Updates

For those of you wondering what I do on the days I'm not blogging:

Today I'm preparing to leave for France tomorrow afternoon for five days of business. I've been trying to work ahead of myself by lining up some appointments by phone, so my days there will be productive. I will be staying in my old office building; apparently, since I've been gone, they've converted an extra office into a "crash pad" with a bed and a shower. It seems strange to think of staying overnight in the building where I used to work everyday, but hey, it's free!

My aunt Kate is in the hospital and I would like to have been able to visit her today, but it just didn't work out, with all the stuff I wanted to get done before my trip. Mom, Granny, Sarah, and Olivia went to visit and cheer her up. She's suffering from vertigo and the doctors have not yet found the cause. Please keep her in your prayers.

I've got a big page of Arabic homework, which is taking up increasingly more of my time. We have quizzes every week, and they are getting more and more difficult. We've learned at least 50 nouns, about 20 adjectives, a few verbs in the first person, and lots of possessive constructions. All that means that I can now form sentences like, "He is my professor. His house is very big. His book is in the library of his house. I have a house. My house is small. I do not have a library, but I have an office in my house." Sounds brilliant, doesn't it? On Sunday I found a card with the Lord's Prayer in Arabic stuck between some pages of my Bible, and I could read the entire thing. More importantly, I understood four words! So the Arabic progresses. We have a mid-term coming up that is going to be scary!

I'm still contacting pastors, whether nailing down dates for services, or following up on promises of support. My support continues to increase, although it feels slow sometimes; I know everything is coming together.

For those of you who are reading this blog faithfully, I appreciate your prayers and your encouragement. Not every day is a "funny" day where I can amuse you with my sometimes comic lifestyle, but I know that you care about the serious days, too.