition. "No, we should celebrate his life, not mourn his death." I told these older, wiser Christians that I thought I understood what they were trying to say, but that Wes left a hole in our lives that brought sadness. That many would miss his comfort. That others would sorely miss his wisdom. That all would miss his love.

No, said a saintly lady. He’s better off where he is…

I thought I’d failed to make my point when Wes’ wife spoke out. "I’m sad. And I’m going to miss him."

The Christian’s hope is glory… An eternal glory that outweighs all… But in the meantime our enemy, death, is still the enemy. And so I mourn and, even though I’m a firm believer in the Gospel. I’m comfortable with that. For I mourn as one who has hope.