Jennie Goutet's Blog: A Lady in France, page 5

The One Who Surprised Jesus

Have you ever read something in the Bible that made absolutely no sense to you? For some people, that one passage will be enough to turn them away completely, saying the Bible is full of contradictions, is written by man, and is a product of the culture of the times. For believers who hold the Word of God to be life-giving, we might cobble together some explanation for what we’re reading, always wondering if our interpretation is correct – always feeling that the explanation is rather weak, after all. For me, the story of the Canaanite woman was just such a difficult passage.

Before we read the story, I want to give full credit for any wisdom found in this post to my husband, who studied out the passage and made the discoveries regarding its meaning. I keep trying to get him to write posts for my blog, but he has a busy work schedule and has not yet taken the plunge. Feel free to add your encouragement in the comments.

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The story of the Canaanite woman is found in Matthew 15:21-28 – or the Syrophoenecian woman if you read the story in Mark 7:24-29.

Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”

Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

“Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

So what is it with Jesus’ response? Did he just call her a dog? Did he just ignore her suffering and place her below the ranks of humans to that of a dog? In truth, he did, but not in the unloving way it seems.

When I first read this story, my way of making sense of it was to say that Jesus knew ahead of time that she would answer with faith. He tested her by not responding to her right away (pushing her to insist), and then by saying ‘no’ to her request (in a way that seemed completely unloving), he was helping her to see how deep her own faith was. This is how I made sense of the story and this is how I explained it to others, adding of course, that I could only guess at Jesus’ intentions.

But that’s actually not true, is it? It doesn’t seem like he knew how deep her faith was because he was astonished by her answer. And I’ll get to that in another minute because you can’t really tell from this translation. In that context, it doesn’t make sense that he was testing her for her own (or his listeners’) benefit. So why the rejection and why the “dog” comment?

When Jesus went around Israel, power came out of him all the time.

Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel. Matthew 15:29-31

He even healed people without being aware of it, as is evidenced by the bleeding woman in Mark 5. Wherever he went, he healed and power flowed out of him continually. But when he left Israel and went to Lebanon (Phoenecia at the time), his power stayed within. The Canaanite woman had to beg for him to heal her daughter. She couldn’t simply touch his cloak. Why is that? I think the reason is found in his answer. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” (Italics are mine).

God had made a promise to the Israelites that he would send a Messiah to redeem them, and Jesus came in answer to that. As it says in Romans 15:8, For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed. Jesus was there to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs.

There would be a time when healing would be given to everyone, including the gentiles, and that time was after his crucifixion. He said, in John 12:32, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” But at this point, he hadn’t died yet, and this wasn’t yet the time for all people. He needed to fulfill the promise God had made to his people first, and that meant limiting his salvation and healing to the Jews.

So his telling her ‘no’ was not to test her, but rather because it was not yet her time. The healing of her daughter would have to wait.

The God we follow is one of great kindness and compassion. He is the God who is willing to listen to Abraham’s negotiations to save Sodom & Gomorrah (and his nephew, Lot). He is the God who is moved by our passionate pleas for help, and who rewards our faith in Him. Like his Father, Jesus is filled with compassion.

The Canaanite woman was not deterred by Jesus’ response given to the disciples and took it as a chance to approach him. When she came near, she worshipped Jesus, calling him ‘Lord’ and kneeling before him in complete humility. She again asked for help.

When Jesus spoke to her directly, he referred to her as a dog. The words inferred that she had not the status of a child within the house, with all the blessings that position entailed. She was not even worthy of partaking in the family meal. To give some historical context, in those days, Israelites sometimes referred to unbelievers as dogs, and to mingle too closely with the “uncircumcised” could make a believer unclean. Therefore, they avoided associating with them.

When we were living in Djibouti, my husband went outside the city to study the Bible with some Ethiopians there. This was not long after September 11th, and there was a terrorist camp in the near vicinity. Someone saw his white skin and heard him speaking English and assumed he was American. When Matthieu walked by, the man spat out the words “sale chien” – dirty dog – not realising that my husband was French and could understand him. Matthieu was on crutches at the time, in a completely vulnerable position, far from the relative safety of the city. The Ethiopians didn’t speak French and asked what the man said, and my husband had to explain. To this day, he still remembers how it felt. It hurts to be called a dog.

But when you look carefully at the Greek word, you realise Jesus is not referring to the wild dogs that filled the streets of Djibouti, whose coats were matted with dirt, their skin stretched over their rib cages, unwanted and rejected. He said – it is not right to give the food from the children to the little dogs. The household pets. The ones who slept inside the house.

The Canaanite woman picked up on that subtlety right away, and said, True! You’re right. The children eat first. However, even the little dogs get the crumbs that fall from the table.

This response? It’s beautiful. She shows a deep humility that is so rarely coupled with such tenacity. You might see tenacity but not humility. Or you see humility, but not tenacity. Moved by her daughter’s need and her confidence in Jesus’ approachability, she wasn’t willing to give up on her quest as easily as that.

When he heard her reply, Jesus’ reaction was profound, and the version above simply does not do it justice. If you look at the Greek interlinear Bible, you see his exact words were: “O – Woman. Great is your faith.”

The first O is the Greek omega, and Jesus only used the exclamation three times. He used it once here when his disciples didn’t have enough faith to drive the demon out of a boy.

I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not.”

And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither. Luke 9:40-42 (NIV and KJV)

O faithless and perverse generation. In this passage, the O was used to exclaim over his disciples’ lack of faith.

Below, Jesus uses it again. His disciples were walking to Emmaus after the crucifixion and they hadn’t realised it was Jesus walking with them. When he explained all the prophecies about himself, they were slow to get it.

Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. Luke 24:25-27 (King James Version for the 1st line, then NIV).

‘O fools, and slow of heart to believe–‘ In this passage, the O was to exclaim over his disciples lack of understanding.

But this woman? She had great faith, and she understood everything.

She completely believed in Jesus’ power. She knew his power was so great it would only require a few crumbs to heal her daughter. She had faith. She understood the reference to the dogs and she took Jesus at his word. Yes, a little dog. But still part of the house. Maybe the lowest part of the house, but still in the house. True, I’m not in Israel. I’m not part of God’s chosen race, but I’m in the house all the same. You said so. Now give me the crumbs because that will be enough for me. The Canaanite woman had understanding.

She had both faith and understanding – she who was a foreigner and ignorant of the scriptures. At this, Jesus was moved to astonishment. And he cried out,

O!

Woman!

GREAT is your faith.

The Canaanite’s daughter was healed at that moment. When you first read the passage – I don’t know about you – but I found it almost offensive. Why was I offended by Jesus’ words and not her? The answer lies in her humility. She understood Jesus was Lord of heaven and earth, while she ranked among the lowest in humanity. But that was okay for her as long as she could be in the house and settle for a few crumbs.

Oh, how she teaches us today in her humility. Are the crumbs enough for us? Is it enough just to be in the house and not have any particular rank? The Word is a crucible for our hearts, and in this story, Jesus unveils what’s in our heart even today.

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Thank you for reading, as always. And I appreciate those of you who follow me on such diverse topics as faith, France, recipes, and fiction. Next week I’m going to be doing a giveaway for the INSIDR full-service European smartphone, if you or anyone you know plans to come to France before April 2020. Details about this service are here, and the post will go up next Wednesday. So look out for that. In case you missed it last week, you can sign up for my author newsletter here to get a sneak peak of my Regency novel coming out in March 2020.

The post The One Who Surprised Jesus appeared first on A Lady In France.

What is Regency, anyway?

If you made it to the bottom of my post last week, you’ll be expecting this one on the Regency era – what it is, when it is, and why it’s so darn fascinating to those of us who read and write in the genre.

I began this blog long before I ever thought about writing Regency, and some of you are humouring this passion of mine – willing to read a book that’s not in your usual genre – because of long-standing affection for me. (Thank you for that, and while I’m at it, the image below is the official cover for A Regrettable Proposal, and I’ll give you details on how to get a sample of the upcoming book at the end of this post).

Despite Regency being a decidedly English subject and this is a decidedly French blog, I thought perhaps you might be curious to learn more about the Regency era. What if, by explaining a bit more about my passion, I could convert you to full-blown Regency love? Well, that would be fabulous!

I’d also be jealous because you’d get to read all of Georgette Heyer’s books for the first time.

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So let me get started. This will be a grossly oversimplified summary of what constitutes Regency, but never mind. And I’m asking all you history buffs, who might be reading, to chime in and comment on any facts I might have gotten wrong or add any additional elements you find interesting.

I’m going to cover the Prince Regent for whom the period was named, Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer and their relationship to Regency, men and women’s fashions and pastimes in the era, and the Peninsular (Napoleonic) Wars, which were set in Regency times. (In 3000 words or less).

George August Frederick (King George IV, aka “Prinny”)

The Regency period is officially set between 1811 and 1820 – a very short period of time. This is the period where George August Frederick ruled as Prince Regent in place of his father, George III, who was declared mentally incompetent, and it lasted until the time of his father’s death. For literary, cultural, architectural and political purposes, you could extend the genre to include from 1795 onward when George III’s mental health had already begun to deteriorate (though he was still acting as king) through to 1837, which marks the beginning of the Victorian era.

As a young man, George IV, affectionately dubbed Prinny by his subjects, was handsome, witty, charming, intelligent, and a patron of the arts. His father had been sober in character and in governance and Prinny was anxious to throw off those restraints. He charmed the people by his accessibility, pleasing face and figure, and intelligent conversation. However, by the time he was made king, he had already taken his taste for the finer things in life to excess and it led to the downfall of society’s good opinion of their king.

He worked with architect John Nash to remodel Buckingham Palace and Carlton House and was known for encouraging the resurgence of Greek architecture, which changed the face of London to the architectural style you see today. This interest in Greek architecture, and even mode of government, influenced Regency life right down to the style of dress, which I’ll talk more about down below. Prinny spent a great deal of money on remodelling, decorating, food and other pleasure and was eventually cut off in his later years by the British Parliament. By the time he became acting king, he was morbidly obese from a lifetime of dissipation and was made an object of ridicule.

In the early days, however, he was not above spending time with the Corinthians of the day, gambling in the clubs, attending parties at Vauxhall Gardens, dancing with the more promiscuous ladies at balls, and allowing himself to be instructed on the matter of proper dress by Beau Brummell. The Prince Regent, hallmark of the era, was a figure larger than life and it is impossible to talk about Regency without him.

Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer

Jane Austen (1775-1817) lived in the Regency period, and Georgette Heyer (1902-1974) created the literary genre with 34 books set in the Georgian and Regency eras. Jane wrote about the gentry, and focused on the countryside, the parsons, the smaller seasons, such as in Bath, and simpler living. Sense and Sensibility came out first in 1811, right at the debut of the Regency period. It was followed by Pride & Prejudice, then Mansfield Park. When Emma came out, the royal librarian hinted that she should dedicate a copy to the Prince Regent since he was a big fan of her work and had copies in every home. On that topic, I read that she had debated with her brother whether the request could be ignored or whether it were akin to a royal command. Austen could not forgive his poor treatment of his wife, Princess Caroline, whom he tried to divorce and refused her entry to his coronation. In the end, however, Austen could not refuse the request, and a copy was dedicated.

Georgette Heyer, a historian by interest and so exacting in her research other historians will quote her, wrote more about the London season, the ton (to have good ton means your manners and social standing are correct), the period customs and slang, and Almack’s. This is an old post of mine where I wrote almost entirely in Regency slang just for fun.

Among other subjects, she brought to life the witty veneer of town society, the folly of some of the wealthy, young peers who were plunged into gambling, debt, and immorality, and gave us figures to root for in those who attempted to escape the clutches of a dissipate life. She created stories where women evaded a future of drudgery, often because the out-of-reach non-pareil of the day fell in love with her character and beauty. Heyer accurately represented the period with all its weaknesses, but she often brought out the best, most hopeful side of it for her readers’ pleasure.

Heyer’s focus on life in Regency England features vastly different aspects than Jane Austen’s works, but she is beloved by her readers, even posthumously. Those of us who write Regency can’t help but attempt to capture some of her wit when writing in the era. If you’re new to Georgette Heyer, and would like to try her books, some of my favorites are: Frederica, The Unknown Ajax, Venetia, Arabella, The Grand Sophy, and The Nonesuch.

Regency Fashions

What’s fascinating about women’s fashion in the Regency era is that it’s sort of a blip on the screen – an anomaly. We’ve left behind the huge hoop skirts, wigs, powder, jewels and patches of the Georgian period. And we’ve not yet re-entered the wooden cages (again, hoop skirts) or posterior bustle of the Victorian era. What we have is a short decade or two of neoclassical dresses with high waistlines and thin shifts underneath (like what you see in Pride & Prejudice), form fitting design, and exposed necklines, an unusual forward-thinking fashion brought on by a combination of these things:

In some small part, from Marie-Atoinette’s eschewing the cumbersome dress of her era in favour of more country apparel, though her death was long before the Regency period and French fashion was cut off from London society during the Peninsular (or Napoleonic) Wars. When the dressmakers fled the Continent during the Reign of Terror, they brought the dress styles with them to London, and would have contributed in some part to the changing fashion.

The widespread availability of thin muslin fabrics, imported from a colonized India, that were made into the sheer, lightweight dresses.

The admiration of all things Greek, encouraged by the Prince Regent, which translated down to the smaller details such as dress.

The era did not last long, and an abundance of influenza-related deaths, coupled with spurning the excesses of the Regency era, led the beau monde to seek to cover up in more modest apparel.

As for the men’s fashion, George Brummell (Beau Brummell) is credited for the precursor for what is the modern men’s suit. During the Georgian era, it was not just the women who wore jewels, powder, patches, wigs, and bright floral silks. The men did too, right down to the jewelled buckle on their shoe. And though the men of his day had toned down their dress to simpler breeches (or pantaloons) and coats, they were still wearing the flowered waistcoats, brightly-colored coats and elaborate neckcloths that were so stiff it was hard to turn their heads.

Brummell turned his nose up at all that and brought into fashion simple navy or black blazers with cream-coloured pantaloons, shiny black hessians (boots) – sometimes rubbed with a secret champagne-based blacking and sporting a tassel – and simple white neckcloths, that might take thirty tries (with a valet standing by patiently with a stack of ironed cloths) but that would be tied with artful simplicity. He took hours over his toilette and even had an audience for it – exclusive, invitation-only.

The Beau’s influence was so widespread, he could make or break a society event by his presence and whether or not it pleased him. The aspiring young bucks dreaded the idea he might look on their outfit with disfavour, and even the Prince Regent allowed himself to be criticised by his friend, Brummell. The pair eventually fell out of disfavour, Brummell went into debt and was forced to flee to France, but his name and influence lives on.

Regency Men’s Pastimes

The sandwich was created when the Earl of Sandwich did not want to leave the gaming table to eat and called out for them to bring him a piece of meat between two slices of bread so he could dine while at play. Entire fortunes were won and lost at the gaming table and any hint at foul play was a matter of honour and would probably lead to “pistols at dawn” – a duel, that had a strict code of conduct and sometimes meant a peer fleeing the continent for having killed his man.

The idle young men spent their days betting about ridiculous things at the exclusive clubs (White’s, Brooks) for which they needed to have an invitation to enter. They went to cockfights, strolled down Bond Street, and learned to box at Jackson’s Boxing Saloon, where they hoped to get a punch in under the famous pugilist’s guard. They learned sword fighting from Henry Angelo, took snuff of their own blend, and imitated the vulgar, common language of their grooms in an attempt to be seen as a Nonesuch – a sportsman without equal. They bought and sold horses at Tattersalls and bet at the races. The pinnacle of their achievement was to be inducted into the Four Horse Club in which you rode a particular race under a certain time and drove to an inch (between two gateposts or around a lumbersome coach blocking the road), without oversetting the carriage, and wore the garish insignia of yellow waistcoats with huge buttons that imitated the coachmen of the day.

The men avoided the marriage mart and went backstage at the opera to try and find a mistress – a “bird of paradise” or a “fancy piece”, where contracts were drawn up by the lady’s man of business, and his own, to determine the financial agreements of such a relationship.

Regency Women’s Pastimes

Unsurprisingly, women had a lot less freedom then men. Their domain was Almack’s, the official “marriage mart”. Almack’s was ruled with an iron hand by eight patronesses, who had the ultimate power to decide who was good ton and who wasn’t. All the young debutantes were desperate to obtain a voucher for the Wednesday night gathering. Men could only appear at Almack’s in breeches (not pantaloons) and anyone who tried to enter after 11:00 p.m. was turned away. Even the famous Duke of Wellington was rejected from Almack’s twice : once for having pantaloons instead of breeches and once for arriving five minutes too late.

When the waltz finally came to England and was allowed at Almack’s in 1814, no debutante could say yes unless one of the patronesses officially introduced her to a partner. Once she was allowed, she could accept any invitation she pleased. The men generally detested Almack’s because they only served lukewarm lemonade and sandwiches, but of course everyone had to go because it was good ton. And there were always those on the catch for a rich wife.

A woman’s choices were marriage, mistress, setting up an establishment as an independently wealthy woman, but that only worked when you were of a certain age, serving as a governess, a schoolmistress, or as a poor companion to a wealthy household – one that most like was related, and who were almost certain to abuse you. You could always end up a “bluestocking” – an educated woman with decided opinions – but that carried its own stigma.

Women had to follow strict rules of chaperonage in order to remain in good standing with the ton, but even if you behaved impeccably, your own family could be your downfall. If you had the misfortune to have a sister run off to Gretna Green (inside the Scottish border where you could elope without needing to have reached majority or having posted the banns), the entire family was plunged into scandal and you may as well toss your hopes of securing a good marriage. In context, Darcy’s decision to rescue Lydia and ensure she at least married, though it be under suspicious circumstances, truly was an act motivated by love for Miss Elizabeth Bennet.

As you might guess, we Regency writers love to focus on the happy endings and the love matches, which were not all that common in real life.

Napoleon & Wellington

The Regency era was set in the backdrop of the Peninsular Wars, and soldiers home on furlough – or stationed in a nearby town – were a common sight. In Pride & Prejudice, Lydia and Elizabeth’s mother went into raptures about men wearing colors, which hints at the degree soldiers were an integral part of Jane Austen’s life. Young men could enlist as a volunteer and work their way up, but the gentry and nobility generally purchased a commission so they would have the position of an officer in the cavalry and infantry. And you could sell out when you were ready to resign your commission (such as when you inherited an estate), recuperating the money you put in.

The Napoleonic Wars were from 1803-1815, but the ones fought on the Peninsula (Spain, Portugal) were from 1807-1814 and they were mainly between France and England. France came up against England in the final battle of Waterloo, which took place in Belgium – (you can see the battlefield from my friends’ house there). Napoleon’s illustrious career ended in this singular defeat. Going into the battle, the odds were stacked greatly against Wellington, but his remarkable determination and calm good sense gave his troops courage and allowed them to continue fighting, even when it seemed that victory was impossible.

Wellington was often seen studying the battle from his horse at the front lines. He was never hit and his troops took heart from the fact that such a charmed figure was at the head of the campaign. Wellington loved society and surrounded himself with young men of good families and impeccable address. However, he had no patience for mistakes. Wellington, also called Welly, the General, (and secretly) the Beau, or – in later years – the Duke by his troops, was made a peer (inherited a dukedom) for his involvement in the wars, and he later became the Prime Minister of England.

If you want to know more about the battle and see Wellington in action, read the historically-accurate fictional book The Infamous Army, by (who else?) Georgette Heyer.

And that’s it! Hugely summarised, but I had to start somewhere. Much of the culture I learned from reading and rereading Heyer’s books. I constantly read websites and blogs, including the imperfect wikipedia, for fact-checking for this post and my books. But this is my library, in addition to a couple kindle books not shown, and this is where I get most of my information.

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Below is my notebook of nearly 300 printed pages of Regency slang, much of which you’ll recognise if you read Dickens. Not all is useful as it includes quite a bit of cant (low-class or thieves language) and nautical terms, but I do use quite a bit. When you read a lot of Georgette Heyer, it all tends to flow naturally and with great delight.

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I hope you like my explanation and broad summary of the Regency period, and I hope it gives you some context for my book. This Friday, I’m offering the readers who subscribe to my newsletter a sneak-peek of the first eight chapters of A Regrettable Proposal. If you’re interested, you can get your copy by signing up for my author newsletter* here.

*The newsletter is sent out every Friday with book deals from other authors in the genre of romance (mostly clean, both historical and contemporary), memoir and women’s fiction, particularly books set in France, and occasionally books on faith. My goal is to introduce readers to a broad selection of low-priced books and to offer sneak-peeks and giveaways of my own work. The more personal news I will continue to post here.

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The post What is Regency, anyway? appeared first on A Lady In France.

INSIDR Smartphone for Travel in Europe

Hey friends, we’re back from the Swiss Alps and (among a whole host of other things) I want to talk to you about INSIDR, a company to which I am now affiliated. I can’t tell you how many proposals I turn down for guest posts or sponsorship because it’s not a good fit for my audience. A lot. Well, as soon as I heard about INSIDR, I couldn’t think of a more fitting subject for A Lady in France readers, especially those who love to travel, because this service is amazing.

I’ve got a little personal news I want to share at the end of this post, but first, let’s talk INSIDR so I can tell you what it’s all about.

INSIDR is a friendly travel startup born in Paris in 2015, which is now gathering a community of travel enthusiasts from all over the world. The goal of INSIDR is simple but ambitious: to help foreign travellers prepare their trip to Europe with qualitative content and recommendations.

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Launched at the end of 2015, INSIDR is a personalized pocket concierge and digital guide to Europe. INSIDR solves the main problems foreign travelers encounter when visiting the French capital, around France and beyond! With INSIDR, you don’t have to hunt down a local SIM-card or WiFi networks, wait in endless lines at tourist sites, carry around and try to decipher complicated printed maps or outdated guidebooks or fall into tourist scams. However, the best aspect of INSIDR is that it allows travelers to have a truly authentic experience.

The INSIDR team has developed a complete and unique solution for travelers. Upon arrival at the airport or at your accommodation in Paris (or other places in Europe), travelers are delivered a fully customized connected smartphone with a whole range of useful features.

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The INSIDR service provides full connectivity and a non-commercial digital guide with maps and walks around Paris (and more destinations around the continent to come!), as well as real-time access to a community of savvy locals.

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The INSIDR project started in the spring of 2015 when Nina and Benjamin Forlani, a 6th generation Parisian sister & brother duo, who decided to design an innovative solution that would enhance the stay of foreign travelers in Paris. Having experienced first-hand the value of customer service and hospitality in Japan and South Korea, the duo felt strongly that Paris deserved to be experienced in the same way. The INSIDR team now gathers dozens of International hospitality experts passionate about sharing their love for travel, and it covers most of the main European destinations.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

a fully connected smartphone with full connectivity (unlimited calls, 4G datas, and a WiFi. Our team has identified the main problems of foreign visitors when traveling in Europe and developed a complete solution. 
From the moment they start dreaming about their next adventure in Europe, INSIDR is here to help provide the best tips and services to ensure a trouble-free, unique and memorable trip. Before departure, the INSIDR team provides a full support to travelers optimizing their schedule, booking the greatest restaurants, sorting out transportation. Once in France, the travelers get the INSIDR phone:
 a fully connected smartphone with full connectivity (unlimited calls, 4G datas, and a WiFi hotspot for all electronic devices).


The phone works as a personalized digital guide with daily push of curated recommendations of authentic must-sees all over France and according to the traveler’s profile.
The travelers remain connected to the INSIDR team, via smartphone, who provide the most caring Personal Concierge service operating 24/7 to give non-touristy tips and support.

Through the INSIDR service, travelers get access to exclusive experiences all over France such as private Paris Fashion shows in the most beautiful department store in the world, private wine tasting in France’s prettiest wine region, cooking classes, or visits to a secret Lavender farm in the South of France.
About the service –
Crossing Borders: INSIDR is now Europe-wide with unlimited connectivity, all the best travel apps, INSIDR’s digital concierge service, and quality curated content.
Spreading “The Word”: The service is now available in 7 languages (including Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Korean, Spanish and Portuguese).
Airport Access: The INSIDR service can now be purchased directly at the airport upon arrival letting travelers stay connected and supported as soon as they set foot in Paris! INSIDR now also ships E.U. wide

WHAT IS EVERYONE SAYING ABOUT INSIDR?

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INSIDR has been featured in The Guardian, Elle Canada, Instyle Magazine, Glamour Magazine’s French edition, The New York Times and CondèNast Traveler, who has called us the “Swiss Army knife of travel guides!”. And most exciting? INSIDR is supported by French tourism & tech institutions and has been selected as an official partner startup for the Olympics of 2024 in Paris!

How much does it cost? Well, the cost is pretty straight-forward and affordable, which is what I love. You can get INSIDR from 30€ for a weekend to 7€/day for a week.

I wonder if any of you are coming to Paris to watch the Olympics. It’s not that far off, you know! Just click on the box below to learn more about INSIDR and definitely spread the word to anyone you know who plans to travel here (for the Olympics or for a mini getaway).

After all, Paris awaits!

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So I told you I wanted to give you some personal news at the end of the post. I had a great time in our summer visits, which included Brittany, the US, and Switzerland. The great thing about going away is that you get a chance to recharge and reassess. One of the things I re-evaulated was my tendency to stretch myself in too many directions where writing and blogging are concerned. As a result, my blog is the first thing to get neglected. I made a decision to fix that.

Starting as of … now … I’m going to blog once a week on Wednesdays (with the attitude that it’s okay if life gets in the way some of the weeks) and that I’m going to stick more closely to the topics that are at the core of my blog. That is to say, French Recipes, Tourism, and Faith. I’ll still include personal news (of course, how could I not?) and also book news. However, I’d like to make sure I’m giving my readers value by including those details in the course of posts that centre on the themes of A Lady in France.

I also made a decision that my author newsletter would have less personal information – I already have a blog, so a newsletter chock full of personal news ends up being twice the work. I will put an author newsletter out every Friday that will contain my book news, if there is any, and otherwise will feature book deals and new releases from other authors. Basically, it will inform those who are hungry for clean romance (especially), French memoirs, and books on faith of upcoming new releases and give them a chance to get some of those books for free or at a discount.

Of course, (knowing me, right?) I’m already breaking my own rule because my next blog on Wednesday will not be about travel, faith or food. It will be about the Regency era and what’s so special about that. I’ve been wanting to write on this topic for a long time. Since A Regrettable Proposal is set in the Regency era, I thought some of you might be curious as to what, exactly, Regency is. I also have a sample of my upcoming book to give to all my author newsletter subscribers, so if that interests you, be sure to sign up here before next Friday to get your copy.

As always, I’m so grateful for you, my readers. How kind of you to follow my little corner of the world.

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All Over the Place

The title is tongue-in-cheek, because although we are all over the place traveling, my thoughts are all over the place too. You’ll get a nice glimpse of that by the time you reach the end of my post.

I woke up at four A.M. today because we just returned yesterday morning and I’m still jet lagged. My kids are the opposite. I had to drag them out of bed at noon.

I sat in the living room and drank my triple espresso (oh, how I missed my European coffee while in the States) and watched the light play on the leaves outside the window. Then I just kind of sat still with God and enjoyed the peace.

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What I felt was gratitude. I was grateful to be home, grateful for routine again, grateful that we got to have such an adventure and that there will be another one coming up when we go to Switzerland. There are so many things to be grateful for!

This is our living room. We only had two days after Brittany before we left for the States, and now we have a quick turnaround again before we leave for the Alps.

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It’s messy and cluttered, but I’m grateful.

And, oh my… our garden! I’m hoping these will soon be the “before” pictures as we get our act together and completely resow the lawn. We came back and discovered there had been a heat wave and drought in the Paris area. Can you see all those weeds there on the sides? See how green they are? They weren’t impacted by the drought. They were just fine. I know there’s a spiritual lesson in there.

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On the other side of the wall is our old vegetable garden, which we no longer have time to care for. Plus, it makes no sense if we’re just going to be traveling all summer to try and grow anything. Matthieu had installed a watering system from our well while we were gone (for the baby apple tree), so all the weeds around there are doing just great.

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Those wooden boxes are supposed to be vegetable beds. Sigh.

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Overall, I’m happy to report the weeds on this side of the wall are doing even better. Greener and healthier.

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Speaking of walls, it’s that cement wall straight ahead that we want to tear down. It will require a lot of manpower since we probably don’t have the funds to hire anyone. I suppose I’ll also need to remind my husband that he’s 50 years old now.

On the upside, my kids are teens or nearly so, so we should be able to get some child labor out of them. (I’m laughing because my parents handed my brother, sister and me the old photos from our childhood and had us divide them up. There were ones of us shovelling upstate NY snow, traipsing to the farm each week, carrying in firewood for the woodburning stove, and remodelling the rooms of our house. There was lots of teasing our parents about child labor, teasing our kids about how good they had it, and reminiscing about the “good ole days”).

Here are two pictures of me at my very best.

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What can I say? Style just comes naturally to me.

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Just cracking myself up here.

So back to the garden. What I’d like to do is have one lawn not broken up by a wall, a couple fruit trees, and then I need to find a way to replant the lavender, irises, hydrangeas, peonies, rose bushes, and tulips – oh, and the herbs. Like, where the heck am I going to put all those things? I definitely want to keep them all, but they don’t grow very well near the laurel hedges. I love the idea of raised garden beds, especially if they’re made of old stone – may as well dream big, right? – but they will take some time and money to put up and my uprooted perennials will wither before it’s done.

Any ideas, o Master Gardeners? For a weed-free, gorgeous yard?

For our trip States-side, we flew into D.C. then drove to Charlottesville for the first night. (D.C. traffic is murderous). Then we drove to Blacksburg, VA. After that, we were with my dad in North Carolina. This is the view from his house.

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Then my mom and her husband rented a house for us near Jonesborough, TN so we could stay in the area.

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We then back-tracked to attend church in Asheville, NC, because we have friends there, before driving to Roanoke for another night. (I’m sure some of you are going to say – I live right near there! – to one of these places). In Roanoke, we went to the Texas Roadhouse and the kids were simply appalled at the peanut shells all over the floor. Ha. Innocents. They don’t know how to have fun.

Another as-good-as-it-gets photo:

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Then we spent another night close to Dulles with friends before flying home.

It’s kind of remarkable that you can visit family and friends so easily, isn’t it? A two-week whirlwind trip with these kinds of views:

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This is Tennessee, heading into North Carolina, I think. I always say how Switzerland is ridiculously beautiful, but America is not so shabby either.

While we were driving to all these places, I finished the rough draft of my next book, A Friend in Paris, and now I need to start the next series of drafts and beta-reads. I also plan to write a short Christmas Regency novelette (about 5 chapters) as a bonus for people who sign up for my author newsletter. No worries if you’re already signed up. You’ll get one too when it’s ready.

Otherwise, the latest and last bit of news to round up this all-over-the-place post is that I’ve been invited to be an affiliate for a company called Insidr with amazing resources for if you’re planning on traveling to France or Europe. (What being an affiliate means is that if you click the link and purchase their services from my website, I will get a commission. I rarely agree to be an affiliate, but this company is so suited to my readership I couldn’t turn it down). I’m going to devote a whole post to the topic but in case you happen to be traveling to Europe this week or something, you might want to check it out.

And that’s all. Are you well? Enjoying summer? Starting school already? We don’t go back until September.

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Photos from Brittany

It’s a whirlwind summer for us, which is a treat after a pretty difficult year. Our usual two weeks in Bretagne (Brittany) became one week because we had to squeeze in a trip to the US and our pre-teen and teen camps in Switzerland later this month. I was really bent on enjoying our time in Brittany because I’m not wired to stop and enjoy. I’m wired to run around anxiously, trying to prepare for the next thing to come. So I focused on having fun. And I did.

Here are some of the things we did. Went to our favorite beach (photo below), which is accessible only by a sandy climb under a shaded canopy of trees. We always picnic there so we can stay longer.

This is low tide so the water doesn’t look as blue. My nephews walked out to one of the rocks you can see to the left of the cliff, and my brother-in-law took a surfboard to make sure they were okay coming back because the tide had risen and they had to swim. They were okay, but tired. We reminisced about the time that same brother-in-law came to my rescue on a different beach when I had a toddler in each arm and a few kids hanging on to each shoulder (my own plus nieces and nephews) when the tide came in quicker than expected. He arrived minutes before my husband did and we got all the kids to safety.

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We hung out in the garden and ate good food. This was buffet style since it was Bastille Day. There were 18 of us, plus a baby. We’ve had up to 22 at one time.

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We spent time as a family with the siblings both arguing and playing, and the cousins just generally all getting along. I can’t show all the photos of cousins and my in-laws because they’re pretty private people. I wish I could show you some though – we got some amazing photos.

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Me and Will.

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We went to Dinard for ice-cream and the annual photos –

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– which get harder every year with all their silliness.

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Matthieu and I went on our usual date to Saint Malo.

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This year, dinner was at Au Coup de Canon

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Our time together (18 years married this year, 11 summers in Brittany)

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to watch the sunset (the large rock there holds Chateaubriand’s tomb).

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Many of these pictures are Matthieu’s with the Fuji camera he got for his 50th birthday. Not the one below though. That one was iPhone 6+ courtesy of yours truly. I love that man.

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We walked to the island straight ahead while it was low tide. See those steps and the rocks down there? We had to climb them carrying an injured victim. More on that in a minute.

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William was excited to catch baby crabs

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I was excited to see mussels that weren’t on a plate, sautéed in white wine and shallots.

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There was clay in the low tide. The kind of stuff you sell in a cosmetic jar because it’s so nutrient-rich.

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And that’s how the accident happened. Gabriel was walking in the clay, squelching with each step. And there is this type of sea life called “couteaux”, which (accurately) means “knife.” Here‘s what it looks like in recipe format. Anyway, there were a bunch of couteaux in the clay and Gabriel cut his foot.

It was a little frightening because with each step, blood poured out of the sandals (he’d thrown on hastily – a tad late). Matthieu (50) and his youngest brother (40) had to take turns carrying him, and at age 12 and nearly as tall as me, the kid was not light.

Instead of walking back to our home beach as planned (there in the distance)

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we cut across to where the cars were parked.

(Here is Gabriel and some of the cousins before the unfortunate event occurred, and that’s our home beach in the distance).

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Still. Even to the car, it was far. And all this with the threat of the tide coming back in. It gave me a good opportunity to trust God and to teach my traumatised son to do the same.

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We then had to climb over the rocks and up the stairs of the cliff carrying a 100+ pound kid. God was good though. We made it, got the foot cleaned up, and decided it didn’t need stitches. (After hearing that the hospital wait would be 4-5 hours).

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That night we had our usual performances from all the nieces and nephews, followed by a “everybody join in” family dance. And then we went to the fireworks for the 14th.

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Can you see that island there in the center? That’s where we were when Gabriel cut his foot. It’s high tide now. But you can see it’s pretty far.

After the fireworks, we had one more night in Bretagne before rushing home the next day to watch the World Cup.

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And, you know, that… Well, it was pretty darn exciting.

Allez les Bleus!

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I hope you all are having a fantastic summer. I’ll be back with photos from our trip to the States, and eventually Switzerland.

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Savory Deviled Eggs

I got my original deviled eggs recipe from the old Joy of Cooking cookbook. When that one wore to pieces, and I got a new version for Christmas, I saw they didn’t have that same recipe and was disappointed. I cobbled together a replacement using all the adaptations I had been making from before and am now putting this recipe on my blog so I have it for future reference.

And it’s so that you’ll have it too. It’s all for you.

Of course, these are really stuffed eggs because deviled eggs have Tobasco sauce in them and these don’t. In French, deviled eggs are called oeufs mimosa. Mimosa eggs. In our house, they’re just called très bon.

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Take 12 eggs, because these are the kinds of things you make for a party. Take them out of the refrigerator an hour before so they’re less likely to crack. Did you know that in France the eggs in the supermarket are not refrigerated? (I do put them in when I get them home, unless there’s not enough room, in which case they stay out for another day or two). Milk is not refrigerated either until it’s opened. That’s because it’s pasteurised and hermetically sealed.

Anyway. Bring the water to a boil and put the eggs in and cook them for 10 minutes. Put them in cold water to make peeling them easier.

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Cut in half and remove the yolks from each half.

You’ll want to sauté a small shallot in butter to soften it like so.

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Add the shallots to the egg yolks and then add the rest of the ingredients: 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon cider vinegar, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, 1/4 teaspoon salt.

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Blend it with an immersion blender (it’s really the most effective). There are still little shallot lumps, but the texture is quite uniform.

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Then either spoon it into the egg whites or use a piping bag with a large tip.

And that’s it. Sprinkle paprika, not only for decoration, but because it adds flavour. When a troop of Hungarian teens stayed with us, they brought paprika, both spicy and regular. I assure you, paprika has a taste.

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Incidentally, they also told me the flamingoes in the Budapest zoo were losing their pink color because they didn’t have those pink crabs to eat and so the zookeepers added paprika to their food. And lo and behold – they turned pink again. (Don’t shoot the messenger, dear animal lover. I’m just saying what they did).

Savory Deviled Eggs   Print Prep time 20 mins Cook time 20 mins Total time 40 mins   Serves: 12-18 Ingredients 12 eggs 1 small shallot, cooked in a tablespoon of butter ½ cup mayonnaise 1 teaspoon cider vinegar 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard ¼ teaspoon salt paprika for garnish Instructions Bring water to the boil and cook the eggs for 10 minutes. Put the eggs in cold water to cool, then peel them. Cut the eggs in half and remove yolks. Mince the shallot and sauté in butter until brown. Combine the yolks, shallot, mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, and salt and blend with an immersion blender. Put the yolk mix in a piping bag and pipe or spoon into egg shells. Sprinkle with paprika and store in refrigerator. 3.5.3251

This is a really savoury version of deviled eggs, but it blends well with the bland egg white. There are never any left in our house.

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I’ve not been around a lot this month, but I’ve been doing pretty great, actually. Feeling much better than I have since last fall (it’s been a hard year). We’re leaving soon for Bretagne, then the US, then Switzerland, with only a few days in between each trip. I plan to work on my book in Brittany and get as much of it done as possible. I’ll want to spend time at the beach with family, of course, but it’s so rare to get uninterrupted time away from everything. I want to make the best use of this time and finish my book.

The school year is almost over. (It is over for my junior high kids), but William is still trudging along to school each day. The concerts and festivals and dinners and outings are over. PHEW! Let me just leave you with this photo of Juliet, o gorgeous daughter of mine, who was given a solo in Peter Pan as John.

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I’ll post pictures from our vacation, not with any great regularity, but in good faith.

Happy Fourth of July!

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Summer Snippets

June has rodeoed on by and I’m feeling much better and more sane than I did at the beginning of the month, although the pressure and endless to-dos have only gotten worse as the end of school draws near. Those of you in America are done, I think, but you remember what it’s like, right?

As promised, the first thing I did on my blogging hiatus was to clean up my subscriber list to be compliant with GDPR laws.** And then I worked on tidying up my existing books before my new ones come out this fall and early next year.

If you’d like to receive my author newsletter, which contains book-related news, including sneak peeks and book deals, you can sign up by clicking here. I’m putting a newsletter out tomorrow, and besides my own book discounts listed below, I’m featuring four other free or discounted books, including copies of Jaima Fixsen’s new release. It’s a dark thriller. She’s one of my favorite historical authors, and this one takes place in Austria in 1814 (I think). I aim to send a newsletter out once a month, and the book deals are for clean romance – contemporary and historical – and also memoirs and books about France.

After cleaning up my subscriber lists, I finished reviewing the French translation for my memoir to be published this fall. I also decided it was time to rebrand and re-edit my romance novel. The old title, The Viscount of Maisons-Laffitte, was not pronounceable to many, and it didn’t clue readers as to what genre it was. My romance is now called A Noble Affair, and if you haven’t read it and would like to, it’s free on promotion through Friday.

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Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada

I’m halfway done with a new contemporary romance, and there’s a sneak preview of it in the newsletter. With all this work on my old titles to get them ready before the new ones come out, I decided to mark down my memoir, Stars Upside Down, to $.99 for a week (down from $4.99), if you – or someone you know – are interested in reading it.

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Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada

Enough book talk! I promise you, my head is full of it, and I think of little else. But kids need to be fed and hugged (and husbands too), and blogs need to be written.

Otherwise, school year-end is kicking my butt. There are swim club parties and cello concerts and solfège concerts and trumpet concerts and trumpet dinners and trumpet lunches and trumpet rehearsals and more trumpet concerts (the trumpet teacher is very enthusiastic). There are also dance recitals and gifts to buy for teachers and doctors appointments and the children’s ministry for church to organise for next year’s classes and friends visiting. Oooh boy!

But! I’m better in spirits, so that makes the world beautiful, and not the contrary, indifferent thing it was before.

A week ago, I took the train into London to attend a writing conference, which was amazing. It was nice to do something just for me and my writing. I got to see an old friend while I was there, as well. I’d like to go back soon to do a Regency walk through London, visiting some of the places that are still around from 1812.

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On Saturday night, we went to a picnic organised by the town hall. I love these picnics by the Seine every year. There’s a convivial, family atmosphere, set in a serene location.

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We set aside time as a family just to have fun and relax.

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(Don’t my kids look so big? They’re almost as tall as Matthieu!)

We met two other families there so our kids got to hang out all night with their friends while the parents chatted. The town finished the evening with a fireworks display, set to the music of Johnny Hallyday, who died a few months ago. Everyone sang along, and some were in tears because they grew up with his songs.

I kept trying to get a photo of the old-fashioned lamp, which you could make out every time it was lit up by the fireworks. I finally got this one.

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But here’s a much cooler picture of the fireworks, courtesy of my husband. This is using the camera he bought with his 50th birthday money, for which all our friends contributed. Isn’t he an amazing photographer?

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Our house and garden are a disaster. Clean? Who has time to clean? Or pull up weeks for that matter? But because we’ve sort of created a self-sustaining, perennial garden, we get treats like these hydrangeas (which used to be blue but turned pink with our soil), and they spring up with no work at all!

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We also have kiwis growing like crazy. We’ve never had so many before. I hope they’re sweet.

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We’re going to have a busy summer between Brittany, the US, and Switzerland. But even with all that moving around, I suspect I’ll be less busy on vacation than I am right now. Maybe I’ll even have a chance to, not only finish my book, but have some fun on the way.

How is your summer going?

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** Those of you who are receiving this post by email are (hopefully) doing so because you confirmed your subscription. If, for any reason, you are receiving the post by accident and don’t wish to be subscribed, there is an unsubscribe button at the bottom of the email.

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Mostly Book – and Some Blog – News

Hey folks. Well. I’ve once again been entangled in the technical details of running two websites and newsletters – the second being my author site – and it’s enough to turn me into a quivering mass of nerves at the end of the day. But I will not be vanquished. I’m still working on solving RSS feed issues so that my blog subscribers will actually get my blog posts via email. I’m also working on becoming GDPR-compliant so if you’re one of my blog subscribers you’ll be getting an email tomorrow asking you to reconfirm that you still want to get emails from me.

But who cares about all that right? Who wants to read a blog post about technical problems from a non-tech blogger? No one. So please keep your fingers crossed for me that I can solve all the issues and stay compliant with caring for your personal information (name and email address) according to EU laws.

And if you are getting this post by email (that means yay! it worked!) you’ve only missed one post since I sent you the recent newsletter, and it’s On Jesus and Grief.

Today I’m writing to tell you about some good news. My Regency novel, which I’ve been talking about for, oh… has it been two years now? has been accepted for publishing by Cedar Fort Publishing & Media and will be released in March of 2019.

You know what’s so exciting about having my book published by Cedar Fort (besides the thrill of someone finally saying they like it?). It’s that they publish one of my hero Regency writers – Carla Kelly. Just pick up a copy of Miss Grimsley’s Oxford Career and you’ll see what I mean. Her books are awesome. So I’ll be rubbing elbows with some incredible authors.

Would you like to see what it’s about? Stay tuned for …

A Regrettable Proposal

Eleanor Daventry has come into money, but the inheritance comes with a condition: she must marry to have it. Steadfast Eleanor would rather be a schoolmistress than take a husband she doesn’t love.

Stratford Tunstall has just discovered his predecessor willed the estate’s unentailed land to Miss Daventry. Although cynical regarding love, the man recognizes a practical solution when he sees one. He and Miss Daventry must marry, and Stratford wastes no time in pressing his suit. While drunk.

Eleanor rejects both Stratford and his proposal and flees to London, hoping never to see him again. But she doesn’t realize her best friend has known Stratford from childhood, and the two houses are inseparable.

Now thrown together constantly, Eleanor admires Stratford’s masterful apologies, never mind how often he must deliver them. Stratford concedes that, against all his predictions, Eleanor enjoys success with the ton. How fortunate. Now, if only her suitors didn’t feel the need to apply to him for advice.

When combined forces threaten Eleanor’s reputation, Stratford must decide whether she is worth fighting for. And Eleanor must be convinced his coming to her rescue is a deed inspired by love

The cover is almost finalised and you’ll get a sneak peek as soon as it is.

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In other exciting news, my 2014 memoir Stars Upside Down – a memoir of travel, grief and an incandescent God – is still getting some attention. It was chosen for a Publisher’s Weekly review, but I’m not sure when that will come out, or even if it’s guaranteed. I just know it went through two rounds of cuts before getting chosen, so that in itself is an honor. And I now have over 200 reviews on Amazon. Maybe that’s not huge compared to other books, but it still feels like a big deal to an indie author like me.

But the real exciting news is that my memoir will be published in French in September of this year. I’ve been working with a truly amazing translator for the past year. We have friends in common so she’s not a complete unknown to me but what she is is highly skilled. The French title is:

UN OCEAN D’ETOILES – Voyages, deuils, et rencontre avec un Dieu incandescent

And if you read French, here is an excerpt from Chapter One:

J’étais vouée à m’enraciner en France. Je sais cela maintenant, même si je ne le savais pas alors, au moment où j’ai fait ce rêve. Cette voie m’était prédestinée, aussi sûrement que l’étaient mes cheveux bruns, mes yeux verts et mes formes généreuses sur ma fine ossature. Mon chemin était tracé, aussi sûrement que le vôtre l’était, même s’il ne s’agissait que d’une promesse chuchotée au creux d’un rêve lointain.

Bien sûr, ce n’est qu’aujourd’hui, à mi-parcours, que tout commence à composer une image intelligible : les fils colorés de ma personnalité se sont entremêlés, les événements presque oubliés se sont liés en minuscules nœuds de soie, formant petit à petit une tapisserie, presque à mon insu.

Beautiful, isn’t it? She’s a genius with words and I love how she transposes mine. I’ve arranged to have her translate my Regency as well, but not until 2020.

I have to say that I’m way more nervous to have the people in my small French town read my memoir than I was when I first put it out in English. I never felt self-conscious about my memoir – it’s who I am, for better or for worse. But in my town, people know me and they know my kids. And I am afraid of backlash. Just how French is all that vulnerability anyway? Gulp. I’m not sure. I’m praying for good to come out of it and not the rejection I fear.

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As for future writing projects, I’m really excited to continue with the sequel to A Regrettable Proposal. I have four books planned in all. This next one is the story of one of the earl’s twin sisters, and she’s the wittier one of the two so it’s a lot of fun to write. However, since it’s going to be awhile before the first one comes out, I decided to write another contemporary romance set in Paris. (A modern romance won’t pose any potential conflict of interest to my publishing contract). I’m almost halfway done with writing it and I really hope to have it published by the end of the year. I don’t want the release date to be too close to the Regency.

So that’s where the blog news comes in. I’m not going to try to keep any sort of blog schedule until I finish the rough draft of my contemporary romance. To my dismay, I’ve learned in recent months that I’m completely ineffective when I try to produce something worth reading in too many places. It steals my joy. My tourist posts usually take at least a full day of research and writing, and my faith posts take just as long. And as much as I love writing them, the wide variety of topics (faith, recipes, France, fictional stories, not to mention a French translation) is only possible when there is no pressure and no deadlines. This might possibly mean a month with no posts at all. Or, they might be light, no-pressure posts like this one.

Even if there’s a little pause in blog activity, I’m still here, of course, and so grateful you’re still reading my blogs and books after all these years.

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On Jesus and Grief

Earlier this week my college roommate and sorority sister was hit by a driverless truck that had rolled down a hill, killing her and her dog instantly. Barb was a wife, a mom to two teenagers, friend to many, and a beloved member of the community.

I live far away, and although she and her husband visited us while in France a few years ago, we had mostly kept in touch through Facebook. In my own life, I wouldn’t call it loss so much as an oppressive awareness of the hole she leaves behind in her circle of friends and family. The real loss, of course, must be borne by those who are closer – that searing pain, that stunning blow that leaves a residual stupor of grief that will not fade any time soon.

There was something so senseless in the event. Grief is never easy, but when something so random occurs to rip someone out of this life, it brings up the age-old question, “How could God let this happen?” and “Where was He?” I processed my own thoughts on grief in my memoir, Stars Upside Down and have come to the conclusion that God is present in our suffering, that he doesn’t willingly bring grief to mankind, and that if there’s any sense to be had it’s that His focus is always on eternity and getting us all there, not a promised continuance of our life on earth.

While on earth, Jesus confronted death five times that we know about from the scriptures. Two times he surrendered to God’s perfect will and allowed the death to occur though it left many people grieving. Three times he surrendered to God’s perfect will and brought about a miracle – a resurrection of the dead. In each case, there is plenty of … well, encouragement might not be the best word when talking about grief, but let’s just say plenty of oxygen to draw from the five cases. Oxygen and hope we need to keep on drawing breath when staggered by grief.

The conclusion I drew from these examples? God is soothing. God is faithful. God is compassionate. God is sovereign. God is love.

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God is soothing.

Jesus’ first encounter with death is when John the Baptist (the prophet, but also his cousin) is beheaded, and the full story is found in Matthew 14:1-12. I’m continuing with vs 13.

When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. (vs 13-14)

We see that when Jesus first hears the news, he wants to go off by himself and pray, but he has compassion on the crowds and chooses to meet their needs first, healing them and feeding them. It was not until he had fed the five-thousand and sent his disciples away by boat that he was able to commune with God. Perhaps it was the loss of his cousin that brought out this desire to be alone with God. Perhaps it was the precursor to his own death, the fact that it was where he, himself, was headed. In either case, he went to God.

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” (Vs 22-27)

This part about Jesus walking on water is not technically about grief or death, but I think it’s related since it happened right afterwards. Water is also symbolic of death and rebirth, and Jesus crossed over as if it were firm ground.

Jesus drew from the strength of his intimacy with God to calm the fears of his disciples, to soothe them. He has the strength to bear our grief. “Don’t be afraid,” is a message we hear often when Jesus is confronting death. Don’t be afraid because you dread the loss or the unknown, and don’t be afraid because you see my power, Jesus reassures us. “Take courage. It is I.”

God is faithful.

The second encounter is when Jesus raised Jairus’s daughter from the dead. The story begins in Mark 5:21-24, and I want to focus on the resurrection part in vs 35-43.

While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”

Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him.

After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Again he tells them, “Don’t be afraid, just believe.” In this event, Jesus is showing what our resurrection from the dead will look like. He promises eternal life to those who repent and believe, and reminds us we can trust him. In a way, every time we fall asleep and wake up again, we’re getting a taste of the resurrection to come and we’re seeing God’s faithfulness in being able bring it about.

Jesus tells the girl to get up, and she does. He tells them to give her something to eat because, you know, resurrection is not some ethereal floating on the clouds kind of thing. It’s a banquet. It’s a celebration. It’s a garden in the cool of day. It’s a promise. And it’s a promise we can rely on because God is faithful.

God is compassionate.

The widow of Nain is a short story in the Bible, easy to overlook. But it’s where Jesus performed another resurrection. (Luke 7:11-16)

Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”

Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.”

God has always been about helping his people. In Jesus’s day, people got to see the miracle of resurrection performed before their very eyes. Did you know that when Jesus was crucified, many holy people were resurrected? Look here in Matthew 27:50-51:

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

Talk about complete shock! People’s loved ones broke out of the tombs and went calling! In our day, we have to deal with grief and wait – sometimes a long wait for our own encounter with God one day. We have to wait to see our loved ones again, and I’m going to borrow from the next encounter (Lazarus) in order to explain why:

Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” (John 11:41-42)

In Jesus’ day, there were plenty of miracles because it was needed to establish his divine authority. Today (although we would like to see miracles) we don’t need to see a miracle to have faith. There are miracles – they do exist, but God has given us His Word. That’s where our faith comes from, and it’s enough.

God is compassionate. Look at how Jesus’ heart went out to the widow. To the others, he said, “Don’t be afraid. Just believe.” To her, he said, “Don’t cry.” I think it was because he knew she was beyond faith. What could she have faith in? Her husband and son were dead and she was alone in the world. But Jesus was about to do something incredible and even if it’s not something as obvious as raising our loved ones from the dead back to this earthly life, whatever he’s doing in our lives – even through tremendous loss – is incredible, and it’s filled with compassion.

God is sovereign.

Lazarus is the most famous of resurrection stories in the Bible, apart from Jesus’ own resurrection. The entire story is in John 11:1-44, and I’ll be taking excerpts from there. Jesus waited two days before going to Lazarus, though he knew he would die.

“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

He’s telling her, Martha, a general belief in a resurrection one day is not good enough. She needed – and we need – to have faith in Jesus and his sovereignty when it comes to death and resurrection. That he already paved the way from death to life – he already died and was raised to life – and he will bring us to eternal life too. We can trust him.

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

Jesus wept.

Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

Jesus knew he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead, but he still cried with them. He cried because they were in pain. Jesus may know beforehand how God’s glory will manifest itself in our lives and in the lives of our loved ones, but he doesn’t hold the knowledge to his chest and offer some platitudes as to why this will be good for us later, and how we only need to bear it now. He enters into our feelings. He feels what we feel as we grieve.

Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

When we truly understand the deep love God has for us, the compassion he feels for us when we suffer, the fact that there’s a master plan, we’re better able to accept his sovereignty because we know he is good and everything he does is good.

But how can we really believe it when the grief is so awful? The answer is in Jesus’ own death and resurrection.

God is love.

There is no greater love that God could show us than by sending his own Son to die in our place so we could have an eternal relationship with him. How did Jesus face his own death? With tears, and an agony so great he sweat blood. He knows what we are feeling. He lived it. In Luke 22:41-44

He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

Yes, it was hard. Loss over his own life and his own relationship with God the moment he took on our sins was hard.  But this is where Jesus makes sense of death. This is where God shows he’s not an ambivalent bystander to the grief we face all the time. God also suffered grief when he allowed us to kill his Son.

When Jesus talked about his own death, he told us why it was to be in John 12:32:

“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

His death had a purpose and it was to bring all of us to him, no matter our race, education, social status, or past sins. Our death has a purpose too, and it’s to exchange a faulty, earthly body for a perfect, celestial one. But where will we find ourselves after death? Jesus also told us what to expect after death, and he reassures us not to be afraid. John 14:1-4

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Finally, he told us how to face death.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

This is probably one of my favorite scriptures in the whole Bible. It was right before his death and he knew he’d be in agony while he prayed. He knew he’d be slapped, flogged and spat upon, and die a painful death. He knew even God would turn his face away from him the moment he took on our sins. He knew it, but the faith and divine love that was so perfectly woven throughout him – as inseparable from his being as our DNA is to our earthly bodies – this faith and love spilled out of him as he proclaimed, Take heart! Be cheerful. I have overcome the world.

Jesus overcame the world for us. God knows our suffering and he feels it with us. He’s with us. He loves us. He has a plan for salvation. And he will not abandon us when we’re rocked with grief.

He will not abandon us ever.

The post On Jesus and Grief appeared first on A Lady In France.

Picturesque, Medieval Provins

The medieval city of Provins is located in the Champagne region. The city seems to have existed since before the first century AD, but it was not until the 9th century that Charlemagne sent his missi dominici (his royal representatives: the Count of Paris and the Abbé of Saint-Denis) to strengthen it as a military stronghold. That’s when they built the wall.

Provins is pronounced without the ns at the end. You say pro-veh and the eh part is as if you’re saying something’s only so-so. You know – it’s eh. With a shrug of the shoulders. Pro-veh.

In Provins, you can participate in medieval festivals. There’s the eagle and falcon show, an equestrian performance, a medieval banquet, and one on waging war in the Middle Ages (only more fun).

We, however, went on a quiet day. Not particularly sunny and warm. No festivals planned. No medieval shows. In fact, at times, it seemed as if no one was there at all.

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You see these walls?

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I’m going to try and give you a glimpse as to how thick they are (only it doesn’t do it justice) because you can actually climb through the wall!

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which is just what we did. It’s thick, right?

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Or you can just walk through the gate like normal people do.

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This (photo above)is called the Jouy gate and it’s from the 13th century. It used to have a drawbridge. Easy to imagine it with one, isn’t it?

Provins is surrounded by fields

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and there is even a farm within the walls that supposedly tends to all those fields on the outside.

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Though there’s no big city nearby, you can still access Provins by train. Information here is in English.

The buildings and houses are old. This one, for instance, used to be a hospital in 1177: The Hospital of the Holy Ghost, founded by Henry the Liberal, Count of Champagne. This former 3-story building allowed three days’ accommodation to the pilgrims, elderly, and children. In 1241 it was run by a hospital order founded by Guy de Montpellier, and was placed under the protection of the Holy Spirit. A fire in the 17th century destroyed everything but the underground vault. It was restored in 1970.

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Some of these old houses look their age with sagging roofs.

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and moss growing on the roof tiles.

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And some of them are quite stately and inviting.

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The streets were quiet enough that Juliet was able to have some fun.

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And the boys had their fun too.

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Gabriel, get out of the middle of the road!

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(William is showing how low the doors were because people were so much shorter when the city was built.)

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Besides lunch and gelato, you can visit the church (Saint-Quiriace Collegiate Church), built in the 12th century and which once boasted the presence of Jeanne d’Arc. (Joan of Arc) It was never finished due to the financial difficulties the French kingdom faced under Phillipe le Bel.

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There’s also The Caesar Tower, which served as a watchtower and prison.

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and the Romanesque House (Museum of Provins), the Tithe Barn, the Underground Galleries … none of which we saw. In fact we didn’t go inside a single exhibit or see a single show. We’re such bad tourists.

We just ate lunch and walked around the residential and commercial parts of the city …

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and visited Picturesque medieval Provins.

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Hey friends, first of all, I wanted to tell you that should you go to Provins, I highly urge you to take part in at least one of the performances that are ongoing if you can’t actually get there on a medieval festival itself. Here is the website with all the information in English. We loved our visit, but I do think it would have been enhanced with a falcon show at the very least.

I also want to take a sec to address my email subscribers. (And if you’re not one yet, you can do so by signing up on the right sidebar where it says, “Sign up Here!”). I’ll be sending out a newsletter soon to make sure I’m compliant with the new European Data Privacy Regulations, so look out for that. I also realised there has been a problem with my blog feed in my email service provider, and you haven’t received the last four posts. I’ll have links to the ones you missed in the newsletter as well. I’ve been working on having that fixed, which is also why there hasn’t been a new post in a couple weeks, but hopefully now everything is in working order.

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