Today was our first church get-together here in the Ban de la Roche. For some reason, the tradition is to ring in the Advent season with a giant sauerkraut meal--I honest don't know how to spell that word in English. Something doesn't seem quite right about that to me, but the meal was plentiful and delicious. I wonder a lot of things after this unique experience...
When will this group of people feel safe to us? There are so many secret codes to learn and understand here, so many "inside jokes," unseen wounds, tight family relationships. When people get married they marry someone from another village in the Ban de la Roche, not somewhere else. Well, they might go so far as to marry someone from Schirmeck... So it feels sort of ingrown and protected, sometimes fiercely protected by the folks who feel threatened by too many new arrivals from elsewhere.
What is expected of me as a pastor's wife here? I was glad to see the team who organized the meal working like a well-oiled machine. I think I brought one stack of plates to the kitchen and that's about it. I felt like I would be more of a handicap if I tried to help, not knowing the ropes, so to speak. But maybe some of the women found that offensive, that I didn't help at all. Or maybe they found it freeing.
What do people here most need? and what can we do about it? This is a constant nagging question that I have trouble answering. There are many families in deep relational difficulties that we only know a small part of. Our hearts ache for the children caught in unreal situations. The one who's mom is psychologically and/or physically ill most or all of the time, while her dad is away on business and her brother is gone all week at boarding school. Or the boy who isn't sure who his real dad is, and what he's supposed to say when you ask him that question. Sometimes it can feel overwhelming.
I continue to say with great joy in my heart that I love living here, that it's a gift from God, as He promised us it would be. I'm grateful for that. And for all the other unexpected blessings, like Jesus himself coming as a baby in a barn, and Advent sourkraut.
Comments (4)
Ohhhh---I don't think I'd make a good Alsacienne. Tarte Flambee? Till I can't manage another bite. Sauerkraut? Get me out of there fast!
I'm glad it still feels like a gift to be there. That's a very nice thing.
As I was reading your question of what's expected and thinking about the seeming insularity of the community the idea that popped into my mind is this: you're expected to love people where they are and to model a healthy family to them. Anything after that is sprinkles.
About your comments---I kind of amazed myself that I knew where the yearbook was. Having one bookshelf in the house that mostly houses my pre-Africa life does make it a little simpler.
Je t'aime!
The iron I take has a bunch of vitamin C and a few other things that are supposed to aid it's absorption. Without it---just the iron---it gives me the runs for days. It took about 2 1/2 months of this stuff though before it stopped beating me up.
It has been two weeks since the blood draws---the tech told me some of the blood test could take 10-14 days, so it's time to hear! And I know he had the results of the CAT scan by Friday . . . I'm beginning to get a little impatient. I just want to know what's next and to get it on my calendar. Sigh.
I go to T's on Thursday. It's soooooo bitter cold here right now, gladly will I trade this for the rain. It's on days like today when my toes refuse to acknowledge that warmth does exist that I wonder why I'm in CO!
Miss you bunches. Really. Truly. Sigh. I'm going to Vienna and Madrid this winter, but alas---not close enough to you to pop in for a few days.
@sherylo - When? Maybe I could take a train or a plane and meet you somewhere...? I've always wanted to go to Vienna!
Blessings from Ireland. Long ago memories of Strasbourg..