Christmas in Grasse

So yes, despite the many attempts on my life made by various groups of bandits and ninja pirates, I did in fact survive Christmas and even got to spend it with some cool people. Christmas is a great time to spend with family, and though I missed out on that aspect I did get to hang out with some awesome people and experience a traditional French Christmas with a French family.

Vincent and Nichole are a married couple working with Justus and CA here in the south of France. Vincent (or Vinny) is a true Frenchman born in Orange, while his lovely (and quite pregnant) wife Nichole is as Scottish as they get. Well, actually I'm not sure about that, but her accent is amazing. Combined they make a great couple, Vinny wearing his Christmas kilt made my night.

Vinny's family was there as well, his parents speaking absolutely no English and his sister kind enough to speak a little with me, made for a very French Christmas. To top it off we had Foie Gras, duck liver turned pate (and they kill the duck by over-feeding it during the course of two weeks). That, the foie gras, and the live oysters made it quite memorable. The liver spread was good, the oysters I'll try to avoid in the future. But spending all day at the table isn't a bad Christmas tradition no matter what you eat.


It was a great time, I absolutely loved it there. Their house is practically a mansion, three stories with a swimming pool, crazy huge for a guy who's spent the last three months in tiny Euro-apartments. It was just nice to relax outside of Nice and to crash/watch movies for a few days. I'll add pictures but you can look at more now if you want by clicking on the link under "photo albums" on the right.

And sorry this blog's kind of cliche, here I did and where I did it blog blah blah; I'm getting kind of bored with the regular re-counting of events. I'll have to come up with something more creative in the future. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Forgiveness

This is something I've been thinking on for a while, and will continue to do so. But I figured I'd share it and effectively end the decline in monthly Blog posts. Hope it helps someone think this through as well.

And if all you want is pretty pictures, scroll down, look at other blogs in the archives, or go to the Photo Albums link on the right side of the page. Peace.

Forgiveness

I always thought I was good at forgiving people, I don’t know why I thought this, I just always figured I was pretty good at it. I figure it was because I’m supposed to be good at it. As a Christian one of the marks of having a life touched by the forgiveness of God is the ability to better forgive others. This stems from the recognition of exactly how much I’ve been forgiven.

I don’t think I’ve ever really come to terms with exactly how much I’ve been forgiven, and I’m still working it out.

The other day I was talking to my dad and this situation from a few months ago came up when talking about a mutual friend. This person had called me during a day of celebration to essentially accuse me of taking advantage of them and wrest an apology from me. Needless to say, the day was effectively tarnished and the relationship effectively ruined. At least so it would have seemed.

Regardless I put it behind me, thinking that if all it took to call my character into question was a minor misunderstanding then the friendship must never have been that good anyways. I hadn’t done anything wrong. I felt that if their immediate response was to call me up and accuse me of doing them harm, instead of trying to figure things out by asking me first, then what was the point? They had asked why I had done it at least, I suppose, but I felt that their mind was made up as to my guilt before the conversation even started.

So I put it behind me, like I said. Honestly there are few things that can put me off like the questioning of my character or integrity, both of which I try to maintain as best I can. Unfortunately I think my reaction to their being called into question only revealed at what level of importance I place them – a little too highly.

Either way I felt wronged and didn’t bother to try and see it from their point of view. After talking with my dad he had some good points about that, and how restitution should be made. But what was most profound about the discussion was the revelation of how much bitterness I really have held onto over the whole thing. How it hadn’t just up and left, and saying “well I forgive so and so” didn’t really amount to forgiving anyone for anything.

It also started to help me realize just how many other things I was holding onto, so many little things over the years.

I’d just read Luke, and in chapter 17 Jesus tells his disciples that they need to forgive everyone, even if they wrong them 7 times a day, every day, they need to forgive them. The change from verse 4 to 5 seemed odd at best. It says “One day the apostles said to the Lord, ‘We need more faith; tell us how to get it.’” (NLT)

At the time I was a bit confused at the seeming lack of transition. I was thinking ‘where did this come from?’

In talking to my dad I related that for as simple a thing as forgiveness seemed to be, it certainly was difficult to do (I have a lot of forgiving to do I’m realizing). He replied – not knowing I’d just read Luke mind you – that this was the reason the disciples came to Jesus and asked for more faith following His instructions on forgiveness. It’s counterintuitive to forgive people. We hold onto our bitterness as if it were a driving force in our lives.

At least I do. I don’t want to; as Neil T. Anderson puts it “it’s better to live in the freedom of forgiveness than under the bondage of bitterness.” Alliterations aside, this is really true. When I’ve managed to truly forgive someone or experience someone’s forgiveness it’s been the most freeing thing in the world. It’s healing, plain and simple.

The end of Spiderman 3 (though I’m not the biggest fan of the movie) is great for this reason: it’s rife with forgiveness. That’s why it’s moving to see the Hobgoblin die, or to watch the Sandman disappear into the distance: there’s forgiveness and it changes everything for each character involved. Once your bitterness dissolves you realize just how poisonous it really was, the lies that it’s what you want are revealed for what they are, and in my case they lead me to want more freedom.

Clearly I’m not alone, as the good news of the availability of God’s forgiveness that started the early church and inspired the New Testament of the Bible has touched so many lives throughout the ages. To truly understand God’s forgiveness is to experience real freedom, and it’s no wonder people have flocked to the cross for centuries. It’s a beacon of forgiveness in the shadow of what we deserve.

Now, I want to better understand my forgiveness. In realizing just how much bitterness can be created over a minor insult to my integrity I wonder how much hurt I’ve caused God by my lack of belief in His integrity, in His faithfulness. And that’s just for starters. As I look at it through these new lenses I’m crushed, because I realize that what hurt I’ve done Him is ten times worse; because unlike me He is perfect and His integrity is unquestionable.

Here he’s been so generous and given me so much and I turn and spit in His face in one way or another. Similar to the situation I find myself in with my friend. And yet, He has forgiven me. How much more should I forgive the minor insults I receive in my life, especially when they seem or are merited at the time?

What a mix of joy and sorrow, to know that I am forgiven and to recognize how much I must forgive. I only hope I can learn to forgive, and that the Lord gives me more faith, for it is considered no great thing in Christ’s kingdom to forgive.

As he continues to talk in Chapter 17 we see that as a servant isn’t praised for carrying out his duties in the household as he is expected to, neither should we expect any extra honor for doing as we’re expected. Forgiveness, in Christ’s Kingdom, is a given. Now I just need to get better at it. Hopefully this current situation works itself out, and I manage to stand to what’s expected. In the meantime, it’s about time I wrestled with what baggage I have and attain God’s freedom in His forgiveness.

Alternate Profile

Jaymus Bartholomus Swansonimonimus was born in the year of our Lord 1985 in Pullman, Washington under the sign "Caution, Volatile Chemicals." He later shortened his name in 1992 to Jay Swanson, so as to avoid capture by the Nazi party based out of Northern Idaho. Many dispute the validity of this story, mainly because they’re Nazis.

Jay Swanson has been reported to have moved recently to Nice, France causing the value of the dollar to plummet. He is recorded in the Encyclopedia Britannica as being the most handsome and eligible bachelor in the World as of 1998. But don’t bother trying to verify that in the Encyclopedia, the Nazi’s paid a good amount of money to slander Jay’s name and have it removed from all Encyclopedias.
Damn Nazis.

Next time

OK, so I know I promised a blog about Noah but that will have to wait. My neighbor Solweig was particularly offended that I hadn’t written a blog about her, so here goes. Oh, and remember if you want more pictures to check out the links to "Photo Albums" on the right.

Solweig (pronounced sol – vegg) is my little blonde French neighbor who is majoring in tourism at the university here in Nice. She’s 23, from a small town near Avignon, and claims I’m the first Christian she’s ever known. That said, she’s the first French girl with a non-French name I’ve known. So I guess that makes us even.

Aside from hanging out and watching movies, Solweig and I are masters of brochures. She had a project for one of her classes wherein she had to make a “prospectus” (a.k.a. brochure) for a local hotel with pictures and everything. Being the nice guy that I am, I ended up doing all of the work.

We went to a cool little place called Hôtel Windsor, and though it sounds British I assure you, it’s quite French. The rooms are cool because each has been painted uniquely by a different artist at one point or another in the past. So we got a nice tour of the place, checked out a bunch of rooms, and then made the prospectus.

This room was radtacular

It turned out. I guess she got an A+ on it (I’m that good in French too I suppose) but I’m still waiting for the thank you dinner to happen. It got cancelled due to her friend’s illness… or something like that. I suppose I’ll survive; I’ll just keep eating pasta.

And that’s about it on Solweig. And gents, she’s quite single as well =)

I'll get photos up as soon as the internet stops hating me.

Christmas Fire

OK, now for a little post about Justus. And later I'll do one on Noah, who deserves many words for his handsomeness. But for now, Justus.

Justus is a cool guy working for CA, as I've said, who's married to the beautiful Samantha and is father to three hyperactive and hilarious munchkins. I went to a Christmas party with Justus last night out in the country about an hour outside of Nice.

It was nice because we had a sweet bonfire, chili, and even some carols sung around the fire. I got to finally meet Vincent and his wife Nichole, Justus' team mates here in France, and I must say they were pretty dang cool.

Justus and I stood out on the street waving people in for the first hour or so that we were there, and considering that it's the first night that has dropped below freezing it was kind of a challenge. I was cold, I can tell you that much.

I like Justus though because he's a good, honest guy. And he's from SoCal, we even went to the same church in San Diego a bit, so he's definitely all good ;) I just feel like there aren't enough real people like Justus, who are willing to be themselves and (even though he's apologetic about it some) show their faults. There's a lot to be learned from people like that who are willing to be themselves even when it's not pretty. Not to say Justus isn't pretty, he is. He's just honest with his struggles in a way I've found rare in my time here in France. It's invaluable.

As for the Christmas party, it was mostly comprised of friends of the team, and most of them were families with young children so the place was pretty crazy. It was fun to meet people I'd heard about and put faces to names. I'll tell you what though, if you're gonna hand out marshmallows for roasting you'd better be sure that each kid gets his or her own. Some serious amounts of screaming and malcontent can arise from those little puffy sugar cubes (they're not so much round here as they are cubular... or cubical... something).

Some spiced wine and apple crumble made it truly festive, and Barney's Christmas tree (it was at Barney's house) was spectacular for a guy who hasn't seen a good Christmas tree yet this season.

We only burned a few bottles and other odds and ends, I promise. The pitcher pictured above had some serious cracks in it after being left too close to the fire. It was a good time. We even had a visit form Spiderman (he's smaller in person). But one thing is for sure, I miss apple crumble.

Slacker

I realized that each month I've been here the number of posts on my blog has dropped progressively by one, and I was going to try to rectify that this month. Looks like I'm on the route to failure on that.

I also realized I've posted fewer pictures, so I was hoping to change that too (as people prefer pretty pictures to rambling rants). But instead of posting tons of pictures I posted links to my albums on facebook on the right side of my blog. You can click on them and check out my photos even if you don't have a facebook account. I was going to at least post a few, but I'm having serious internet problems so if there aren't any pictures in this when you read it just click on the albums on Facebook for now.

I've had a number of trips and met some cool people, and I'm not sure really what to write about. But I did visit John Mark in Antibes, along with his loverly room mates...

I'll tell you a little about two guys who are progressively enriching my life, how about that? I met John Mark, a tall baseball player from Tennessee, when I was getting my medical exam with the other assistants in Nice. Turned out he was a Christian and was looking for a church, and thusthat relationship was started .

The other is Justus (of whom I have yet to get a photo, he's illusive), a church planter with CA here near Nice in a town called Sophia-Antipolis. He's a great guy as well who I got hooked up with through Rob and his connections with CA.

We've been doing a little weekly Bible study that's turned more and more into a discussion hour, and it's been really good. Reading large chunks of scripture together every week and then talking about it, praying together... it's been great.

Jon Mark is the current champion of the group, however, as he had a recent hunting experience quite unlike any he'd ever had in America. And he's an accomplished hunter.


After boar hunting (yes, boar hunting), the French family that took him out went after birds and ended up shooting a bunch of small, sparrow-like creatures. They brought them home, plucked the feathers off, and threw them in the oven.

They then proceeded to sit down and eat the entire bird. They weren't like pheasants, or ducks, they were seriously little bitty birds and there were three to a plate. And when I say entire bird, I mean entire bird. JM said he was a bit shocked because they didn't just pull off the meat (the breast of the bird being about the size of his thumbnail), they bit straight in. He knew he was in for it when the dad just took a bird and bit its head off, chewed the skull up nicely, and swallowed.

What he'd gotten himself into he wasn't sure, but the manly man that he is he proceeded to eat the birds set before him. He wondered why no one was eating the toast on the table when suddenly the guy next to him cracked a bird's rib cage open, scooped out the entrails, and spread them on the toast like jam.

And so JM did the same and choked all it down. John Mark Walls is a true southern hero. And he's quite single ladies ;)

And that'll do for today. I'll try to get more on the internets here as soon as I can. And don't forget to click on the links to photo albums on facebook if you're in the mood for some French photos.