A week's recap, a "culte", and an announcement of great happiness

I am very apologetic about my woeful failure to blog for over a week. It was, I can assure, not for a lack of material to blog about! Quite the opposite - there was simply too much to blog about and too little time to do it.

It was a superb week; below are some noteworthy highlights.

Samedi, le 2 Février - dîner chez Anne!

Anne is my most animated, enthusiastic, energetic, patient, passionate and kind French teacher here in Albertville. On Saturday, the same day that we Americans celebrate groundhogs, the French celebrated La Chandeleur - a holiday for crêpes! Anne invited the single ladies over to her house (which is literally some 30 feet away from the school) for crêpes. They were delicious beyond all description with such a plethora of options for the inside part of the crêpe that we had crêpes that were smaller in size - that way you could try more options! 

Dimanche, le 3 Février - Grenoble

Rachel, one of the girls living here on my floor in the room right next to mine, had a friend visiting from Holland for the weekend, and on Sunday, a number of us took her back to Grenoble to the airport there for her flight back home. I enjoyed playing on a playground in the back of a gas station near the airport, watching with never-dwindling fascination the French countryside zooming by, and the good company.

Mardi, le 4 Février - Mon Culte dans la classe 

As part of your schooling at the Centre, you prepare and deliver two different 10 - 20 minute spoken devotions: one for the whole school, and one for your class. On Tuesday, I gave mine for the class. In case you are interested, it went like so:

Qui a lu les livres de Narnia? Et qui a lu Le Fauteuil d'Argent? Aujourd'hui, je vais parler de Narnia, et surtout du personnage Jill Pole, parce que je pense que je suis comme Jill. Et, peut-être vous aussi.

Maintenant, je vais lire un extrait du livre. C'est quand Jill parle au grand lion – Aslan. Ils parlent sur la montagne, et Aslan a donné une mission à Jill...

Aslan a dit, <<Sois calme. Dans un moment, je t'enverrai. Mais premièrement, ne pas oublier, ne pas oublier, ne pas oublier mes instructions. Dis les à toi-même quand tu te réveilles le matin, et quand tu va au lit la nuit. Et si les choses étranges viennent à toi, continue à suivre mes instructions! Toujours.

Et la deuxième chose – je te donne un avertissement. Ici sur la montagne, j'ai parlé clairement à toi. Je ne vais pas faire ça souvent dans Narnia. Ici sur la montagne, l'air est clair. Votre esprit est clair. Mais quand tu vas à Narnia, ce ne sera pas la même chose. Alors, fait attention. Mes instructions ne sera pas les même dans la réalité comme elles sont dans votre tête. Elles seront différentes de ce que tu comptes! C'est pourquoi il est tellement important de savoir mes instructions dans ton coeur. Ne pas oublier mes instructions. Crois mes instructions. Pas autre chose est important.>>

Je suis comme Jill. Elle n'était pas une personne importante. Elle n'était pas une personne avec beaucoup de puissance. Si vous lisez le livre, vous voyez qu'elle est une personne très faible et simple.

Mais Aslan l'a choisie! Il lui a donné un but. Il lui a donné une mission. Et il lui a donné quelque chose de très important. Il lui a donné sa parole. Ses instructions pour elle. Il lui a dit ce qu'elle doit faire. Exactement comme Aslan, Dieu nous a choisis. Il nous donne un but. Il nous donne une mission.

Jill n'a pas terminé la mission avec perfection. Au contraire, elle a oublié parfois les instructions. Elle avait tentations. Parfois, elle ne voulait pas continuer la mission. Elle voulait une maison confortable avec de la bonne nourriture et des lits chauds. Elle n'était pas digne d'être choisi pour cette mission, mais encore, Aslan l'a choisie! Aslan aurait pu faire la mission sans Jill, mais encore, Aslan l'a choisie!

Et Aslan ne lui a pas donné seulement ses instructions. Jill ne pouvait pas faire la mission seul, donc, il lui a donné deux partenaires! Eustace et Puddleglum. Ils l'ont aidée terminer la mission. Aslan a donné Jill une aventure qui a changé sa vie. Une aventure incroyable, mais une aventure qui n'était pas toujours facile ou confortable. Une aventure effrayante. Une aventure de sacrifice. Mais une aventure avec de grandes récompenses à la fin.

Exactement comme Jill, je pèche. Je fais beaucoup d'erreurs. Je désobéis aux instructions de Dieu. Mais Dieu m'a choisie. C'est incroyable! Il m'a donné une mission. Dans sa parole, la Bible, il me raconte ses instructions:

On t'a fait connaître, ô homme, ce qui est bien; Et ce que l'Éternal demande de toi,

C'est que tu practiques le droit,

Que tu aimes la loyaauté,

Et que tu marches humblement avec ton Dieu.

Michée 6:8

Prions.

Seigneur, merci de nous avoir donné une mission. Pour nous donner un but. Nous ne sommes pas dignes. Nous sommes des pécheurs. Nous sommes faibles. Mais tu nous as choisie. Tu nous appelés par notre nom. Nous allons te suivre. Aides-nous à suivre tes instructions, ton parole, aujourd'hui et demain, et tous les jours. Amen.

Vendredi, le 8 Février - Dîner chez Kim

On Friday after school, I went with the Kim family to the ski rental magasin - on Tuesday (possibly Thursday, weather dependent) the whole school will be going on a field trip. A field trip to the ski slopes! The Kim family kindly let me accompany them to the ski shop to rent skis for this occasion, and afterwards they invited me over to their house for dinner.

The Kims are in my class here at the Centre, they are going to Africa to do medical missions, and they have three very wonderful, precocious, engaging, enjoyable children who I hadn't had a chance to get to know until Friday. Julie cooked a veritable feast of the most sumptuous Korean dishes. Kimchee, tofu with amazing sauce, scallion and seafood fried pancakes also with the amazing sauce of deliciousness, white and sticky rice, chicken stir fry, pork, bean sprout soup... I'm practically drooling as I recall that meal. Their children were simply delightful, and I had a grand time participating in an elaborate, homemade arcade, playing paper golf, and having a drawing contest. 

Samedi, le 9 Février - Faire du ski at the crack of dawn

My alarm went off at 5:10 AM on Saturday morning. We (we being the people pictured below) (it was, by the way, no accident that this picture was taken with the bright yellow sign warning skiers of that precipice because it is not a ski slope and that skiing off of it is not exactly advisable) (there were, perhaps, certain people in our group who took this sign to mean that it was a good idea to do just the opposite) (the fact that I am currently alive and well ought to serve as indication to you that I was not a part of said group, if it did indeed exist) drove out of the school at around 6:00 and got to the mountains when it was still dark. This experience really deserves a post of it's own, so for now I have just two things to say. First as a preview to the post about this ski expedition - almost the entire time, I was bursting with all sorts of phrases and word images and analogies and similes and metaphors to attempt describe the indescribable. I really don't even know if it's worth it for me to record those phrases etc., however, because it was utterly superb beyond anything I could ever depict here, and so you should probably just go skiing in the Alps yourself one day in order to understand the magnificence for yourself. Second - at last, after much practice, pain, and failure, I am overjoyed to report that I believe I can say with a substantial amount of confidence that I know how to turn successfully, and turn relatively quickly with not a large amount of hesitation, and turn many times in a row as I zigzag down a steep mountain.

Dimanche, le 10 Février - Des billets

Aujourd'hui, I made a trip to the Gare (train station). Pourquoi? Parce que Morgan Kelley. (That's the announcement of great happiness). In case you are sadly unacquainted with Morgan, she is a most fantabulous friend of mine who has also attended Knox Pres for the entirety of her life and was in small group with me all of high school. She is an incredible ballet dancer, a faithful friend, a constant encouragement, a girl who is always laughing and perpetually spreading her joy, and she is coming her to France for her week of spring break which also happens to be my second week of vacances. I bought train tickets today because she and I are going to Paris together for the first part of her week here. Excitement abounds in large proportions. If you have any advice, pointers, thoughts, insights, etc. regarding Paris and how to best take advantage of Monday - Wednesday in this famed city, please do feel free and even compelled to share avec moi!

À bientôt,
Kathryn