End Session Two

Ok, session two of the Certificate in Applied Linguistics ended today at GIAL with no fanfare or pomp, because session 3 starts right away tomorrow.  However, the Articulatory Phonetics class that Maya and I have been taking wrapped up today with a final exam.  We don't have our final grades yet, but I would estimate that Maya did in the 'B' range in a graduate course in linguistics so congrats to her!  If you get the chance to give her a call or send her an email to congratulate her and say way to go, I know she would appreciate that a lot.  She has the next four weeks off of class, but will be doing some Bible study and other mission related reading as well as taking the chance to make some Christmas gifts and catch her breath before she picks up with Cultural Anthropology from Mid-October to Mid-December.  I'm so proud of her!

Meanwhile, I move on from phonetics to the second half of grammar analysis, while continuing phonology and second language and culture acquistion (SLACA).  In SLACA I am learning Swahili, an east African language, along with my fellow LBT candidate, Kory Fay.  We are having fun with it and learning a lot of great tools for when we have to devise our own language learning program in the field.  I took the family to a Kenyan African church yesterday for their worship service and got to speak briefly to the congregation in (very limited) Swahili.  It was a lot of fun!

This coming weekend I am flying to Dayton for Kristen Holdeman and Charlie Blair's wedding.  I also get to preach at the congregation where I was previously pastor, Emmanuel in Kettering OH.  That's about all that's new around here.  Take care and I'll talk to y'all later.

Rich for Maya & The Crew

Matt's First Day of Kindergarten

Well, it finally happened, Matt started Kindergarten today at CJ & Anne Hyman Elementary School in the Duncanvillet (TX) school district. He got to ride the bus. He thought that was cool. He wasn't sure about the rest. He said, "You know how on meet the teacher night my teacher had a nice happy voice? Today she had only a boring voice. And you remember all those toys in the classroom. Well we hardly ever get to play with them, we have to stay in our seats and work, work, work. I want to go back to my old school (The SIL preschool on campus). Welcome to real life buddy!

Update on Mom

My mom came through her surgery on last Friday just fine. The surgery itself seems to have gone well, her recovery is going well, she has help daily from a nurse, and on Wednesday she meets with the surgeon and will find out it the surgery was successful in removing all of the cancer. Pray for it to be so, pray for wisdom and clear thinking for the medical professionals and for mom. Thanks to all in church, at LBT, and anywhere else who has been praying and may the Lord be praised.

Rich for Maya and the Crew

Proverbs 23

The book of Proverbs gives the wisdom of God, applying it in day in and day out life situations. Proverbs 23 was my reading a couple of days ago. It warns against falling into the folly of desiring earthly wealth. There was a time in my life when my ambition was to make lots of money. I grew up in a home without much money and I thought that I could satisfy my desires and life with money. It was foolishness. Proverbs 23 tells us how to apply our lives instead: "Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge . . . Buy truth and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction and understanding." It says that a son who grows in wisdom is the most pleasing thing a father can have. The call to seek wisdom above wealth and power is so strong in this passage. It is also very counter cultural. But the result is satisfactory and fulfilling. Lord teach me always to seek wisdom, truth, and understanding, applying my heart to your ways.

Amen