In January my wireless internet box just stopped working(1). I don’t know why…and neither did the tech people on the ‘help’ line. So I went and got a new box (2). I got home and guess what? It didn’t work. So there must have been a problem with our line at home right? Not according to the ‘help’ line. It was because I had the wrong brand of box…so I got another box (3). This one seemed to be working like a charm…for three weeks. And then on Tuesday it decided to quit. So I called the ‘help’ line again. I was on hold for 5 minutes…then it hung up. The I called back…finally got to talk with a person, in French. Internet vocabulary isn’t a specialty of mine in French. After making some headway (I thought) he told me that he couldn’t help a mac user…information that would have been more help ten minutes earlier…So I was put on hold again…for three more minutes…then hung up on again…I was not pleased.
The next morning I went to it again. Called the help number and couldn’t get through…I decided to go to the office. I went with a french friend and he helped translate. The lady told me that there was an update in the system and I just needed to…call the help-line. Great. So I called, and was put on hold for 13 minutes before somebody answered. Then after somebody did answer they couldn’t help a mac user so they ‘transfered’ me to the dial-tone…I was not pleased.
I finally got through to somebody who said that they would give my case to somebody who spoke English and they would call me back. Good news. Two hours goes by and I get a call from a guy whose English was good, but rusty. For one and a half hours I was on the phone with him. He took me through the same stuff I’d already done and had me do a bunch of stuff that I knew was unnecessary. I ended up having to tell I needed to go because people were showing up for discussion group.
Thursday, I went and got another box (4). I got it set up and it was working perfectly for 25 seconds…then it froze. And then it died. So…I called the ‘help’ line…and was put on hold and disconnected. Then after a few tries I got through to a helpful…ugh hum…France telecom representative. We talked for a few minutes and then he just hung up on me…I was not pleased. I understood though…So I had my friend Jeff come over and call for me and he was repeatedly disconnected and then got through to a really nice guy…and he told Jeff that I needed another wifi box (5). So I got a new box and when I got home set it up in 2 minutes. And, voila, I’m online again…with my 5th wireless box. I love living in a country that values customer service the way it’s valued here.
Here’s a shot of our team…a community that has allowed us to grow in their midst…and sometimes spill on them.
Front: Jeff Plowman, Jen, Frank Wilder, Bob Gerken. Back: Yours Truly, Christian Osburn, Katherine Ussery, Kendall Gerken.
Today we woke up to the sun coming into our apartment…yes the sun…the big yellow thing that heats the earth. It was out…in Paris. We just got home two days ago from Amsterdam and a training in Holland. On the way down I was talking with my friend Dominic…we were on a fast train through Belgium…and I said to him, “Can you believe that this is our life?” We had just finished a training in Holland and we were going back to our homes in France…us to Paris and he to SoFrance. Today reaffirmed the out of bodiness of Dominic and me’s conversation…the sun and all. I got a ton of ‘work’ work done today (no cleaning around the house to the dismay of my wonderful wife) and had a great time hanging out with Frank talking about life, our future, leadership, God’s work in France and other things. I say all this not to brag about my wonderful life planning. We stumbled into our lives in France and I certainly didn’t bring the sun out today! This life, as surreal as days can be, is nothing but a gift of grace from God…as each day of life is…sun out or not! We are not here because our planning or strategy to have a ‘cool’ life. We are here only because we wanted to dream big and we wanted to keep up with God’s dreams. So when I ask myself the question, “Is this my life?” I end up thanking God more for His grace and dreams for us than I do for the circumstances that are going on. This is my life…I get to live in France, enjoy good times with good friends, meet amazing people, and be stretched beyond the breaking point of what I thought possible…all because of grace. wow…is this my life? God says, “Yes…and I love watching you live it…”
If you have been keeping up with global news lately I’m sure you’ve heard of the protests that have been going on in Paris. We have been keenly aware of them as they have taken place outside of our house and around the corner from our place. The sound of the Euro two-toned siren has been no stranger to my ears…day and night…all day long.
Here’s the summary of the story…The government passed a law two weeks ago that made it possible for employers to fire people under the age of 26 with no reason and without a lot of red tape. The law was intended to make it more likely for employers to hire students and young people by making it easier to get rid of bad workers. As it was before…it was a long drawn-out process to get rid of employees regardless of their performance at work. Good for lazy people, bad for managers. Regardless of how the law was intended, the youth of the nation were less than pleased. This resulted in a flurry of protests. In France it is legal to hold organized protests. The police assist with traffic control and make sure things are well managed. The youth started protesting all around the city with no organization. The climax came when a group of youth broke into La Sorbonne, the most prestigious university in France and held a three day sit-in, destroying collections of old books and vandalizing the building. The police raided the building with tear gas and ended up making many arrests. This created a tension that has been in the air for the past week. Manifesting itself in more and more protests. Day after day, and hour after hour, there are groups of people carrying signs through the streets and yelling in loud speakers. The police have shown a strong presence in high student population areas. Hundreds of police have been out in full riot gear most everyday. It’s so abnormal for me to see this…Usually this site would make me uneasy, but it’s getting to be normal.
Despite the way it looks, it doesn’t feel dangerous and we are safe. People don’t want to hurt anybody as this isn’t a violent society, so we’re not afraid. We didn’t even know about the situation at La Sorbonne until it was over. I think we mostly feel sad for people who turn to anger to try to be heard. We hope that the young of France will be heard and that they will learn at a young age that opinion must be carried responsibly if it is to be heard.
Jen took some great pictures from our apartment window yesterday of the largest of the protests we’ve seen. I’ve put up some pictures of some of the damage and the marches. Ahh…the two toned siren just went by again at 12:25am…pray that this stops soon…the sirens and the unrest!
On Wednesday we had one of our Sanctuary worship gatherings…every month we are getting better and better at setting up the room that we rent. And get better at making it feel like we want it to. We take out all the old pews and put tables in the room. We change the direction of the room to face what would normally be the side. Kendall has done a great job with lighting, using candles and even some great makeshift stage lighting!
The amazing thing about this last Sanctuary wasn’t the way it looked, but what happened. We had given a couple of people from Vintage the opportunity to share stories of grace and then opened up the mic to anyone else who wanted to share. Right away a guy named Johnny, who was tall and had a British accent, came up to me and said he wanted to share. Despite never having met Johnny or him ever coming to Sanctuary or any other Vintage things, he shared. He told a rather long story…about a man spraying his pants with a garden hose on the sidewalk, and then about buying new pants. While he was in buying his pants he heard a car accident outside. He went to see what would happen and found a man who had been hit by a car on his motorbike dying in the street. Johnny had some experience with first-aid training so he did what he could, but he wasn’t able to do much as the guy was in bad shape. The point of the story came when he began to share with us that this experience had made him question what life was all about. It brought him to talking with God for the first time in years. The grace part of the story comes in that there was a guy that was staying with him at his hostel who was a Christian and had for four days been able to hang out with him and just answer questions. It was cool to see somebody make a confession of seeking…I usually only put confession in the category of somebody confessing their sins, but what are the lasting effects of somebody saying in front of a group of people that they are seeking God? What a great confession to be held accountable to…Johnny lives in London and is trying to move to Paris as a film editor and we are hoping to connect with him again.
Our next Sanctuary is in April and I’ll give a report of what happens at that one too…
So here’s a dual topic post…
#1. Full House…
Our friend Bandna has been in town for two weeks now and we have really enjoyed having a piece of California come out and grace our freezing city…If that weren’t enough Michael decided that he also wanted to come and hang out…So he booked a last minute flight and is here for five days. So most every place in our apartment is being slept in…Jen and I of course the only ones sharing a room! The four of us used to hang out in Sacramento, so it’s nice having the old friends around doing new things.
Subject #2. Pictures…
It has been years since I’ve put up pictures on this thing and I think that it’s due time…check back in the next week or so and I’ll have some new ones up..
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