Category: Daily life

Sunday guest

Our guest this Sunday lunch time was Pastor Claude Broux. This gentleman started in the ministry in 1949. He has ministered in various places in Brittany before settling down in Guingamp in the early seventies where he planted the church we are now in. He is now 86 and lost his wife last June, after over 60 years of marriage. She was 19 when they met, and he was probably about the same age, or a little older. He is also one of the founding members of France mission in the fifties, and he knew Caradoc Jones who was still in Paimpol when he came to Brittany. He described him as very old school Englishman. Probably true although Caradoc Jones was a Welshman.

It was humbling to talk with this elderly brother who has got so much experience. We talked about many different things: his youth, the beginnings of the church, his children (he has got 8), his Grandchildren (33 of them), and great-grandchildren (8 altogether). He shared about his conversion, his time in a children home in Ferney-Voltaire (we lived there)… He doesn’t preach anymore, but attends faithfully the meetings of the church, seating on the front row every Sunday. He was glad of Esther’s arrival as until we came he was the only person who could play the piano, and did not feel very confident about it.

It is a great privilege to have him as an Elder in our church.

Singing Psalms

In our family worship, we’ve started learning some Psalms from the Huguenot Psalter. It is a great exercise, and a real help to grasp the message of these Psalms, and a tool to meditate on them later. The tunes are easy to remember, and can be sung without accompaniment (which is a change from modern tunes). Here is the first Psalm in modern French.

1. L’homme qui fuit le conseil des trompeurs
Sans s’arrêter au chemin des pécheurs
Ni sur le banc où les moqueurs s’asseyent
Mais que la Loi du Seigneur émerveille
(Loi dont il est jour et nuit désireux),
Certainement, celui-là est heureux!
2. Il semblera un arbre grand et beau,
Planté le long d’un clair courant ruisseau;
En sa saison, on voit le fruit qu’il porte
Sans que jamais sa feuille tombe morte.
Le vrai croyant et tout ce qu’il fera
A l’avenir toujours prospérera.
3. Mais les pervers n’auront pas ces vertus;
Ils deviendront semblables aux fétus,
A la poussière au gré du ven chassée…
Aussi leur cause sera renversée
Au Jugement, quand tous ces réprouvés
Au rang des bons ne seront pas trouvés.
4. Car l’Eternel connaît les hommes droits,
Prenant soin d’eux sur le chemin étroit;
Ils recevront le vrai bonheur qui dure.
Une autre voie aux pécheurs semble sûre,
Mais les voilà dans la direction
Où, avec leurs projets, ils périront.

You can listen to the tune here.

Living on rue Yves Guyader

The part of the estate we live on is quite recent, about 5 years old. The street is quiet, with little traffic. There are a lot of families, with young children from our children’s age to 12-13, and a few teenagers. The children often cycle around together, the older include the younger quite easily in their group. They’ve accepted Jean-Baptiste quite quickly, some of them practicing their English with him. We wonder sometimes if he is not too young, but we keep an eye on what is going on, and they usually hang around in front of our house, or on a nearby car park, which mean we can easily see them.

As I am writing, our children and a few others are making the most of the dry weather to play football on the street in front of the house. We pray that somehow we will have the opportunity to witness to these kids and their families. The house is ideally situated since they often gather right in front of it.

Overall, the street is quiet. people work long hours, and keep to themselves. But they are getting used to see us around.

Classical TV series

The advantage with digital television is that you get to see some classical television series. When I was growing up, I was quite a fan of tv series like the A-team (l’agence tout risque), Macgyver… These two are everyday on one of the television channels so we’ve been having some great time watching them.

I also used to like Magnum, but no haven’t seen it yet. The best of all was the Avengers, a British TV series in Black and white.

Autumn harvest: chestnuts

I went for a run on Saturday afternoon, Jean-Baptiste following me on his bike. There are a lot of Chestnut trees around, and we noticed that the chestnuts have started falling off. I am getting really excited. When I was a child, we’d go out collecting chestnuts every year, and I am looking forward to do this again. They’re great roasted off course, but are amazing also served as a soup, or a mash.