After finishing our first year in Mexico, we took off to visit family and friends in California and then drove drove up the coast to visit family and friends in Oregon and Washington State. We even managed a stop at Yellowstone to see Old Faithful and other geysers before heading down to Norman, Oklahoma. I still marvel that we traveled so much, so far with two small kids.
That summer I got to teach phonetics and Bill got to teach grammar (below) to first year linguistic students attending SIL at the University of Oklahoma. We loved it and the kids seemed more happy and settled here.
We also got to spend time with Bill's parents and had quite a few visits from friends like Wimers, below.
We had many visits that summer with friends from Nepal. We got to be with Gordons, Hargraves, Mathiesens, Holzhausens. We visited Dallas SIL one weekend to see some of these dear ones, but some came to Norman too! What joyful reunions were had. What wonderful news was shared. Many Nepali people from different tribal groups were receiving God’s Word with joy. Lives were being transformed. Scripture was being read and relied on. God was answering prayer.
But the most encouraging thing about the summer was being with the Norman fellowship of believers that Dow pastored. They took such good care of us, having us to meals, and made us feel welcome. We spent a lot of time with Dow and Lois and learned what it means to walk in committed friendship and covenant with other believers.
As a group, they loved to party and get together. It turned out that 1978 was Dow's jubilee year, so a big party was had.
I wrote, "The love that flows here is overwhelming and there is a new certainty in my heart that this is home -- where we are truly loved and accepted. I believe one day we will settle here in Norman, but the Lord will have to work out prior commitments, in Mexico and Nepal." Yet the Lord said He wanted me "to make every house--however humble--a refuge and place of blessing." Our for settling is not in the near future and next year would definitely be spent in Mexico.
Then came the letter from my mom saying they found tumors in her colon and she would be having surgery immediately. A new chapter of life was soon to unfold before me, a chapter I didn't see coming.
I wrote this while in Mexico, finding His grace out on the limb, with Him.
Limb
To go out on a limb
With Him
Not a whim
Not a wish.
But the certainty
Of His will
This is the life of Jesus.
That summer I got to teach phonetics and Bill got to teach grammar (below) to first year linguistic students attending SIL at the University of Oklahoma. We loved it and the kids seemed more happy and settled here.
We also got to spend time with Bill's parents and had quite a few visits from friends like Wimers, below.
We had many visits that summer with friends from Nepal. We got to be with Gordons, Hargraves, Mathiesens, Holzhausens. We visited Dallas SIL one weekend to see some of these dear ones, but some came to Norman too! What joyful reunions were had. What wonderful news was shared. Many Nepali people from different tribal groups were receiving God’s Word with joy. Lives were being transformed. Scripture was being read and relied on. God was answering prayer.
But the most encouraging thing about the summer was being with the Norman fellowship of believers that Dow pastored. They took such good care of us, having us to meals, and made us feel welcome. We spent a lot of time with Dow and Lois and learned what it means to walk in committed friendship and covenant with other believers.
As a group, they loved to party and get together. It turned out that 1978 was Dow's jubilee year, so a big party was had.
I wrote, "The love that flows here is overwhelming and there is a new certainty in my heart that this is home -- where we are truly loved and accepted. I believe one day we will settle here in Norman, but the Lord will have to work out prior commitments, in Mexico and Nepal." Yet the Lord said He wanted me "to make every house--however humble--a refuge and place of blessing." Our for settling is not in the near future and next year would definitely be spent in Mexico.
Then came the letter from my mom saying they found tumors in her colon and she would be having surgery immediately. A new chapter of life was soon to unfold before me, a chapter I didn't see coming.
I wrote this while in Mexico, finding His grace out on the limb, with Him.
Limb
To go out on a limb
With Him
Not a whim
Not a wish.
But the certainty
Of His will
This is the life of Jesus.
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