Praying in French

One of the difficult things of not teaching this fall is that I don't get to speak French as much on a day-to-day basis. "Comment est-ce que je peux rester courante avec mon francais si je ne suis plus prof de francais?" (How can I stay fluent in French if I'm no longer a teacher?).

French speaking clubs in the South Jersey Shore area - none yet exist down here. I was a part of a French Meetup group that still meets in Highland Park, but driving the hour and spending gas to get there - non, merci.

But wait. Something that I do have are a collection of magazines published in France called "Bien-Dire". For intermediate to advanced speakers, these magazines were something I would read during the school year to stay sharp on current events in France and on my vocabulary. They also came with a CD so I could listen to the articles while I was driving in my car and practice my pronunciation and intonation that way. (After all, French is 20% vocabulary and 80% diction. Even if you don't know every word, if you can just sound French, you'll be better off when visiting France).

When I study and practice my French using these magazines, I normally would make a list of some key words that I wanted to memorize and use - one time just for fun I sent an email to my missions team leaders using the words I had just practiced. (nerd!) But just studying French on my own at night is not nearly as fun as conversing in it with someone. This I miss. But God gave me such a great idea last night - why not use the list of words I came up with from the magazine and then use those words in my prayers? That is, when I talk to Him? It's like as if God was saying "Hey, you can talk to me, you know. I know French, too."

So last night I took my list of words - words and phrases like "notamment", "prendre de recul", "atteindre" - and applied them when talking to God about how I was feeling about certain things going on right now in my life and with other people. I had my French New Testament next to me and my Le Robert Micro French-French dictionary just in case I needed to look up a word quickly if I wasn't sure what I was saying was correct.

Not only was it freeing and satisfying for me to speak to my Lord in French, but it actually felt quite natural. It wasn't as difficult as one might think it would be. Maybe this is because I just love the language so much and because God has given me a gift for languages. Maybe it's because this is yet another way He is preparing me for my new vocation as a missionary. Whatever the case, it was just great praying to the Lord last night and this morning in French. I know that the love Jesus has for mankind transcends language and culture. It was so good to just intercede and pray for those whom I care very much about in the French language. It was such a satisfying and fitting way to not only to practice my French, but also spend time with my Lord. The best part is that I knew that even if I made mistakes in my grammar, it didn't matter because God would understand me no matter what...

Mon Dieu, mon Seigneur, Papa qui est au Paradis...comment je t'aime, comment je t'adore...merci pour me donner l'idee de communiquer avec toi en francais...merci, merci, merci pour me donner un moyen a pratiquer cette langue. tu es le meilleur.

1 more week before my 1st Triathlon...

Hey folks! Here is how training has been going for the past 2 weeks for my Triathlon coming up on 9/28 (5th Annual Treasure Island Sprint Triathlon @ Pt. Pleasant) :

• My endurance grows - I find the brick workouts not as bad, and my swimming workouts are getting longer. I don't know if this is because the weather is getting cooler and therefore I'm not straining as much under a hot sun. It's too bad that I only started training for this event 5 weeks ago. I would be in even better shape if I hadn't waited to do this triathlon towards the end of the season.
  
• Eating healthy is hard- i.e. staying away from the processed foods is not as easy after the first two weeks. I haven't lost as much weight as I would have liked to, but it takes so much discipline which I don't have yet! But lifting has gotten me stronger and a bit leaner.
  
• For the past two weeks - I lift weights 2x/week and swim 2-3x/week (session of 1200meter freestyle), run 2-3x/week and bike twice a week. Either I bike outside 10 miles or do it at the gym.
  
• Tried swimming in the Manasquan River with the Jersey Shore Triathlon Club. This was difficult! We swam in the early evening when the tide was coming in. I found myself straining against the current. I pray that on 9/28 for the Treasure Island Spring Triathlon, the tide will be in our favor for the majority of the swim.
  
• Bought my first triathlon wetsuit - touching the material of the suit reminds me for some reason of the Batsuit. It's thick and black and smells of rubber. Putting it on is a workout in and of itself because the suit is tight, like wearing a 2nd skin. But I'll need a wetsuit to help me stay buoyant and warm in the colder water.
  

My goal is to finish the tri in 1h40m.

Triathlon Training, Weeks 2 and 3

Triathlon training progresses...


I don't want to bore you with the details of every workout from the past two weeks, but some of the highlights have been that

• I enjoy lifting weights. Because of my petite frame (notice I didn't say slender, just petite!), I tend to gain muscle mass faster than women with longer arms and legs. (Not that this is necessarily a good thing, I'm just saying that I gain muscle mass faster. i.e. I can look "big" and "bulk up" easily when I increase my weights, which for many women is undesirable).
  
• I've done two "brick workouts"...and almost felt like I was going to die afterwards. (Ok, so I'm exaggerating a bit). These are workouts where you bike and then do running immediately afterwards. In a triathlon, the order of disciplines is usually 1) swim, then 2) bike, then 3) run. These workouts are called "bricks" because this is how your legs feel as you transition from bike to run. One thing I learned is that next time I'm going to have to hydrate better and drink more water during my bike time and eat something beforehand. It's amazing how much of a calorie deficit you can get if you don't eat often enough!
  
• Decided to take a few swim lessons in the pool to work on my stroke. Swimming's my weakest discipline of the three.
  

I'm still feeling good (no injuries or burnout - want to avoid that). I think it's because I've made the decision that I'm not going to make the quality of my life depend on how I do in this event. :)

Back in Jersey

I spent the last 3 days in Kansas City, MO, where headquarters for my missions organization, Avant Ministries is located. It was a great 3 days. The reason why I went there was to help two of my missions teammates (Jonathan and Sarah) with a big fundraiser event that their church hosted for them. It was a blessing to serve in this way. Another couple on our team (Mark and Jill) drove down from Minnesota to also be there for Jon and Sarah. It was good for Sarah and Jon's church to see how unified we are as a team.
Being in KC also allowed me to also take care of some administrative things at the Avant home office as well as get some feedback on projects and ideas that I had put on the backburner. After many weeks of conference calls on Skype, it was easier to do this face-to-face, rather than over the phone. Overall, it was just an encouragement for me to just be with at Avant with my team, and a lot of fun. This "bonding time" is important if we're going to work well together for 5 years in Paris, n'est-ce pas? :)