Deep Thoughts and Cute Photos

I am reading a book called Hearing God by Dallas Willard, and I finally get one little point that he makes in this sometimes-too-deep-for-me book. He says that with God, we attempt things that are impossible on our own. God allows us to "help" Him even when He could do it all by Himself so much faster and easier. But, He lets us take part in what He wants to accomplish in the world. It pleases God to partner with us.

God has to use visible, tangible, real-world examples to explain things to me. I only understand the "refiner's fire" because I watched my dad refine metals in our garage (long story). I understand the image of the vine and the branches and how the Gardener prunes the fruitful branches because I had a vineyard outside of my living room window for a year. And, I finally understand (in part) How God wants us to work with Him because I get to work with my little girl!

God's plans my be much bigger than making a really yummy chicken pot pie, but I still loved watching Claire attempt something with me that she could never dream to do on her own (at least not yet).

Nothing is impossible when we partner with God. And, He WANTS us to be his little helpers!

A Little Irony in France

In 1860, Louis Pasteur discovered germs. He created the first vaccine for rabies and he invented “Pasteurization”. What an accomplishment for the French! Here is the ironic part of Pasteur’s discoveries.

The best cheeses are still not pasteurized here in France. (In America, all cheeses must be pasteurized or they cannot be sold to the public.) But, these cheeses with all the bacteria really do have more flavor.

Raw and undercooked meats are found in the best restaurants in France. Have you ever tried raw ham with butter?

And, the reason that I am writing this post…

Claire had to go to the restroom before we left school last week. I peeked around the corner while she was washing her hands. I looked just in time to see her take a drink out of a little blue cup in the restroom. Her response when I told her that we don’t drink out of cups in public restrooms? “That’s what the cup is for. All the kids drink out of it.”

Berk! (French for “yuck”!) Talk about germs!

I was so horrified I took a picture with my camera phone!

Change of Post

I was going to post something silly about a challenging French language experience. I was going to attempt to write a halfway humourous post about life here in France. But, all I can think of right now are my friends Bryan and Olivia Brigham. They were almost able to adopt a baby girl 2 weeks ago, but she was taken back by the birth parents hours later. http://bryanbrigham.blogspot.com/

Spoiled in Marseille

I used to laugh when I heard someone from Marseille talk about how "bad" the weather was just because of a few clouds in the sky... I used to think it was silly that I could talk to 10-20 different people at different times during a day and just have ONE conversation--- how horribly unlucky we were that the weather wasn't cooperating... I never understood why people felt like the weather was something that could make decisions and conspire against you...

And, then I went to Basel, Switzerland for a conference. I was so cold that I had to get a new scarf and gloves! It was cloudy most of the time, and it was drizzly. There was actual drizzle coming out of the sky and nobody else was using their umbrellas! Why? Because they thought that it wasn't really raining! What? There was water coming out of the sky... that's rain!


On one of the mostly cloudy, freezing cold days during my trip, people were talking about how "good" the weather was. That is when I realized that sunny Marseille has spoiled me!


Then, when I came back to should-be-sunny-all-of-the-time Marseille, it was raining! It rained for 2 weeks! I found myself complaining about the weather and acting as if it were conspiring against me...


SO, when it finally got sunny, Claire and I spent ALL DAY LONG at a big park in town. We had a picnic, she rode a pony, we played, and we talked about how great the weather was!


Enjoy the pics!

Photos (First Day of School: the Sequel)

Claire started her second year of school a couple of weeks ago. She is having a wonderful time! She is playing with old friends and making new ones. Praise God, she is doing great!

Here are some pics of her first day of school, the second year:

A Tour of Scotland

Earlier this month, we took a brief trip to Scotland. It was wonderful. There are so many things I want to share, but I am going to follow the lead of a friend of mine and tell the story through photos. A picture is worth a thousand words, right? So, enjoy 10,000 words or so on why Scotland was one of the best vacations ever!

We camped (IN A TENT!) across Scotland!

But, look where we were!

And look at the views!

The Highland Games were a highlight!

We looked for Nessie (on our boat tour of Loch Ness)

But we only found this:

The Castles were all beautiful!

But, our American food fix was almost as amazing!

Kilcoyne Family at Edinburgh Castle 2008!

Scotland, Here we Come!

I love travel. I love discovering new places and things and meeting new people. HOWEVER, I really don’t like to spend too much money—ever. I prefer the word “frugal” to the word “cheap”.

Being frugal and seeing the world is easier than you might expect IF you plan ahead. We are leaving for Scotland tomorrow, and we have been planning this trip for quite some time.

I did some research and I looked up just about every battlefield that we might possibly cross on our whirlwind tour of Scotland. I tried to remember my college history classes and if Bannockburn was the deciding factor in 1715 or 1314; which Edward or Bruce did what and when, etc. I was a history major (and teacher)..

And, then it hit us. We had not yet made reservations anywhere. That is a key to traveling on a budget! So, we set ourselves to work. To make a long story a bit shorter, everyone in the world is descending on Scotland next week. The remaining available establishments (those that were not booked 7 months ago!) are out of the way or out of our price range. 250 pounds for one night is a bit much, don’t you think?

So, we will be camping across Scotland. I’m sure sleeping on a ridge that overlooks Loch Ness will be as wonderful as it sounds, but I am still kicking myself for waiting too long to find a place to stay!

Once again, Lost in Translation

I went to the doctor recently, and I understood every word they said. However, I had no clue what they were trying to tell me! This happens more often that I would really care to admit. I understand the WORDS in a conversation, but the MEANING just escapes me. This situation happened again while we were visiting a cute little Mediterannean town with Daniel's family.

The sign on the restaurant said something like "small fried fish". We asked the waitress what it was, and her explanation made it sound like expensive fish nuggets for adults. This town was a tourist trap, but it still served "authentic" meals like small ocotpus, squid, fish pie, etc. So, fried fish sounded good.

A better translation would have been "small fried fish-es".

Claire asked why our fish had eyes. I think her grandparents and great-grandparents almost choked on their own little fish when she said that! But, being the good little French-ified American that she is, CLAIRE TRIED ONE! We were so proud! (She did, however, turn down a second fish.)

Documentary Contest

We are now officially launching our documentary contest, "What Do You Believe"!!

For more information, go to www.143pelican.com

AND, we now have a short promo on youtube!

Little Yellow School Bus

I miss little yellow school buses! Claire’s class took a field trip across town to watch a puppet show this last week. Marseille is the 2nd largest city in France, so it was quite a trip!

We took 24 four- and five-year olds on the metro here in Marseille. First, we walked a mile to get to the metro stop (so that we wouldn’t have to change trains). We had to spread out the kids among us, try to hold as many hands as possible, and walk beside the busiest and largest street in Marseille. Did you know that you can actually hold up to 6 little kids’s hands at the same time?? Then, we shoved all 24 kids on the train in the 13-20 seconds that the doors are open. Then, we had to shove all of them off again at our stop. (I think the conductor waited for us!)

After the teacher got finished arguing with the controllers about the price of the tickets for our kids, she asked me if it was like this in the States. All I could think of was a little yellow school bus that drops kids off right at the entrance to a museum or park.

We had a great time having our picnic, playing at the park and watching the puppet show.

On the way back, I was reminded once again that we now live in another world. All the kids drank from the same water bottle. Yuck! But, they were thirsty.

Vive la France.

Things CLaire has said...

Kids really do say the funniest things.

Joy Ride:

Driving in Marseille is not an easy task. Dodging and swerving to avoid being hit is considered “good driving” (and, it is quite necessary, too)! It was a typical day and Daniel was trying to avoid the cars that were stopping (to park in the middle of our lane) in front of him. Claire was in the back seat. She suddenly said, “Daddy, I have an idea. Let’s name our car McQueen because he swerves around cars, too!”

Lost in translation:

Claire can understand French VERY well. It’s not fair, really. But, the other day, Claire’s teacher told her to “cut it out” in French. Apparently, Claire’s teacher made a gesture like swiping a finger across her neck. (Her teacher did this to her own neck, not to Claire’s neck!) This gesture was made in conjunction with the “cut it out” statement. Claire came home and told us that her teacher told her to stop doing something. She then said that her teacher was going to cut her head off! Oops.

Singer/Songwriter:

Have you ever heard the song “Bubbly” by Colbie Caillat? “It starts in my toes, then I crinkle my nose…” Well, Claire likes it when this song comes on the radio. However, she has her own version. “Touchin’ my toes, then I lean on my nose…” I think she has a chance at being a song writer!

2 Castles in 3 Days

Claire waiting to enter the Fortress of Mornas

We really do "work" sometimes, but it is so much more fun to show you what we do in our "spare time". (Life does seem to run together sometimes. Sometimes work is fun, sometimes having fun is just exhausting...)



Last Friday, we went to Chateau d'If (the famous, real castle/prison from the fictional, made-up story "The Count of Monte Cristo). We had a great time!



Then, on Sunday, in order to celebrate Tiffany and Mentanna's birthday, we went to the Fortress of Mornas. It is about 1,000 years old!



Here are some pics from our Medieval Weekend:

Claire picking flowers outside of Chateau d'If

The Lighthouse at Chateau d'if

The Day didn't go as Daniel had planned

Les Calanques

In the last post, we "vented" a little about life in the big city. (Marseille is the 2nd largest city in France.) Well, yesterday we were reminded how great Marseille can be.

We went hiking with some friends in "Les Calanques"-- the cliffs that line the Mediterranean Sea just outside of Marseille. It only took us about 15-20 minutes to drive out there. We took Claire, so the actual hiking part took about an hour. Another blessing we were reminded of yesterday--- Claire loves to hike! (And, she is pretty good at it, too!)

We hiked/walked out to a restaurant that is only accessible by foot or boat. There was a little beach (emphasis on the word "little"), so Claire got to play while we waited 3 hours to get seated! But, the weather was great and the food was good. (But, the water was pretty cold-- see pic of Claire.)

After eating lunch at about 4, we started off on the hour-long hike back to the car. Apparently EVERYONE went hiking that day because EVERYONE was on the road on the way back. Our 15-20 MINUTE trip there turned into a 2 1/2 HOUR trip back. We were quickly reminded that we do live in the 2nd largest city in France! (Look at the pretty flowers we took a picture of while waiting in traffic!)