Kaleidoscope - faith

5 Things about me

noreply@blogspirit.com (Lady Iphigenia) — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 22:45:00 -0500

Thanks to Sandrine, you will learn today 5 things about me that you didn't know before. Not that anyone cares, but hey, this is MY blog. Shut up.

1. When I was a kid, before dreaming of becoming an opera singer, I wanted to become a nurse. Then I realized that there is a smell in hospitals that makes me faint (it happened numerous times). That dream was obviously forgotten the first time I lost consciousness after getting a vaccine shot in the arm. For a long time I also wanted to be a circus artist; flying trapeze and tightrope walking were the skills that made me dream the most at the shows. But how do you get trained for that? I had no idea. As a teenager though, I became quite skilled in gymnastics (first at school, then in the local club), I loved the asymmetric bars and the trampoline, but the courses were too expensive and my parents didn't want to invest time and money in this activity. Plus, I've never been very thin; I've always had generous upper legs...

A job that includes travelling was my idea of a good lifestyle... That was before I became concious of all the sacrifices that it requires.

2. I used to be a very bad student in German. My dad forced me to take that language as LV1 (Langue Vivante 1 - in France you have to study two foreign languages in highschool) under the pretext that I knew already Spanish (mum) and English (Hong-Kong). I hated learning grammar rules, they never made sense to me... I learned all the languages I know mainly by ear. Of course reading a lot made me "learn without learning" the rules, and I might a little facility in recognizing sounds and idioms. Now, it makes me laugh to think that I might speak a more fluent German than my former teacher...

3. I appreciate most seafood, but I won't and can't eat oisters. Beurk! (or any mollusks)

4. Like Sandrine, I don't smoke anything. When I was about 14-years-old, I took the last cigarette from a pack that my mum had forgotten somewhere to try one day... After class we use to hang out with friends behing the public library (which was beside the college), all surrounded by a nice park with big trees it was a wonderful place to experiment stuff, I had a (one!) puff from that cigarette and was sick the whole night after that.

5. I haven't always been a christian believer, of Lutheran confession... I grew up in the Roman Catholic church, not really going to church (though sometimes alone, without my parents or brother... a bit weird, uh?). Then I became interested in the mystic in my teens specially while reading The Mists of Avalon, about magic and things that "exist but are not seen". I finally started reading and studying the Bible by myself, then with friends and the one who was to become, many years later, my darling hubby...

And the rest, as we might say, is history.

Merry Christmas et Joyeux Noël 2006!

noreply@blogspirit.com (Lady Iphigenia) — Mon, 25 Dec 2006 00:00:00 -0500

"The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. (en)

"Alors la gloire de l'Éternel sera révélée, Et au même instant toute chair la verra; Car la bouche de l'Éternel a parlé. (fr)

"Entonces será revelada la gloria del SEÑOR, y toda carne a una la verá, pues la boca del SEÑOR ha hablado. (es)

"Denn die Herrlichkeit des HERRN soll offenbart werden, und alles Fleisch miteinander wird es sehen; denn des HERRN Mund hat es geredet. (de)

"A glória do Senhor se revelará; e toda a carne juntamente a verá; pois a boca do Senhor o disse. (pt)

"Allora la gloria dell'Eterno sarà rivelata e ogni carne la vedrà, perché la bocca dell'Eterno ha parlato." (it)

Isaiah 40:5

Merry Christmas! Joyeux Noël! Feliz Navidad! Frohe Weihnachten! Feliz Natal! Buon Natale!

Top Secret

noreply@blogspirit.com (Lady Iphigenia) — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 16:50:00 -0500

J'ai un secret, pas vraiment secret, mais un peu quand même... Des amis à nous attendent leur premier enfant pour le mois de juin 2007, et ils nous ont demandé si on voulait bien être les "Godparents" (parrain/marraine)! Et comment, bien sûr que oui!

En tant que croyants, c'est pour nous un engagement devant Dieu d'aider à l'éducation chrétienne de l'enfant, surtout si il arriverait quelque chose de malheureux aux parents. Mais bien sûr, on sait tous que c'est extrêmement peu probable, surtout de nos jours où il n'y a ni la peste, ni le choléra dans le monde "civilisé"... Que de pensées positives aujourd'hui!

Bref, j'ai été envahie de pensées de grossesse, bébé, procréation, et de la fameuse question: À quand mon tour? Depuis le premier jour des trois ans que Don Quixote et moi sommes mariés, il semble que tout le monde nous bombarde de cette question, tantôt légère, amusante, tantôt pénible et presque culpabilisante! Pourtant nous voulons avoir trois enfants, une famille nombreuse mais pas trop. Seulement, je continue à me dire que ce n'est pas le moment et que je ne suis pas prête. Tant que cette petite voix roulera dans un coin de mon p'tit cerveau, et ben, il faudra que je/nous attendions!

Dans l'fond, il faut que j'avoue que j'ai encore envie d'avoir ces moments improvisés à volonté: quand je ne rentre pas tout de suite à la maison après le travail parce que j'ai envie de faire du "lèche vitrine" (une expression très française, mais peu problable au Canada!). Bref, j'aime n'avoir rien à faire comme ça, des fois. Même si mon emploi du temps est chargé, j'ai quand même des moments pour embêter mon chéri (hihi). Aussi, financièrement ça sera beaucoups mieux quand il sera pasteur d'une paroisse, et moi je me contenterai de donner des lessons privées de musique à la maison, peut-être faire des traductions à l'occasion (si jamais je me décide à étudier la linguistique et les techniques pour traduire "pour de vrai", officiellement).

J'espère ne pas être secrétaire toute ma vie, c'est pas vraiment mon truc. Je peux faire tous les tâches d'une secrétaire bilingue, répondre au téléphone dans la langue de votre choix, faire des traductions de documents, lettres, invitations, envoyer des fax et emails. etc... Mais je ne suis pas forte pour faire du "small talk" avec des gens que je ne connais ni d'Eve ni d'Adam (et que je ne trouve pas intéressants), je n'aime pas non plus les potins (gossip) et raconter tous les détails de ma vie et de celle des autres. Alors ça rend la vie un peu difficile au bureau avec les autres secrétaires pour qui je dois sembler snob ou extra timide.

Marriage in Heaven

noreply@blogspirit.com (Lady Iphigenia) — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 23:31:27 -0400

"That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. "Teacher," they said, "Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and have children for him. Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. Finally, the woman died. Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?"

Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living."

When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching." (Matthew 22)

Yulia: "What do you think: when husband and wife die and go to heaven, will they still be husband and wife?
Me: Well, we know that they won't be married anymore, in the earthly kind of way...
Yulia: Yes, I discussed this with my husband, but it makes me very sad to think of this.
Me: I don't think that as our body dies we lose our memories too. We will certainly recognize each other and remember the life, love and hardships that we've had together on earth.
Yulia: Oh, I'm glad that you think that too!
Me: But our love for each other will be different, everything in heaven will be different. We cannot understand it right now, but everything will be different: we won't "feel" the same way, we won't "think" the same either.
Yulia: Like the angels in heavens.
Me: Yes, we won't be angels, since they are different creatures altogether, but like angels. Yes."

And we will recognize family and friends who died before us believing in the Lord. We will meet again.

One Foot In

noreply@blogspirit.com (Lady Iphigenia) — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 23:45:00 -0400

Wednesday morning D had to go to the seminary for what he thought to be an appointment with Dr. W-the-English. Surprise, surprise... it wasn't just 'an appointment' rather... the Orientation day for the new students!

When I came back home at noon (I work only mornings on Wednesdays), I was surprised that D hadn't come back yet since his 'appointment' was supposed to be at 9am. At 3pm I got a bit nervous: "did something happen?", "is something wrong?". I called our Russians friends: was he there? No. Then I called the seminary (it's a small school, everybody knows everybody), where a professor who recognized my voice said: "Oh yes, D is registering right now!" Waaa?! I was so surprised and in shock that I started laughing and babbling on the phone "Ah good, well, that's nice... eh, thank you! Ok, bye!"

D was registering? He was going to study! REALLY?! Thank you Lord... finally!

I couldn't help crying (I cry very easily).

Two hours later he was still not back though... I was still thinking that he was only there for an appointment in the morning. How come he wasn't calling me to say he was late? So at 5pm I called again (oh yeah, now everybody will know me as the "desperate wife" aha), after talking to a lady who told me that "everybody" was there (except me!), D called me back and explained all that was going on. He was as traumatised as I was, having spent the day following the "Welcome committee" and listening to different speeches (couldn't remember a word though - must have been really long and/or boring). He came pick me up a couple of minutes later to go to the potluck BBQ together. The food was yummy. There we met with other friends: Canadians Anglophones, from Venezuela, China, German origins, Sudan and Ethiopia... and of course our Russian friends who were already waiting for us!

So, after two years of waiting, Don Magnifico (another name for my Darling) is finally going to start his studies at the seminary. However there are still some questions unanswered: we don’t know if the church of France will be willing to finance his studies. And what if they don’t? Are we going to transfer to England anyway? Or will D loose his credits in the wind?

Lord, help us! (And thank you for what has already been done).

Glory be to God: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Peut-être que...

noreply@blogspirit.com (Lady Iphigenia) — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 18:35:00 -0400

There might be a possibility for Don Quixote to start studying at the seminary this year! Yes, I know! Here, this year, instead of waiting one more year wasting time!

Sunday after church, we got introduced to a "new" professor at the seminary who is being transferred from Westfield House (Cambridge, England). We had a little time to briefly explain him our situation. He proposed that while waiting for the Church of France to decide if/how they are going to help us (during their meeting in November), D might as well study this year at the seminary here: while he doesn't have the pre-requisites to study in Canada, he does have the pre-requisites to study in Europe... So, if all goes well, with the permission of the seminary in Canada and in England, D would study this year in Canada, then transfer his credits over when we move to England next year!

Yeay!

One moment I got scared because Dr. W (the English, not to confuse with Dr. W the German) seemed to say that if we decided ourselves quick, we might even move now for the start of the academic year (in Europe, universities only start in October). I’m not totally happy here, but I still have a job that pays well (at the office), and another one that brings me joy (teaching music). I feel responsible towards my students, I wouldn’t like to leave them without notice.

It seems to me that something is finally happening. Thank you Lord, because You know that my patience is drawing to an end.

What now?

noreply@blogspirit.com (Lady Iphigenia) — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 15:55:00 -0400

Dernièrement, nous avons reçu quelques réponses de France.

On nous a informé que 1) l'Église luthérienne (confessionelle) en France aura sûrement besoin de pasteurs dans un futur proche, ce qui veux dire que D pourra sûrement trouver du travail en France après ses études (donc: bonne nouvelle).
2) Par contre, le synode de France et de Belgique est une trop petite Église (lire: groupe d'églises) pour financer un séminaire. Donc, il n'y a plus de formation pour les pasteurs en France, ce qui pose un problème: où est-ce qu'il vont trouver des pasteur francophones quand les séminaires se trouvent tous soit en Allemagne, Angleterre, Canada ou États-Unis?

En ce qui nous concerne, le problème est que D n'a pas son Bachelor's degree (= licence) condition préalable pour commencer le séminaire ici au Canada. Etant donné qu'étudier à l'université est hors de prix en Amérique du Nord, on concidérait déménager en France (en croyant qu'il y avait un séminaire à Strasbourg, mon imagination fertile a beaucoup rêvé aux escapades à Paris ou en Allemagne...)

Comme nous avons tout les 2 une nationalité européenne, pas besoin de visa, c'est bien pratique. En plus, pour servir le Seigneur dans les églises luthériennes en Europe, les pasteurs n'ont pas besoin d'un niveau d'études "Master", mais seulement "Licence". Donc il suffit d'avoir un niveau d'études suffisant pour rentrer en licence (donc avoir finit l'école secondaire = lycée), ce qui est normal et compréhensible.

Bref, la conclusion en suspens: Cambridge or no Cambridge?!

Quand nos amis (un couple canadien, ils viennent d'y passer une année en échange - lui aussi va bientôt être pasteur, mais il a déjà presque finit les études) nous ont dit que ça serait la solution idéale dans notre situation, j'étais bien surprise et leur ai demandé qu'est-ce qu'il leur faisait penser ça... Il faut dire qu'en grandissant, ma mère, en bonne argentine qu'elle est, a toujours eu un fort préjugé anti-British (mais ça ne m'a pas empéché d'apprendre à parler courament l'anglais à son grand désespoir). En ce qui me concerne, tant que D puisse enfin commencer ses études (et les finir) dans un endroit bien (En Europe en plus! Dans un nouvel endroit où je n'ai jamais habité!), je suis bien contente. Espérons que les réponses en suspens soient bientôt répondues, et que tout aille bien dans l'ordre et la bonne humeur! (haha!)

Un des ponts sur la rivière Cam - gracieuseté du web - je crois que c'est le Bridge of Sights, soit le pont des soupirs... Joli, non?

Called Home

noreply@blogspirit.com (Lady Iphigenia) — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 19:20:00 -0400

Sometimes life is very calm, almost boring. Sometimes a lot of things happen at the same time and it's hard to keep track of all the events. Then, I wonder which situation I prefer, but I guess I'm just an "extreme" person: my emotions like to do the roller-coaster (specially when it goes "high").

The sad event. John Lummen, a dear friend and the boss of the music school where I teach, passed away Friday July 14th at the age of 57. He had been battling cancer for the past 6 months. He is the first person who offered me a job here; he didn't even need a teacher at that time but gradually gave me work at the reception, then a couple of students, then the inventory, until I had too much on my plate and had to refuse some!...

The funeral was very emotional (and long) since he touched the life of so many people, with his teaching, his passion for music, his kindness.

The happy part is that he believed in Christ the Saviour, so I know that we'll meet again at the end. However one cannot help feeling very sad for Gwen, his wife, who is left behind by herself. Hard.

Happy are those who rest in the Lord.