Swiss Day

Wednesday was Swiss Day and we went up the mountain to Villars for some festival fun and hosted some friends (and a couple girls we didn't know before who stopped by L'abri) for a BBQ in the evening.  

But, the highlight was the fireworks.  After the boys were in bed Jim and I stood on our upstairs balcony and could see fireworks all through the valley below and on the mountains all around us.  For the Villars fireworks we had an amazing view and could watch smaller bursts all through the valley.  I've never seen anything quite like it! 

Life in Switzerland Means...

:: Lots of wildflower picking

:: Views like this

:: Meals of Bread and Cheese

:: Lots of Yummy chocolate

:: Wonderful hikes ::

:: your neighbors use sheep to cut their grass because the yard is so steep ::

:: Delicious Milk ::

:: The Sound of Cow Bells ::

Yes, life in Switzerland means that beauty and yumminess are abundant!

Sunday at L'Abri

Sundays are begun with a delicious community breakfast.  Often there are orange rolls or sweedish coffee bread - YUM!  At eleven o'clock there is a chapel service of sorts - mostly a Bible lecture.   Jim has taught Sunday morning a couple times since we've been here.  We were doing godly play with the boys in the basement of Farrel house (where the bible study is) before Jim broke his leg.

Sunday afternoons are off and High Tea (dinner) isn't until seven.  It is a quiet day and we've worked hard to keep it a somewhat restful day.

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Last Sunday was the final day of term (the students had to leave by Monday morning).  So High Tea was moved to lunchtime and was followed by a talent show.  Jonah signed up to read a poem and I was fully prepared to encourage him, but also to support him if he backed out.  I mean doing something in front of thirty adults is a big deal right?!  But, when it was his turn he marched right up there, explained in great detail where the poem was from (the book Dinotopia) and went on to say it was okay if they didn't understand it all.  "Even I don't understand it all.  There is this phrase "Breath deep, seek peace." [which is the refrain of the poem] and I don't know what it means, but I think it is about friendship."  He then read the poem with expression looking out at his audience with total confidence.  Oh, the mama pride!  I may have even had a tear in my eye by the end.  Goodness these little ones steal your heart!

Saturday at L'Abri

I'm writing about a week at L'Abri.  One day at a time.

Saturday.

The days here are certainly rhythmic.  Work, Study and lunch in between.  To be honest I can't remember exactly what happened last Saturday.  I know we caught a lizard that day (because I have a photo) and I know I went to lunch at Bellevue (because I do that every Saturday).  A student or two often come over for coffee after lunch on Saturday and Tuesday.  I think last Saturday a couple students came over to talk to Jim about theology and art.  They discussed Jeremy Begbie's work (if you want to have an overview of art and theology his book Voicing Creation's Praise is a great one to read) and discussed the idea of seeing the artist as prophet (there are pluses and minuses to this approach I think). We've particularly enjoyed talking to students about the things we love - art, counseling, christian education and love asking the question together of "What does it mean to live in the Kingdom of God on a daily basis?"

We had dinner at home and ended up on the balcony after the boys were in bed.  Watching the sun set and pink slowly creep across the mountains.  Sometimes it seems impossible that we would be in this place.  Just as the beauty of the alps continues to astonish me, the fit of this ministry to all we love and hope to share with others is so clear and energizing it is shaping our dreams for the future (not that I know exactly what or where that means).   It has been so good to be here for a whole term.  I've discovered that this place is what we imagined it to be, a place of hospitality, learning and christian community.  On the other hand, I've also discovered (as I would have expected to) that this place is imperfect and challenging at times too.  Yet, there is a deep honesty running through this place which allows imperfection, which is a very good thing (even if it isn't always comfortable).
 

Friday at L'Abri

Friday (Last week) Jim and I had a someone watch the boys while we both went to a formal lunch.  It was nice to take part in a discussion together.  The question that a student raised was about church.  And, of course, with a broad question, more questions arose than were answered.   What is church? Is the Christian church an institution or are there other ways of doing church? Why do we go to church? What is the church for?  Does 'efficiancy' sometimes get in the way of what we want to accomplish at church?   Should we model our church after the early church? Is the mega-church an inherently flawed model?  Why do we have doctrines and denominations? What should our goals for church be?... you get the picture!  It was a fun discussion leading to so many thoughts.

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And, as for the rest of the day... I give it to you in pictures.

Bellevue Lounge

Bellevue Community Dining Room

The boys - being perfect gentlemen at dinner :o)

Thursday at L'abri (and our Fairy House)

Desperately trying to create a picture of life at L'Abri.  Trying to explain why we think it is a brilliant model of formational and educational ministry...  I'm writing through our last week here.  

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Thursday is the student's day off.   We adventured on these days earlier in the term, but now, with Jim's ankle we contentedly stay home.

Today, I spend a large piece of the morning gardening.  Jim worked on his lecture some in the afternoon.  We shared icecream sundays outside in the afternoon.  A salad of fresh greens accompanies a meal of left overs.  Thursday is slow and good.  

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A Thursday Project from a few weeks ago... our Fairy House.

I took this photo because real estate (even the fairy kind) is all about location, but unfortunately the alps are pretty washed out in the background.

Wednesday at L'abri

We wake up a lot later than I mean to on Wednesday.  I rush through the morning routine.  I pop Isaac on my back and go for a student work shift helping to make a lunch at a worker's home.  When I arrive a couple students are vacuuming and dusting.  We then get to work on preparing a lunch of spanakopita, tzaziki, and a tray of basil tomatoes.  Isaac naps on my back most of the time.  We break for tea half-way through the morning and chat about a handful of things, among them the meaning of friendship.  The conversations leads me to ponder necessity of mutuality in a true friendship throughout the day.  We finish meal prep and as the students arrive I hike back up the mountain to our house where I grab some lunch and help to set up a lemonade stand.  

Jim goes to Bellevue where he is lecturing on Incarnation and Andy Goldsworthy's Creative Process.  I hang out under the apple tree's shade with Isaac while Jonah and Rowan sell Lemonade.  It is really hot out, a great day for lemonade sales.  The rest of the afternoon is full of being with the boys and trying to create some order in our home.  Jim gives his lecture and meets with one of the workers.  

Later, we meet outside for a community meal at Bellevue.  All the workers and students are there.  After the meal I play a round of ping-pong and take the boys home.  Jim stays to lead movie night and discussion.  This week we chose The Mission.  (Some others we showed this term Another Year, Blade Runner, Babett's Feast, The Lives of Others, and Into the Wild.)  

Tuesday at L'abri

I long to share our life at L'Abri with you, my family and friends (in person and blog friends!)  It is a hard place to describe, so much of it is based on relationship and community, which you can not understand without experiencing it.  But, sharing our weekly rhythm here seems like a way to let you catch a glimpse of life at L'Abri.


And so, with that in mind, I give you Tuesday...

Our day begins Tuesday much as Monday did.  I'm determined to spend the morning in the garden, so I serve homemade granola for breakfast, it is so much easier to clean up than something cooked.  The little Mr.s are dressed and baby is put down for a nap.  Jim is going to spend the morning studying and working on lectures, so he listens for the baby while I go outside to try to reclaim my garden from the nasty prickly weeds that are determined to take over.  I really love weeding once I am at it.  By this point in the summer I know the different weeds and how to hold each kind to have the best chance of pulling the roots out.  I notice bugs and things about the soil that I would never see if I wasn't bent over, pulling the prickles from my hopeful garden rows.

While I weed, Jonah is wrapped in a blanket reading the Hobbit and Rowan is digging (again - he spends hours every day at his 'construction sight', which is a corner of my garden.)  A student work crew shows up to mow and clear the bank behind the house.  Each day, L'abri students spend half the day on a work crew (cooking, cleaning, yard work or laundry) and the other half the day studying.  I love the wholistic approach this creates and think that it plays such an important roll in the formation that goes on in this place.  One of the men working finds a worm for Rowan and Jonah moves inside to escape the noise of the weed wacker.  As I pull my weeds I'm learning about life in Macedonia and Kazakstan from a student.  

I go inside when the baby wakes up, but I leave the kitchen door open so the work crew can get water - it is a really warm day!  I make a grain salad and feed the boys before baby and I head to Bellevue for an informal lunch with half the students (the other half are at a formal meal).  We chat through the lunch and everyone enjoys watching Isaac gnaw at a cucumber slice.  The conversation moves from thinking about meaningful work and sarcasm to babies.  Lunch ends with a handful of 20 something men asking me about what birth feels like.  It ends up being a really good conversation about natural birth and parenting.  When I get home and tell Jim we joke that 'no question is out of bounds at L'abri.'  

Jim reads me his lecture on the work of Andy Goldsworthy and the doctrine of creation for tomorrow over our afternoon coffee.  We discuss it  and he goes back to work for a bit.  

Tuesday Night we eat at our home as a family. There seems to be a delicate balance to achieve between hospitality to others (which requires lots of flexibility) and keeping a rhythm for our little men.   Yes indeed, and I do believe we'll be continually working on finding this balance in the months and years to come!

Monday at L'Abri

The following set of posts are, more or less, what I experienced in the last week at L'Abri.  I had started this series of posts for the week Jim broke his ankle, so I've meshed some things together.  My intent is to give you a picture of life at this place and the ministry that is going on here.  That said, this place simply can't be explained by schedules or by the questions that are raised.  It is very intentionally not run on a curriculum or built for work efficiency, but instead is built around hospitality and the relationships that form.   But, as L'Abri is about formation and not information, the rhythm of life here does play a large part in shaping the community and individuals.  So, I give you a week at L'Abri.

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It's Monday morning at L'Abri.  I wake up, the night was rough with little ones out of bed so I lay there for awhile.  The Little Mr.'s slowly wake up around me (Isaac is between us in bed, Rowan has a bed on the floor beside me that he ends up in half the time).  Jonah enters with a book and crams himself between Jim and Isaac.  Rowan crawls in and I'm literally holding him onto the small double bed.  "We need a bigger bed" I say.   "Mm-Hmm" Jim drowsily agrees.  Soon Isaac is fussy, he's a boy that likes to get going.  And the day begins.  Diapers, breakfast, clothes... you know the drill.

Bellevue - the largest chalet where the all of the students live

Monday is the day of prayer at L'Abri and Jim heads over to lounge in Bellevue for the Monday prayer meeting.  The meeting always begins with one of the workers reading a chapter of a book aloud.  We've heard a lot of Philip Yancey this term.  This is followed by the sharing of prayer requests and prayer. 

Jim arrives home around 10:15 and Isaac is napping.  The older boys are happily playing with Legos (they are LOVING Legos these days!)   He tells me the prayer requests that he remembers others sharing.  There are requests for friends, family members and for the ministry and finances of L'Abri (the ministry is struggling, like so many non-profits right now and they don't fundraise as the ministry has a tradition of being "prayer based"*). 

All the students sign up for a slot on Monday when they pray for half an hour.  Jim signed me up for 10:30, so I head outside with a blanket, my jounal and my newly awoken babe.  We sit and he plays while I pray.  I keep looking at the mountains; Psalm 121 is running through my head, it has been a bit of a mantra since we've been here.  Sometimes on Monday the older boys join me for my prayer time, I always invite them, but today Rowan is busy digging and Jonah is engrossed reading The Hobbit; they have declined and I enjoy the quiet. 

Before I know it, the half hour is up and I head to the kitchen to set out bread.  Jim stops working on his lecture to feed the baby and in the next hour I bake bread, we all eat lunch (in a scattered manner), and the little boys go down for a nap.  Jim and I share our mid-day coffee, which has become somewhat of a daily ritual since he broke his ankle.  

I tidy the house and leave for my weekly grocery shop.  A student is arriving to help with the boys while I am gone (Jim can't carry the baby, so he can't keep them all).  I head down the mountain with one of the workers in the Bellevue car to the larger towns and shops.  

When I arrive home I hurry to put groceries away and then one of the workers arrives for our tutorial (typically we would go to his home, but Jim can't manage to get there at the moment).  Tutorial is a time to talk about what we've been reading or thinking about.  Jim worked through a fair amount of Francis Schaeffer's work this summer and I've been enjoying several books, most recently Desiring the Kingdom by James K. A. Smith.  Each student has a tutorial once a week.  Jim and I have been taking turns with the tutorial, but, because the boys are cared for, we have tutorial together this week.  We end up talking about the prayer base of L'Abri for much of the time.  

Our tutorial goes late and we rush to dinner at Bellevue.  The students share a meal of hand fried chicken, creamy mashed potatoes, creamed corn and a green salad (the food here is yummy.)  The boys play 'mini-monster' and ping-pong with some students after being excused.  After dinner and conversations, Jim and the older boys head back to the house for bed while Isaac and I sit and talk with some friends.  I head home a bit later than I meant to and Jim and I have tea and a quick chat before bed.  There are always so many questions flying around this place that we are always full of thoughts to toss back and forth.  And lastly, we head to bed, which is always welcome at the end of quiet, but busy days at L'Abri.

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Jim wrote a more general piece on L'Abri on Transpositions today.  It might help fill out a picture of this place as well.   But, but to be honest the best way to understand L'Abri is to visit.  You can see the locations of L'Abri around the world here.

* To learn more about the prayer base of L'Abri it is best to read L'Abri by Edith Schaeffer.  If you are interested in making a tax-deductable gift to L'Abri you can here on their website.

Extra{Ordinary}: Alpine Exploration

Finding the extra in ordinary time: feel free to leave a link to your own extra{ordinary} moment or thought in the comments.

Also, joining in with Soulemama for This Moment

L'abri

I wrote a bit on L'Abri last time we were here, but will try to describe this place in a bit more detail.  First, I should point out that L'abri isn't an easy place to describe.  It isn't an institution or school, but it has some similar elements.

L'Abri was begun by theologians Francis and Edith Schaeffer in 1955.  They had traveled to Europe for a mission board, but eventually cut those ties and began L'Abri.  L'Abri means 'the shelter'.  Basically the Schaeffers practiced a radical form of hospitality.  They bought a chalet (see below) in the alps and anyone who came along was welcome to stay with them, working and learning.  From the beginning it has been a place where christians and non-christians are free to come and ask questions while sharing in christian care and community.  

Now, L'abri in Switzerland (there are several others around the world) has grown to include several chalets (including a chapel/library) and multiple workers.  Obviously over the past fifty-seven years things have changed some, but the general idea is the same.  L'abri is a place where anyone is welcome to come, ask questions and share in christian community.  There are a couple lectures every week, students have a weekly tutorial, and generally, students spend half the day studying and half the day working (to prepare meals, grounds work, cleaning, etc.)  Jim and I love the emphasis on work and study in the context of hospitality.  The focus on academics and spirituality, alongside the practicality of sharing meals and the work of the community creates a very holistic environment.  We are very excited to be a part of this community for the next couple months.  

This is the original chalet where the Schaeffers lived.  We are living in the top two floors while we are here and it is fun to read about the Schaeffers while living in this beautiful space where it all began. 

The front garden - yes, the view is amazing!

So far the days have been warm and sunny.  The boys are having a wonderful time exploring, hiking, digging in the garden, and playing outside.

This is the view from a path at L'abri.

Uprooted. Replanted.

We left St. Andrews early one morning and flew to Geneva where we met my parents.  We then trained across switzerland to Lauterbrunnen where we spent a week on holiday (photos to come).   While we were there windstorms swept through the valley, leaving destruction in their wake.  Hay sheds collapsed, branches were strewn and a number of large trees were uprooted.  As I took a run around the valley the day after the storms I found myself staring at a large tree, roots up-stretched.  The week had been full of reflection on the place we just left and how we have grown in the past four years.  These last four years have been a rich time, a time when our vision of what living in the kingdom of God means has become a little bit clearer, and with that vision very practical ideas on how we long to live and minister have become a little clearer too.  But now, we are uprooted.  The week in Lauterbrunnen was lovely, but I also felt the pang of homelessness.  With uprooting there is a loss, for I do believe that it is community and place that reflect ourselves and help us to know who we are and what we are to do.

Then, early this week we traveled back toward Geneva and arrived at L'abri.  We spent the last couple days settling into our new home.  I was delighted to find an overrun terraced garden, and with my parent's help, we managed to get it ready for planting.  Oh, I've been longing for a proper garden the past few years, and peas, beans, parsley, chives, and greens are already safely planted (that is, safe if I can keep a certain two-year-old construction worker in his own corner of the garden).  More seed packets line my kitchen windowsill, a lovely row of possibilities. 

 As I've dug in the earth the last few days I've been joyful, feeling myself becoming attached to this place and this community in some small way.  There is a lot of growing to do, and I don't suppose the plants will be very large by the time we head off on our next (unknown) adventure, but it is good to be home in this place, putting down some little roots once more.