If It's Gnat One Problem, It's Another
My apartment is full of gnats! AGH. I can't stand it. Where are my helpful friends, the spiders, when I need them? We've been having a major weather change this week and apparently, that's driving out the gnats in full force. Either that or the 10 plagues are being revisted in France. ("The Ten Plagues" coming soon to a city near you!) My humor is kind of strange today, I'll admit.
Here is a cool thing that happened to me this morning (and one I know God orchestrated!): I was working out at the gym and there was an older lady, late sixties, working out as well. I'd never seen her before, but we ended around the same time and crossed paths in the locker room. She huffed a tired sigh, and I encouraged her, saying in French "Hey, at least you finished! Now you have the whole day ahead of you, and you can feel good knowing you did your workout." She nodded but said she was still tired, all the same. We came out of the locker room exchanging the "see you around" type small talk, and one of the employees chuckled at us, "You know you could speak in English to each other."
I looked at the older woman in suprise. "Vous parlez Anglais?" I asked her. She nodded, and I said, "Je suis Americaine." Why I kept talking to her in French is beyond me. I just couldn't really accept that she truly spoke English, I guess. Well, she is English, as it turns out, and has been living in France for ten years. We stood out in the parking lot and exchanged condensed life stories, as well as phone numbers. She is a recent widow and has been struggling with loneliness since her husband died of cancer. She is an active member of the Bordeaux Womens Club, which is made up of predominantly Americans! She told me about their activities, their mini-clubs, including Bible studies and craft clubs, etc. I was stunned. I've tried to research this stuff for months, but not found anything. I told her that after nine months, she was the first person I've met that is a native English speaker. She asked if I had been to certain tourist spots in Bordeaux and I admit I didn't know there were any! She said, "Let's go touring in Bordeaux one day, and I will show you all around!" I couldn't stop smiling as I agreed that it would be great to do something like that.
When she mentioned the Bible studies, I said right away that I was a Christian, so I thought that would interest me, and she admitted freely that she didn't know what she was. She was raised in the Church of England, but she said she really didn't know what all that meant. So I was excited to have a chance from the first moment to know where she stands spiritually, so maybe I can talk to her about a true relationship with Christ in the future.
Before the afternoon was over, she had already called me to tell me she had photocopied all her Bordeaux Women's Club information and was putting it in the mail to me today. And, she'd already checked off a few items on this month's schedule that she thought I might like! Wow, in just a few minutes, I found a friend.
Her name is Jackie, if you want to pray for her or even thank God for her finding me--as I am certainly doing!
Here is a cool thing that happened to me this morning (and one I know God orchestrated!): I was working out at the gym and there was an older lady, late sixties, working out as well. I'd never seen her before, but we ended around the same time and crossed paths in the locker room. She huffed a tired sigh, and I encouraged her, saying in French "Hey, at least you finished! Now you have the whole day ahead of you, and you can feel good knowing you did your workout." She nodded but said she was still tired, all the same. We came out of the locker room exchanging the "see you around" type small talk, and one of the employees chuckled at us, "You know you could speak in English to each other."
I looked at the older woman in suprise. "Vous parlez Anglais?" I asked her. She nodded, and I said, "Je suis Americaine." Why I kept talking to her in French is beyond me. I just couldn't really accept that she truly spoke English, I guess. Well, she is English, as it turns out, and has been living in France for ten years. We stood out in the parking lot and exchanged condensed life stories, as well as phone numbers. She is a recent widow and has been struggling with loneliness since her husband died of cancer. She is an active member of the Bordeaux Womens Club, which is made up of predominantly Americans! She told me about their activities, their mini-clubs, including Bible studies and craft clubs, etc. I was stunned. I've tried to research this stuff for months, but not found anything. I told her that after nine months, she was the first person I've met that is a native English speaker. She asked if I had been to certain tourist spots in Bordeaux and I admit I didn't know there were any! She said, "Let's go touring in Bordeaux one day, and I will show you all around!" I couldn't stop smiling as I agreed that it would be great to do something like that.
When she mentioned the Bible studies, I said right away that I was a Christian, so I thought that would interest me, and she admitted freely that she didn't know what she was. She was raised in the Church of England, but she said she really didn't know what all that meant. So I was excited to have a chance from the first moment to know where she stands spiritually, so maybe I can talk to her about a true relationship with Christ in the future.
Before the afternoon was over, she had already called me to tell me she had photocopied all her Bordeaux Women's Club information and was putting it in the mail to me today. And, she'd already checked off a few items on this month's schedule that she thought I might like! Wow, in just a few minutes, I found a friend.
Her name is Jackie, if you want to pray for her or even thank God for her finding me--as I am certainly doing!