Traduction: "quel qu'en soit le prix" (whatever may be the price..I think!)
IF you know where I live, please pretend you DON'T.. .. ..because I'm about to count my money!
Total liquid assets (a.k.a. all my worldly riches):
EUR
€7,247
How much it would cost to do a year of work with IFES in Paris (approx):
EUR
€9,000
Difference between my savings & the cost involved:
EUR
€2,000
BUT nobody need panic yet (or start hyperventilating). Cette bergère n'est pas encore folle.
L/T.
28 August, 2009
24 August, 2009
Soyez patient!
Patience is something that seems, for me, to be in naturally short supply.
Perhaps it's simply because I live in such an "instant" culture. There is so much demand about what needs to be done NOW. Or very soon.
My occasional psychiatrist, probably the only Christian who really consistently knows what's been going on in my head since mid-1993 and how the thoughts therein have influenced the best/worst of my conduct over the last 16 years, has suggested that - in regard to the future - I do a little more waiting and stop being so hectic about decision-making. {EDIT. - Although my tax-return estimate, worth close to €2000, does change the equation slightly.. .. ..}
I have to agree in principle. There's plenty of time before April 2010, which is when things may really need to get moving (if things at all get moving).
I just hope I don't get distracted before then. Life may change drastically in the next 12 months - but please (to those reading this who care), don't assume it will change to necessarily suit your expectations.
(Or mine.)
L/T.
Perhaps it's simply because I live in such an "instant" culture. There is so much demand about what needs to be done NOW. Or very soon.
My occasional psychiatrist, probably the only Christian who really consistently knows what's been going on in my head since mid-1993 and how the thoughts therein have influenced the best/worst of my conduct over the last 16 years, has suggested that - in regard to the future - I do a little more waiting and stop being so hectic about decision-making. {EDIT. - Although my tax-return estimate, worth close to €2000, does change the equation slightly.. .. ..}
I have to agree in principle. There's plenty of time before April 2010, which is when things may really need to get moving (if things at all get moving).
I just hope I don't get distracted before then. Life may change drastically in the next 12 months - but please (to those reading this who care), don't assume it will change to necessarily suit your expectations.
(Or mine.)
L/T.
07 August, 2009
Premier mercredi du mois
{Fr.-En. "First Wednesday of the month".}
5 weeks and 2 days ago, Wednesday, 1st of July, 2009, I had what must rate as THE most meaningful human conversation of my life... .. ..I was trotting hopefully around the spacious campus grounds of Cité Universitaire, Paris, France, clutching a small bundle of leaflets which advertised GBU evangelism-infused soirées, and a survey titled "D'APRÈS VOUS, QUI EST JESUS?" (Fr.-En.: "And you, who do you say Jesus is?".)
At that precise moment in time I was weak, I was scared, I was alone, I was far away from family & Christian support networks, I was far away from the land of my birth.
What I still had:
The gift of la langue française (the gift of "the French tongue"); some of the Word of God stored in heart & mind; a French-version of the 2 Ways To Live tract in my bag; & last but by no means least, God the Holy Spirit ever resting on me.
I had gone to France well aware of some of my own major character flaws:
*lack of emotional stability
*lack of security in God alone throughout every area of life
*lack of spiritual maturity (IMHO)
..and oh my, that's just the tip of the iceberg!
Yet, in that next fateful hour, GOD USED ME ANYWAY.
Check the 3rd, 4th & 5th paragraphs of the 1 juillet post:
http://lutetia-de-paris.blogspot.com/2009/07/une-conversation-fille-atheiste.html
Did I mention that GOD USED ME ANYWAY?
Because He did. His grace was sufficient for me, for His power was made perfect in my weakness (2 COR. 12:9).
I was a much-cracked jar of clay.
A weak, not-that-mature Christian.
A mild-depression sufferer.
An injured soldier in the ongoing war on anger-management.
An unworthy servant.
I could go on and on about every possible reason I should have been utterly useless in that situation.
Yet truly God's grace was poured out in abundance on me (1 TIM. 1:14). Especially in that hour.
Truly the message I was enabled to communicate to this atheist girl was not with wise or persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, that any faith she may in future develop in years to come might rest not on my wisdom, but on God's power alone (1 COR.2:4-5).
Thank you DANIEL, of the tribe of Judah, Jewish servant of God first and of the king of Babylon second, for words written over 2500 years ago, which inspired me:
Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
to whom belong wisdom and might.
He changes times and seasons;
he removes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding;..
..To you, O God of my fathers,
I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom.. .. ..
2e chapitre, versets 20, 21 et 23
Is God willing to use me again in such a way as this?
In such a place as this?
In such a language as this?
At such a time as this?
Je ne veux qu'une année de ma vie. Une année, c'est toute, et à toute à l'heure.
Je ne demande pas beaucoup d'années. Une année seule.
L/T.
5 weeks and 2 days ago, Wednesday, 1st of July, 2009, I had what must rate as THE most meaningful human conversation of my life... .. ..I was trotting hopefully around the spacious campus grounds of Cité Universitaire, Paris, France, clutching a small bundle of leaflets which advertised GBU evangelism-infused soirées, and a survey titled "D'APRÈS VOUS, QUI EST JESUS?" (Fr.-En.: "And you, who do you say Jesus is?".)
At that precise moment in time I was weak, I was scared, I was alone, I was far away from family & Christian support networks, I was far away from the land of my birth.
What I still had:
The gift of la langue française (the gift of "the French tongue"); some of the Word of God stored in heart & mind; a French-version of the 2 Ways To Live tract in my bag; & last but by no means least, God the Holy Spirit ever resting on me.
I had gone to France well aware of some of my own major character flaws:
*lack of emotional stability
*lack of security in God alone throughout every area of life
*lack of spiritual maturity (IMHO)
..and oh my, that's just the tip of the iceberg!
Yet, in that next fateful hour, GOD USED ME ANYWAY.
Check the 3rd, 4th & 5th paragraphs of the 1 juillet post:
http://lutetia-de-paris.blogspot.com/2009/07/une-conversation-fille-atheiste.html
Did I mention that GOD USED ME ANYWAY?
Because He did. His grace was sufficient for me, for His power was made perfect in my weakness (2 COR. 12:9).
I was a much-cracked jar of clay.
A weak, not-that-mature Christian.
A mild-depression sufferer.
An injured soldier in the ongoing war on anger-management.
An unworthy servant.
I could go on and on about every possible reason I should have been utterly useless in that situation.
Yet truly God's grace was poured out in abundance on me (1 TIM. 1:14). Especially in that hour.
Truly the message I was enabled to communicate to this atheist girl was not with wise or persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, that any faith she may in future develop in years to come might rest not on my wisdom, but on God's power alone (1 COR.2:4-5).
Thank you DANIEL, of the tribe of Judah, Jewish servant of God first and of the king of Babylon second, for words written over 2500 years ago, which inspired me:
Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
to whom belong wisdom and might.
He changes times and seasons;
he removes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding;..
..To you, O God of my fathers,
I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom.. .. ..
2e chapitre, versets 20, 21 et 23
Is God willing to use me again in such a way as this?
In such a place as this?
In such a language as this?
At such a time as this?
Je ne veux qu'une année de ma vie. Une année, c'est toute, et à toute à l'heure.
Je ne demande pas beaucoup d'années. Une année seule.
L/T.
Bon anniversaire à ma sœur aînée!
Well, technically, it was now yesterday.. .. ..
Nosy-parkers can read what I think of my older sister (who's now another year older, having had a birthday today) in an earlier post (look for the word famille in one of the appreciation posts, "je rends grâces pour..").
If you know her, & you see her, wish her a happy birthday week!
L/T.
Nosy-parkers can read what I think of my older sister (who's now another year older, having had a birthday today) in an earlier post (look for the word famille in one of the appreciation posts, "je rends grâces pour..").
If you know her, & you see her, wish her a happy birthday week!
L/T.
03 August, 2009
Félicitations aux étudiants anciens!
In 2005 I did a memorable three months of Religious Studies teaching at Cranbrook School in Bellevue Hill (mainly with Year 7; they're now Year 11 2009).
Just heard that the school's 1st XV won against The Scots College last weekend (in what is known in the school community as the Battle of Bellevue Hill). 13-7 was the full-time score.
Now, I'm not a sport-mad person, nor have I any particular interest in rugby. In fact, the weekend they played, I was out, happily oblivious to the dramas, watching the movie Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince with my sisters. Yet I know that winning against a school like Scots means quite a lot to my former students, and how elated the Cranbrook community must be.
Well done boys!
:D
Just heard that the school's 1st XV won against The Scots College last weekend (in what is known in the school community as the Battle of Bellevue Hill). 13-7 was the full-time score.
Now, I'm not a sport-mad person, nor have I any particular interest in rugby. In fact, the weekend they played, I was out, happily oblivious to the dramas, watching the movie Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince with my sisters. Yet I know that winning against a school like Scots means quite a lot to my former students, and how elated the Cranbrook community must be.
Well done boys!
:D
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