I’m gonna throw this out there…you can take it, or you can send it right back….Mind ze Gap! Okay so maybe this only funny if you are Elodie or Dana, but whatever. So I left everyone today (saddest morning ever- I had to fight so hard to hold back the tears…because I knew that once they started they wouldn’t stop). The friendships I’ve made are irreplaceable, and I won’t let them fade away even though we won’t all be together for some time. That was the day I dreaded most, more than actually flying home. It still hasn’t hit me fully yet. I know it will when I get home and I’m not looking forward to that. But so as not to dwell on goodbyes, I’ll stop myself.
So after I said farewell, we were off to London. All of this was made possible by my mom’s cousin Mark who wanted to make sure Dana, Elodie and I treated ourselves a little bit while we were here. Little did he know the extent to which his gift would reach…I’m going to hold you in suspense for a bit while I tell you everything we saw…
So we flew on over to England, and that was Elodie’s first time in a plane! She was nervous, understandably, but she was a trooper. The bus ride from the airport to downtown was itself a treat.
The landscape was so different from France. The foggy and gray sky contrasted sharply with the bright green pastures and brillent yellow flower fields. The houses were so quaint I felt like I was in the shire or something. I really feel like I could live there. We made it to the “tube” (metro/subway) and successfully located our hostel (thanks in part to being a country where they speak English!). If we were lost, we could just ask and actually understand their directions, craziness. That night we trekked out to the London Eye (the famous Ferris wheel), happened to stumble upon Big Ben in the process, ran into Westminster Abby, took some pics in a red phone booth, and cruised around Piccadilly Circus. That night we even sampled the oh so famous fish and chips (which I loved of course, in all its fried goodness). My favorite spot had to be Big Ben. I took way too many pictures. 
It just pleasantly surprised me because I guess I didn’t expect to be all that impressed by it. Elodie made fun of me and started singing/rapping “Biggie biggie ben, biggie biggie big Ben.” Maybe you had to be there…and a minor tangent. It’s really funny when Elodie tries to say “mind the gap” (the warning over the intercom in the metro- so British) because it sounds more like mind ze gap…anyways…That night something cool happened but I’m saving the best for last so you’ll have to wait.
The next morning we sought out Abbey Road. It was a cool and not cool at the same time. Maybe I expected big statues of the Beatles to be in the middle of the road or something, at least a sign- but it was just a regular intersection, with lots of cars too. But we walked across and had someone take a pic for us (like the obnoxious tourists that we are). Then we hustled over to Buckingham palace for the end of the changing of the guards. They looked so funny, I’ll admit. We scouted out the Tower of London which was pretty cool. London Bridge, though, not that exciting. We got on a bus to find the Globe theater and found ourselves back at the Eye. We searched out Portebello market in Nottinghill which was pretty cool. Stuff was too expensive but the shops were cool. We got on a big double decker bus just for kicks and did some mindless wandering for the majority of the day.
The next morning we headed back. Let it be known that Elodie was a lot of fun to watch during the whole trip. She was like a little kid at the circus. She took in everything with wide-eyed curiosity. She was so happy to be there. The whole language barrier didn’t stop us all from having a blast. Like when Elodie took a picture of our steward because she thought he was cute. That was hilarious. And when we got back she took us to the riverfront where we felt like were down home in the country just soaking up some sun.
Now for the best part. So God has an interesting sense of timing- as usual. I’ve know all these people for a whole semester and God hasn’t seen fit (until literally the last days I have with them) until now to start up conversations- about himself. Remember my talk with Bhavana and Christina (I love you girls, by the way, and miss you terribly!!). Remember how I didn’t want to talk about it but God thought otherwise. (notice how Isaiah 55 covers it all throughout this story)
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,
declares the LORD.
As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9
Well it sort of went down that way again…
Elodie was raised Catholic (that is, catholic French style…), but up until now I had no idea what she actually believed. I found out later the first night that she wavers between believing there must be a God to thinking the whole thing is ridiculous. So back to what happened. Dana busted out our devotional book and gave me that are-you-ready look. I looked over at Elodie, who seemed eager to do whatever we were doing. So I sighed and said I guess. In my mind I was asking God: how is this going to work, are you kidding me?? I reluctantly asked Elodie if she wanted to join us. She seemed confused as to what we were doing, but she was excited to do whatever we were.
Now for a quick flashback to when Dana and I were packing for the trip. When we packed the devotional book and Bible, my French Bible sitting on my desk caught my eye. I looked at it long and hard. If I brought it, Elodie could maybe join us…oh but that would be so hard to make work, and anyways she wouldn’t want to…These thoughts reeled through my head and fought the serious urging I had from God to take it with me. I squelched his prompting, with some guilt, as quick as I could and just turned my attention to something else. That was a mistake, but don’t worry because God worked around it, as usual.
Second flashback… Dana and I always try to pray before we eat. But with Elodie there I wasn’t sure what we should do. After all, it’s rude to just quick pray in English and exclude her. But if we tried to just do it in our heads and hide our prayer that doesn’t seem right either. So I asked if she wanted to pray with us. She said yes. So for our meals either Dana or I prayed and then I’d pray again in French (miserable French at that, but she understood and God certainly did). Elodie told me she a friend who does that (a member of the reformed church of France). She asked why we do it, which is an honest question that I’ve never had to explain to anyone before. I told her that we want to thank the person who gave us our food. We should always be thankful and remember how much God has blessed us. We often neglect to do this, but if we remember to thank Him before meals it reminds us of our blessings.
Third observation… in light of God’s recent “showings-up” – in an evangelical sense –I’d like to point out the progression of monthly topics in our devotional book. It started with God’s character, then grace, then prayer. All three seemingly led up to May, the month about witnessing. As though God timed it so as to first prepare us and then send us (or in my case, send them to me!). Okay back to the story…
Dana read (I don’t even remember what on) and I translated the verse first (with some explanation) and then the story. While explaining the story I tried (well not really me, I’ll explain) making the connection for her to her own life and what God has for her. I’m pretty sure it was all new to her. She had all sorts of questions. What kind of book is that? Can she get one? Do I really read the Bible for myself? What do Dana and I believe about it all? Then we read from the chapter the verse was from: Isaiah 55 (a meaty chapter, and not an easy one to translate on the spot). Did I translate the whole thing, you bet. Was it hard? Yes and no. Did I wish I brought my French Bible? Definitely. Did God make it work anways? Yes!
I went through the chapter verse by verse in my feeble attempts at French. I was actually forced to break it down for her because it wasn’t even possible for me to just translate it word for word. I didn’t know enough French for that, and even if I did it wouldn’t make sense. So each verse got a deeper explanation, one that she could understand and relate to. I’ve never studied that chapter in depth, and I know I couldn’t break it down like that right now in English. That’s because it wasn’t me at all. It was God in me who worked. I know this with all my heart because I was explaining scripture to her in French that I don’t understand in English. It was crazy. This is not an exaggeration. Trust me when I say my words were not my own. They couldn’t have been, especially not in French. I still spoke poor French and God used that. This wasn’t a tongues thing, I wasn’t rolling out with the words, in fact I was more often then not at a loss for vocab which forced me to think more deeply about the verse to better explain it. Although the gift of tongues would have been very helpful right then. Even through my feeble attempts, she amazingly understood. That was all God. My weakness, His strength. My hesitation, His will. I’ve never understood that as clearly as I did that night.
The part I remember the most is the part that calls all who are thirsty, hungry, poor. They will all be filled. It’s an invitation to be satisfied.
Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
Give ear and come to me;
hear me, that your soul may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
my faithful love promised to David.
Isaiah 55: 1-3
Months before this night Elodie told me that her boyfriend’s brother committed suicide. They didn’t understand how he could be that dissatisfied with life, because he seemed to be doing well. So we talked about how everyone has this yearning for something more, this underlying dissatisfaction with life. They try to fill it with relationships, success, addictions, but none of it lasts. None of it works. But God is inviting us to be filled, to be made whole. I think that hit home with her. We asked her if she wanted to pray with us. She was hesitant, said she didn’t know how. I told her to just pretend that he’s in the room with us, just chilling out. Talk to him like you would us. To my surprise, that’s exactly what she did. No “dear God” to open. No bowed head, no closed eyes. She just started talking, facing us, like it was a normal part of our conversation. She said how thankful she was to have the opportunity to be in London and with us. Dana and I were surprised, though we shouldn’t have been. She did exactly what we told her. She talked to God like he was right there, like he really is.
So after that it occurred to me that maybe the Lord’s prayer would be a good starting point. I mean if anyone knows how to pray it’s Jesus. So I flipped to it and started translating. She recognized it right away. She had it memorized for confirmation or something. I asked her if she knew what it meant. Not really, she said. So I had her repeat it one line at a time and I broke it down for her. Someone did that once for me and it means so much more when you really examine it. This was kind of hard in French, but it worked out. I’d break a line down (when I say “I” it means you know who but with my mouth…) and then keep relating it back to why we say it, how God uses it to teach us about himself more than He needs it. She followed, I think. She grabbed my Bible from me and flipped through it. I think it was weird to her that I wrote in it. I asked if she wanted my French one, since I don’t have much use for it anymore. She did but she wanted my underlining and notes in it too. So instead of giving it to her now I’m taking it home and working in it then mailing it back with some notes and stuff. I’m gonna try to hook her up with a devotional book too but that may be hard to find.
So after 2 devotional nights with Elodie, I was mentally drained (can’t speak any language right now) but I was spiritually pumped. God is moving in her, I know it. He put it on my heart (and I ask for you too) to pray hardcore for her. She’s one of the nicest and sweetest girls I have ever met. She has seriously been a God-send to me. Our friendship was seemingly random, but it’s anything but a coincidence. I know that much.
So God is continuing the pattern he started this month. I’m about to leave someone, and that’s when He decides it’s time to plant some seeds. It’s frustrating for me when He does that, and He knows it. It’s like this is just as much for me to learn to trust that God will finish the work he starts in them as it is for them to learn about him.
So is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:11 (word = Christ)
I would have much rather this gone down in the beginning so I could keep planting and watering all semester and maybe even see the harvest (a blessing I’ve always longed for, to see a friend come to Christ, that God has, for his own reasons, withheld). But if it happened that way, who would I be relying on? So I’m sure you see where I’m going with this. Don’t get me wrong, I will still do what I can and for sure will pray. But my lesson is to have faith that God will take care of them. Because that’s a job I can’t do. So pray! God is moving in hearts across the world, any language. Nothing is too hard for Him.
Surely you will summon nations you know not,
and nations that do not know you will hasten to you,
because of the LORD your God
Isaiah 55:5
So after I said farewell, we were off to London. All of this was made possible by my mom’s cousin Mark who wanted to make sure Dana, Elodie and I treated ourselves a little bit while we were here. Little did he know the extent to which his gift would reach…I’m going to hold you in suspense for a bit while I tell you everything we saw…
So we flew on over to England, and that was Elodie’s first time in a plane! She was nervous, understandably, but she was a trooper. The bus ride from the airport to downtown was itself a treat.
The landscape was so different from France. The foggy and gray sky contrasted sharply with the bright green pastures and brillent yellow flower fields. The houses were so quaint I felt like I was in the shire or something. I really feel like I could live there. We made it to the “tube” (metro/subway) and successfully located our hostel (thanks in part to being a country where they speak English!). If we were lost, we could just ask and actually understand their directions, craziness. That night we trekked out to the London Eye (the famous Ferris wheel), happened to stumble upon Big Ben in the process, ran into Westminster Abby, took some pics in a red phone booth, and cruised around Piccadilly Circus. That night we even sampled the oh so famous fish and chips (which I loved of course, in all its fried goodness). My favorite spot had to be Big Ben. I took way too many pictures. 
It just pleasantly surprised me because I guess I didn’t expect to be all that impressed by it. Elodie made fun of me and started singing/rapping “Biggie biggie ben, biggie biggie big Ben.” Maybe you had to be there…and a minor tangent. It’s really funny when Elodie tries to say “mind the gap” (the warning over the intercom in the metro- so British) because it sounds more like mind ze gap…anyways…That night something cool happened but I’m saving the best for last so you’ll have to wait.The next morning we sought out Abbey Road. It was a cool and not cool at the same time. Maybe I expected big statues of the Beatles to be in the middle of the road or something, at least a sign- but it was just a regular intersection, with lots of cars too. But we walked across and had someone take a pic for us (like the obnoxious tourists that we are). Then we hustled over to Buckingham palace for the end of the changing of the guards. They looked so funny, I’ll admit. We scouted out the Tower of London which was pretty cool. London Bridge, though, not that exciting. We got on a bus to find the Globe theater and found ourselves back at the Eye. We searched out Portebello market in Nottinghill which was pretty cool. Stuff was too expensive but the shops were cool. We got on a big double decker bus just for kicks and did some mindless wandering for the majority of the day.
The next morning we headed back. Let it be known that Elodie was a lot of fun to watch during the whole trip. She was like a little kid at the circus. She took in everything with wide-eyed curiosity. She was so happy to be there. The whole language barrier didn’t stop us all from having a blast. Like when Elodie took a picture of our steward because she thought he was cute. That was hilarious. And when we got back she took us to the riverfront where we felt like were down home in the country just soaking up some sun.
Now for the best part. So God has an interesting sense of timing- as usual. I’ve know all these people for a whole semester and God hasn’t seen fit (until literally the last days I have with them) until now to start up conversations- about himself. Remember my talk with Bhavana and Christina (I love you girls, by the way, and miss you terribly!!). Remember how I didn’t want to talk about it but God thought otherwise. (notice how Isaiah 55 covers it all throughout this story)
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,
declares the LORD.
As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9
Well it sort of went down that way again…
Elodie was raised Catholic (that is, catholic French style…), but up until now I had no idea what she actually believed. I found out later the first night that she wavers between believing there must be a God to thinking the whole thing is ridiculous. So back to what happened. Dana busted out our devotional book and gave me that are-you-ready look. I looked over at Elodie, who seemed eager to do whatever we were doing. So I sighed and said I guess. In my mind I was asking God: how is this going to work, are you kidding me?? I reluctantly asked Elodie if she wanted to join us. She seemed confused as to what we were doing, but she was excited to do whatever we were.
Now for a quick flashback to when Dana and I were packing for the trip. When we packed the devotional book and Bible, my French Bible sitting on my desk caught my eye. I looked at it long and hard. If I brought it, Elodie could maybe join us…oh but that would be so hard to make work, and anyways she wouldn’t want to…These thoughts reeled through my head and fought the serious urging I had from God to take it with me. I squelched his prompting, with some guilt, as quick as I could and just turned my attention to something else. That was a mistake, but don’t worry because God worked around it, as usual.
Second flashback… Dana and I always try to pray before we eat. But with Elodie there I wasn’t sure what we should do. After all, it’s rude to just quick pray in English and exclude her. But if we tried to just do it in our heads and hide our prayer that doesn’t seem right either. So I asked if she wanted to pray with us. She said yes. So for our meals either Dana or I prayed and then I’d pray again in French (miserable French at that, but she understood and God certainly did). Elodie told me she a friend who does that (a member of the reformed church of France). She asked why we do it, which is an honest question that I’ve never had to explain to anyone before. I told her that we want to thank the person who gave us our food. We should always be thankful and remember how much God has blessed us. We often neglect to do this, but if we remember to thank Him before meals it reminds us of our blessings.
Third observation… in light of God’s recent “showings-up” – in an evangelical sense –I’d like to point out the progression of monthly topics in our devotional book. It started with God’s character, then grace, then prayer. All three seemingly led up to May, the month about witnessing. As though God timed it so as to first prepare us and then send us (or in my case, send them to me!). Okay back to the story…
Dana read (I don’t even remember what on) and I translated the verse first (with some explanation) and then the story. While explaining the story I tried (well not really me, I’ll explain) making the connection for her to her own life and what God has for her. I’m pretty sure it was all new to her. She had all sorts of questions. What kind of book is that? Can she get one? Do I really read the Bible for myself? What do Dana and I believe about it all? Then we read from the chapter the verse was from: Isaiah 55 (a meaty chapter, and not an easy one to translate on the spot). Did I translate the whole thing, you bet. Was it hard? Yes and no. Did I wish I brought my French Bible? Definitely. Did God make it work anways? Yes!
I went through the chapter verse by verse in my feeble attempts at French. I was actually forced to break it down for her because it wasn’t even possible for me to just translate it word for word. I didn’t know enough French for that, and even if I did it wouldn’t make sense. So each verse got a deeper explanation, one that she could understand and relate to. I’ve never studied that chapter in depth, and I know I couldn’t break it down like that right now in English. That’s because it wasn’t me at all. It was God in me who worked. I know this with all my heart because I was explaining scripture to her in French that I don’t understand in English. It was crazy. This is not an exaggeration. Trust me when I say my words were not my own. They couldn’t have been, especially not in French. I still spoke poor French and God used that. This wasn’t a tongues thing, I wasn’t rolling out with the words, in fact I was more often then not at a loss for vocab which forced me to think more deeply about the verse to better explain it. Although the gift of tongues would have been very helpful right then. Even through my feeble attempts, she amazingly understood. That was all God. My weakness, His strength. My hesitation, His will. I’ve never understood that as clearly as I did that night.
The part I remember the most is the part that calls all who are thirsty, hungry, poor. They will all be filled. It’s an invitation to be satisfied.
Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
Give ear and come to me;
hear me, that your soul may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
my faithful love promised to David.
Isaiah 55: 1-3
Months before this night Elodie told me that her boyfriend’s brother committed suicide. They didn’t understand how he could be that dissatisfied with life, because he seemed to be doing well. So we talked about how everyone has this yearning for something more, this underlying dissatisfaction with life. They try to fill it with relationships, success, addictions, but none of it lasts. None of it works. But God is inviting us to be filled, to be made whole. I think that hit home with her. We asked her if she wanted to pray with us. She was hesitant, said she didn’t know how. I told her to just pretend that he’s in the room with us, just chilling out. Talk to him like you would us. To my surprise, that’s exactly what she did. No “dear God” to open. No bowed head, no closed eyes. She just started talking, facing us, like it was a normal part of our conversation. She said how thankful she was to have the opportunity to be in London and with us. Dana and I were surprised, though we shouldn’t have been. She did exactly what we told her. She talked to God like he was right there, like he really is.
So after that it occurred to me that maybe the Lord’s prayer would be a good starting point. I mean if anyone knows how to pray it’s Jesus. So I flipped to it and started translating. She recognized it right away. She had it memorized for confirmation or something. I asked her if she knew what it meant. Not really, she said. So I had her repeat it one line at a time and I broke it down for her. Someone did that once for me and it means so much more when you really examine it. This was kind of hard in French, but it worked out. I’d break a line down (when I say “I” it means you know who but with my mouth…) and then keep relating it back to why we say it, how God uses it to teach us about himself more than He needs it. She followed, I think. She grabbed my Bible from me and flipped through it. I think it was weird to her that I wrote in it. I asked if she wanted my French one, since I don’t have much use for it anymore. She did but she wanted my underlining and notes in it too. So instead of giving it to her now I’m taking it home and working in it then mailing it back with some notes and stuff. I’m gonna try to hook her up with a devotional book too but that may be hard to find.
So after 2 devotional nights with Elodie, I was mentally drained (can’t speak any language right now) but I was spiritually pumped. God is moving in her, I know it. He put it on my heart (and I ask for you too) to pray hardcore for her. She’s one of the nicest and sweetest girls I have ever met. She has seriously been a God-send to me. Our friendship was seemingly random, but it’s anything but a coincidence. I know that much.
So God is continuing the pattern he started this month. I’m about to leave someone, and that’s when He decides it’s time to plant some seeds. It’s frustrating for me when He does that, and He knows it. It’s like this is just as much for me to learn to trust that God will finish the work he starts in them as it is for them to learn about him.
So is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:11 (word = Christ)
I would have much rather this gone down in the beginning so I could keep planting and watering all semester and maybe even see the harvest (a blessing I’ve always longed for, to see a friend come to Christ, that God has, for his own reasons, withheld). But if it happened that way, who would I be relying on? So I’m sure you see where I’m going with this. Don’t get me wrong, I will still do what I can and for sure will pray. But my lesson is to have faith that God will take care of them. Because that’s a job I can’t do. So pray! God is moving in hearts across the world, any language. Nothing is too hard for Him.
Surely you will summon nations you know not,
and nations that do not know you will hasten to you,
because of the LORD your God
Isaiah 55:5
