plaza near louvre
paris, france
paris is quieter than any u.s. city i've been to. small engines probably. i like to ride subways. a scene made me smile as we rode into france. we slowly pulled away from the station and i noticed a couple sitting on a bench. the girl laid her head on her guy's shoulder, sat up, smiled, said something to him. the guy, plain faced, looked over as she was speaking and gently smiled. we picked up speed and we pulled away. riding backwards, the scene drifted into the distance, into the past, becoming a memory. i miss laura.
i bet if i knew french this place would feel different. what are french people like? are they nice? happier in general? this is a whole new world to me. what is the church like here? i know the american church and its problems - what is the church like here? what is the nominal perception of Christianity? is it right-wing crazies? or something else? what do house churches look like here? i wish i could meet with a committed Christian to find out.
this place is not at war. it does not have a ton of troops in the middle east. in fact, it doesn't win many wars. it has been occupied. that is a humbling thing. i wonder if that history affects how people are educated. they are not taught that they are the best and that no one else is stronger. i wonder if that makes them more gracious?
i would hate being a tourist here but i think i would really enjoy living here. i really want to learn another language and live abroad. just work for ends meat and live in another culture. maybe with an order/community?
Lord, thank you so much for life and this break from school. please watch over laura and i during this time apart. give us wisdom for next year in kansas city. keep us safe so we can spread (or make known) your kingdom in 64130. thank you for providing a place for us to live next year. you knew we needed shelter and we didn't even have to look for it. you simply provided. thank you!
jeeeeff.
ReplyDeletelet me say that i love it that you're writing what you wrote about in france. for one, it makes me excited to go there and actually experience it. for two, it gives me some insight on what to expect and on some things that i might feel or be thinking. or at least i'll be able to see the same things and think differently about them and we'll see what happens after that. for three... you have fantastic thoughts, and they're awesome to be shared.
a lot of times, we can't really convey our feelings during trips like that in blog form or photo form. and this even gives it a movielike feeling when you're seeing pictures and hearing words and feeling it all at the same time.
the might have been too deep.
warn me if it is.
i'll do better next time.
i was worried no one would comment on these! all comments are welcome! i think life is too deep to be lived in the shallows.
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