Month: October 2011

Some days just don’t go according to plan

Today, I was supposed to visit the Bégard market with Emmanuel Hartiel, before heading towards Rostrenen for the monthly Bible study. None of these happened. I had to attend an emergency early in the morning which lasted longer than I expected (nothing to worry about), so I had to cancel the visit to the market. Then, the lady who host the Bible study phoned my colleagues to let them know that none of the people who usually attend would make it and that she would be the only one present. The suggestion was to report the study to a day when everyone can be present.

So, instead of a trip to Rostrenen, I went to the swimming pool with Jean-Baptiste and Maxime. On the way there, I forgot my PIN for my bankcard and after three times it was blocked. I was glad I had enough cash to pay. I am tired now, and unable to do anything. I’ll crash in front of TV and go to bed in a while. Some days just don’t go according to plan.

Accidents happen so quickly

I was walking by the riverside with the two boys and my father in law. At one point, the path goes very close to the river, a few inches from the edge. The river is a foot or two below. I had told Jean-Baptiste off before we reached that part because I did not want him to run any more. He was moody, walking a short distance behind us. I stopped to wait for him. I often get paranoid that an accident could happen in these circumstances.

As he joined us, I saw a dad from the school, in his running gear, followed by his daughter on her mountain bike). I thought I’d wait and let them pass our place since they were going quicker than us. I heard the dad warn his daughter about the danger and tell her to get down the bike and push it if she was hesitant. In a split of a second, the girl and the bike were in the water. And the dad jumped quickly to get her out. Fortunately, the water is quite shallow and there is hardly any current. but it looked dark and sinister. I went to help them climb the steep edge.

They were soaking wet but fine, except for the dad’s mobile phone (he looked annoyed that it was now probably definitely broken). They wet quickly home before getting too cold.

Jean-Baptiste understood immediately why I don’t want him to run on that part of the footpath. Maxime found the whole thing funny. Anyway it was a good reminder that accidents happen very quickly, and that we must always be ready.

A trip to the maternity

Benjamin was born at 6:10 am, on Thursday 21st October 2011 in the local hospital. He was very civilized and let us sleep most of the night. But from about 3 o’clock everything went quickly. We left home at about 5:35, got to the hospital a few minutes later and to the ward at about 5:45. We were well looked after by two experienced midwives.

The advantage of Benjamin being born in France is that Esther was able to stay 4 days in hospital to rest and wait for the milk to arrive. She was well looked after and had an individual room. In contrast, Maxime was born in Cardiff and Esther stayed one night in  a big room with at least a dozen beds.

They both came home on monday and we are all adjusting to life with a baby again. Jean-Baptiste and Maxime are very happy to have a baby at home and are fascinated to look at him.

Amusing ourselves to death

[amazon_link id=”014303653X” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]”Amusing ourselves to death”[/amazon_link] is the title of a book by Neil Postman, an American author and media critic. I had seen this book mentioned on Tim Challies’ Blog a while ago and was happily surprised to find the French translation a few weeks ago. It is fascinating reading.

Postman shows how television has transformed American culture. What used to be a society based on the printed book where everybody read (from the farmer to the intellectual), and was able to think has become a society where entertainment has become the norm. Although the book was first published in the eighties, it is still very relevant. His chapter on TV evangelists gives much food for thought to preachers of the word. If you can find a copy, read it. Postman died a few years ago, but I wonder what he would have said of today’s world of twitter and facebook.