TESOL...

TESOL....Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
I was invited to staff the TESOL course this year, so this is how I spent much of the summer. Fifteen wonderful students came together from various places around the globe to learn how to teach English to Speakers of Other Languages all over the world. Some of these teachers have already chosen what country they are headed to, or are investigating the possibilities of teaching English overseas or teaching ESL classes in the places where they live.

We celebrated Suzie's birthday with Strawberry Shortcake...yummm!

Two of the TESOL students putting together Lesson Plan ideas.

"Hmm...what vocab should we use?"

"Let's see...there's got to be some usable stuff in here somewhere!"

Today several of the students attended First Baptist in Kalispell to thank them for the use of their church for our "practicum." It was rewarding to hear them express their thanks and appreciation to the pastor and the people there. We have just one week of the course left. Wednesday night will be our final practicum night (it's a party, actually, the TESOL students will be hosting a potluck party for their ESL students). We're all looking forward to it...and hoping all the ESL students are able to come.

HOME at last...

Sunrise is one of the most beautiful and therapeutic times of the day for me since we moved in to this lovely home on Troutbeck.

Ahh...the old family organ! I love how it looks in this corner. Now, if we can just get the left pump fixed.

Arthur's new "study." I think he's quite happy with this new situation.

The Living Room! Ready and waiting for a visit from you!

The Dining area...hmm...I need to make a menu list...see if I can entice our loved ones and friends to pay us a visit now that we are getting settled into our own place.

Actually, we have been living in this home since mid-May, but at last it has become "ours," meaning we have moved our own belongings in, and have begun to set things up. My, how good it feels! It's like finally coming "home." Did God make us this way, I wonder. To need and to enjoy the sense of HOME? I think He probably did. And I am so very glad!

TESOL in the DTS Missions Tools Track

These students will be going on "outreach" to India, Nepal, and Thailand. It was an honor to be asked to spend the week presenting language learning principles, lesson ideas, and English learning activities that they will be able to use while they are overseas. They leave in about 3 weeks. It's been a wonderful, very engaging group...a delight to work with! I can't wait to hear the reports of how God used them in various locations and settings to enable others to improve their English speaking skills?

My work station at present...the kitchen table
(in our new home...see my next blog post for more details,
and hopefully, more pictures).
God is so very good to us!!!

Praise God...at last, a home to settle into

HOME SWEET HOME!

This is the family room. Right now there is furniture in here because it's the landlady's furniture. She has not yet moved to her new home in Idaho so it still feels a bit like we are "house-sitting." The furnishings in this room will be extremely sparse once she moves away.

This is a view of the living room (looking toward the dining area)...very cozy, very comfy. Please consider coming for a visit! We'd love to have you! The house is lovely, and roomy. The bedrooms are very large...you wouldn't feel crunched or squished at all. In truth, a family of four could stay in each room...they're that big.
I'll post more pictures once we move our own things in.

Our landlady (Brenda) is very warm and welcoming...and is staying here at present. She's been as busy as a beaver organizing and packing up boxes, getting ready for her big move. She'll be here until the 3rd week in July. At that time she'll move to southern Idaho and we will move our belongings in. No doubt, it will seem like Christmas, rediscovering things that have been stored away for the past 2+ years. Having our own things around us, not only our household furnishings, but even more so, our pictures of family and friends...WOW!...that will be such an immense delight. I admit, this missionary lifestyle (living out of a suitcase, moving from house to house, etc.) makes me realize how much I long for a season of stability. We'll see how long God allows us to stay put in this place...I'm hoping it will be awhile, quite a while. Like I said, we'll see. We know NOT to hold our own plans and desires too tightly.
He knows best...and His will is perfect.

Whew...feeling a big sense of relief today

WHEW!!! Done at last! I guess I didn't realize how much the radio series was weighing on me, but when I got home from the radio station today, I literally felt my shoulders drop as I sighed one of those huge cleansing sighs. Besides the fact that the series took far longer than I had anticipated to bring to completion, the tension that came from attempting such a feat (I had never worked on radio before), took it's toll on me. I freely admit: It stretched me significantly.

All in all, the project weighed more heavily on me than I realized...but now that it's done, I feel like I could fly. If it wasn't raining so hard outside, I'd go for a long walk and process my relief amongst God's beautiful creation. I would shout my thanks to Him for all the ways He helped, encouraged and strengthened me to do this thing. I'd remind Him of how much I've needed Him every step of the way, and that I know I can do NOTHING without Him. He is my Strength...He is my Joy...He is the One who empowers me to do things He has called me to do. In this case, He enabled me to speak into the lives of pastor's wives in the regions that receive this broadcast (Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Alaska). Praise be to God!

But being that it is presently very cold and rainy, I will restrict my expressions of joy and relief to this blog spot...and I'll spend some time on the keyboard...singing, and giving Him my worship.

Thank you to all of you who have been praying for me as I've worked on this series. And I especially want to say "thank you" to you pastor's wives who were willing to be guests on the show, sharing your thoughts and words of wisdom with other pastor's wives. You've been a huge blessing! Your words are, and will be, over the next several weeks, going out over the air waves providing nourishment to others who are in need of refreshment and encouragement as they serve the Lord and His people.

Friends and Family

What a joy it's been the past couple months to spend time with Sarah, this lovely Korean woman, and pastor's wife. I help her practice and improve her English speaking ability, and she blesses me with her friendship and with lessons on preparing Korean food. We share what's in our hearts, what we're experiencing, what our challenges are...and we pray together. Each time, I come away encouraged and strengthened. What a tremendous blessing she is to me! I'm so thankful that God has knit our hearts together and helps us figure out how to communicate, even though I'm restricted by my inability to speak Korean, and she is limited in her usage of the English language. But it's like God's word declares: "Nothing is impossible with God." I continue to be amazed at the joy that fills my heart as God divinely appoints my days and hours.

And look at what else God did! He made a way for us to meet our newest grandson, Daniel, adopted from Haiti in December (just a couple weeks before the big earthquake hit Port-au-Prince).

While visiting our son and his family in B.C. we drove into Vancouver to spend some time with a precious uncle. It did my heart good to see him face to face again!

Do you see the resemblance? Haha! Grandpa needs to get out in the sun more, don't you think!? Just after I took this picture I noticed that the camera battery was dead, so that was the end of picture taking for this visit. Thankfully, John got some good shots of us with the kids; I'll have to see if I can get some from him.

PRECIOUS MOMENTS during this trip:

• Singing lullabies to the 3 youngest each night at bedtime,
• Having our car covered (blanketed, really) in pink blossoms on Sunday morning,
• Having Daniel come running and throwing himself into my arms,
• Night-time talks with Zach as I "tucked him in" (he even let me sing to him),
  
• Movie night with John & Kim,
• Visiting with Kim's parents and discussing majority world poverty and related issues,
• Searching for, finding, and playing with snails with Deanna,
• Extending Jacinda's hair by braiding in strands of yarn,
• Listening to Zach practice his piano lesson,
• Having the kids climb unto our laps during "evening devotions,"
• Hearing my dear uncle's voice again, and his gentle laugh,
• Basking in the friendship and hospitality of 3 sets of friends along the way: in Tacoma, Moses Lake, and Spokane.
  

Bummer...not going to India after all!

Sighing with disappointment...we will not be going to India this spring as planned. Things did not work out for the pastor's training school that our friend was organizing over there. But we want you all to know how much we APPRECIATE YOU AND ALL YOUR PRAYERS. We trust God! He knows what's best...both for them, and for us.

Now it's "back to the drawing board," as we ask God for direction on next steps regarding when to go, for how long, and who to take with us. The key in all of our planning is to recognize and surrender to the will of God in all these matters. To hear His voice about what to do, where to go, and when to go. Please continue to pray for us as we minister in the area of strengthening and encouraging pastors and church leaders in rural/village settings, both locally and overseas.