Thursday, December 31, 2020

December's Days

It's the last day of the year, and the last day of December.  Around our house it feels extra celebratory because it's K.J.'s birthday eve.  This month we lit a numbered candle every night and read a Christmasy story as we counted down the days until Christmas.  The first two weeks of December were spent in semi-lockdown, but we were able to abandon filling out forms to leave the house on the 15th.  That gave us a sense of relief that we still feel when we go out now.  

Even though we couldn't do Christmas gatherings in the usual ways, we still had a really festive month.  We've learned how to connect with others safely, we sang Christmas carols and enjoyed the Parisian Christmas lights, drank chocolat chaud, and FaceTimed with family.  We watched Christmas movies all December long, and it was all in all very merry. 

December 1 - The countdown to Christmas begins.


December 2 - Golden Leaves in Paris


December 3 - Cozy Vibes


December 4 - Power Outage, Peanut Butter Sandwich by Candlelight


December 5 - Christmas on the Champs-Élysées


December 6 - Discovering New Christmas Stories


December 7 - Helping Post Christmas Cards


December 8 - Afternoon Walk


December 9 - Steeple at Sunrise


December 10 - December Roses


December 11 - Selfies with my Boy


December 12 - Pop of Color


December 13 - Gingerbread Cookies


December 14 - Rainy Day Walk


December 15 - Another Moody Walk


December 16 - Bible Study Meet-Up


December 17 - Sunset Skies


December 18 - Our Christmasy Grande Rue


December 19 - Fancy French chocolates have the flavors printed on them.


December 20 - The Beautiful Faces of EIC Rueil's Zoom Church


December 21 - Another Dr. Who Ornament for the Tree


December 22 - Our First Bûche de Noël


December 23 - When will it just be Christmas already?


December 24 - Christmas Eve Christmas Tree Charcuterie Board


December 25 - E received a journal from each of her parents.


December 26 - A Boxing Day Farewell to Friends who are Moving


December 27 - Christmas Tea with Noreen


December 28 - The First Time I've Found Ranch Dressing in France


December 29 - I spy two boys who stirred up the pigeons.


December 30 - Chimney Pots


December 31 - Presents for K.J.


May your new year be filled with hope.

Saturday, December 26, 2020

20 Gifts in 2020

It's Christmastide, that wonderful season of celebrating the great gift of a good God in the birth of Jesus and sharing gifts amongst ourselves.  It's also the end of the year, which has me reflecting on 2020 and the things that have been gifts to me.  At first, I thought of two specific gifts but since it's hard to resist a good theme I thought I would challenge myself to think of 20.  Maybe you'd like to do the same in this last week of a year we will never forget.  Even in a year of losses, there are so many gifts.  

1.  Our family has stayed healthy.

This obviously stands out in a year where we've been more aware of germs and their spread than ever before.

2.  Ladies' Bible Study on Zoom

In March I talked with another woman in our church about having a Bible study time for ladies, but I couldn't figure out how to fit that easily into the week.  I need to be home most days to oversee school for the kids, and meeting in Paris takes a lot of travel time.  Scarcely two weeks later, and France was in a strict lockdown, and we all downloaded this little app called Zoom.  


The pandemic made us try something that we would never have thought to try, and it is my favorite gift of 2020.  Reading the Bible together and discussing it on Zoom enabled women to join us when they went away on holiday for the summer, while their babies were napping or crawling all over them needing to be muted.  It eliminated hours of travel time in the middle of a work day.  It kept us safe, encouraged our hearts, and kept us connected.  What a gift.

3.  Church in the Park

Similarly, we would never have moved church meetings outside in Paris parks without the pandemic necessitating new creativity in gathering, and this time was such a blessing to me, too.  On a typical Sunday in the building, I had quick conversations with lots of people, mostly just quick catch-ups.  These are of course good, but the times in the park gave time to actually have conversations around the sermon, beyond the quick chats.  I was able to hear how people were processing God's Word that week.  We could ask questions and hear each other's thoughts.  It was another good gift of connection. 

4.  Taking Advantage of Paris before things Shut Down

I am SO thankful I made so many plans in February.  We visited Luxembourg Gardens and the Pantheon with friends.  I saw inside the stunning Sainte Chapelle with a friend.  E and I saw Little Women at the theater.  We went to the zoo and met up with friends.  The kids had friends over to hang out, and we went to restaurants.  I am so grateful we did all of these things before normal life disappeared!  And did you notice a theme there?  Friends, friends, friends!  We've missed our friends this year, haven't we?


5.  The Garden

We utilized Noreen's garden more than ever before this spring during lockdown.  K.J. and I paced back and forth discussing the day's events.  We tracked each new blossom and watched birds build their nests.


6.  Michael Tinker's daily lockdown shows

We met Michael in North Yorkshire, and his Mission to Dendros album was already a family favorite on road trips, but his daily Facebook Live with songs and puppets, costumes, and jokes was a daily joy and part of our lockdown rhythm.  

7.  Some Good News with John Krasinski regularly made me cry.  

8.  Robins

I've had a special love for robins for 5 years now, and watching one build his nest during lockdown was happy for me.


9.  Online Book Club

It wasn't our normal, but it was still so good to have an avenue to talk about books.


10.  Family Bike Rides

11.  Outdoor Communion

Anytime you do something in a new context it arrests more of your attention, wakes up your brain and your heart from the fog of the familiar, and taking the Lord's Supper outdoors with our church--bring your own baguette!--was special.

12.  A Hammock

Friends who moved away this summer gifted us their hammock, and we all fought over time in it.  Why is swinging through the summer air with a book the best thing ever?

13.  Our Supporters

While we were enjoying our first outing in the world since the end of lockdown, marveling at being in the wheat fields made famous by Vincent Van Gogh, someone broke our car window and stole my computer.  This was obviously a complete bummer of a way to end our mini vacation, but by the next day several of our supporters and friends had offered to cover the cost of replacing our window and my laptop.  This lavishness was an unexpected outpouring of love.

14.  Online Gaming

I wouldn't have expected online gaming to ever be a gift to me, but with time with friends much harder to come by, J being able to FaceTime and play Minecraft online with friends or Switch games online with friends was a gift for him and to me.

15.  An Impromptu England Trip

Going back to England now feels like returning home, and like most trips this year, our September trip was canceled.  But we crossed the channel for a quick 6-day trip just before crossing the border grew complicated.  We spend most of our time doing outdoor things on these trips so we felt pretty confident we could do the trip safely, and we're so glad we did.

16.  Seeing More of France

K.J. was able to change his cycling fundraiser this year to adapt to borders being closed, and while he rode hundreds of miles I practiced my French driving skills and navigated traveling in France with the kids, and it was all a gift of discovery.

17.  Reading Aloud During Lockdown

At the beginning of our first lockdown we decided to read through The Chronicles of Narnia, and it was nice having that goal.  I hadn't been reading aloud to the kids as regularly before that, and it was an anchor to the end of each day that we all enjoyed.

18.  Noreen has been kept from COVID.

A big part of all our decisions this year has been shielding our dear friend and neighbor in her 90s, and we are grateful she has stayed well this year.

19.  Our EIC Family

Even though we spent a majority of the year meeting in non-traditional ways, God still added to our number, and we'll never forget our very cold outdoor baptism service in September!  I'm grateful for how God has grown and stretched each person in our midst.  I'm also really grateful for the men and women who work behind the scenes talking thoughtfully through every change in the rules in this changing landscape.  Since all staff meetings have been online, I've often overheard all the discussions taking place, and they have worked so hard this year.

20.  Walks with K.J.

We've really embraced that walking together lifestyle this year.  I always feel better after a good walk and talk with him.

And that's my list!  What's been a gift to you this year?  

Saturday, December 19, 2020

Five Quotes, vol. xxix

 


I've been re-reading A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, and this week K.J. and I attended a virtual interview with him hosted by our beloved American Library in Paris.  It was such a delight, and if you also loved that book, you can watch the entire event replayed on YouTube.  The last two questions Towles answers are K.J.'s!  Towles' writing is beautiful. Here are five passages I copied out this week.


"You sound as if you dreamed of living in America."
"Everyone dreams of living in America."
"That's ridiculous."
"Ridiculous?  Half of the inhabitants of Europe would move there tomorrow just for the conveniences."
- A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles


"But in the end, it has been the inconveniences that have mattered to me most."
- A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles


"It is one of the intrinsic limitations of being young, my dear, that you can never tell when a grand adventure has just begun."
- A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles


"And do you know, do you know that mankind can live without the Englishman, it can live without Germany, it can live only too well without the Russian man, it can live without science, without bread, and it only cannot live without beauty..."
- from Demons, Fyodor Dostoevsky (quoted in A Gentleman in Moscow)


"Alexander Rostov was neither scientist nor sage; but at the age of sixty-four he was wise enough to know that life does not proceed by leaps and bounds.  It unfolds.  At any given moment, it is the manifestation of a thousand transitions.  Our faculties wax and wane, our experiences accumulate, and our opinions evolve--if not glacially, then at least gradually.  Such that the events of an average day are as likely to transform who we are as a pinch of pepper is to transform a stew."
- A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles

Friday, December 11, 2020

Five Quotes, vol. xviii

A Book Booth, somewhere in North Yorkshire, England

This week's reading brings us a somewhat random assortment of quotes.  Just two weeks until Christmas!  Happy reading.


"Fortune is merry,
And in this mood will give us anything."
- Marc Antony, Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare


"Red Pollard sipped his scotch and reminisced about Seabiscuit and quietly slipped out of history."
- Seabiscuit, Laura Hillenbrand


"The voice of books is but a single voice, yet it does not teach all men alike, because I within them am the Teacher and the Truth, the Examiner of hearts, the Understander of thoughts, the Promoter of acts, distributing to each as I see fit."
- The Imitation of Christ, Thomas à Kempis


"And some that smile have in their hearts, I fear,
Millions of mischiefs."
- Octavius, Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare


"Country life.  It teems with intrigue."
- Winter Solstice, Rosamunde Pilcher

Thursday, December 10, 2020

If you like walks and bird-watching...

On the first of December K.J. wanted to go on a morning walk.  I wanted to go with him but wasn't quite ready so he said, "I'll go now and walk clock-wise around the park; you come when you're ready and walk counter-clock-wise, and we'll be sure to meet."  And so that is what we did.


It worked out well for us because it gave us each some moments walking alone and also some time to spend talking.  In these pandemic days, these are our dates.


Since I was meeting K.J., I didn't bring my earbuds along to listen to music or a podcast, and my walk through the town and the misty morning park was quiet.  The silence is good for my soul.  I've been reading The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis with E for school, and you can see how much emphasis monks in that time period put on quiet and withdrawal.  I can't help but think we need times of silence in this world of constant access to information even more than in those 15th century days  

My quiet mind gives space for me to notice the gold-domed tops of the trees hanging on to their leaves amidst all the bare branches of the crowd.

I spent some time watching this black bird fly low over the water the week before, and a quick Google this morning told me it was a cormorant.  I asked K.J. to walk toward him so I could take a picture of him in flight.  Ever the good photography assistant, he obliged, and it was satisfying to watch him spread his wings and dive into the water for a morning swim.  

There's a gaggle of geese (how fun is that to say?) that live in our park, and we got a big kick out of watching them wander to the pool in a line, jumping in one after another in an orderly manner.

Here's our cormorant friend back for his swim.


And the award for farthest traveled goes to this seagull who flew in on some salty breeze.  

I was happy I brought my big camera with me because there were some spots I'd been wanting to take pictures of that my phone can't quite capture, like the steeple of the church framed between these two trees and the rooftops of our little town.  We've had a string of cold days since just before Thanksgiving, and you can often see smoke billowing up out of a chimney or two.  This was a perfect walk to welcome December.