University Outreach in Middle East
Thoughts About Language Learning
Learning the Turkish language has been like sitting in traffic on 66 West on Friday afternoon. That’s a shout-out to my friends in NoVA. For those of you who have not endured this pleasurable experience (yes, that’s sarcasm), basically, it’s horrendous! It makes you want to either bring your sleeping bag to work and just stay the night, never leave your house or perhaps spend countless, unnecessary hours roaming around the nearest mall until 10pm when you can be assured (almost) that the traffic has cleared. It’s stop, go, stop, go….gooooo….screech to a stop…..My exit is SO CLOSE! Surely, I’... Read more
Turkish Hospitality
Turkish hospitality is amazing! It is one of the things I love most about living in this country and am very thankful for! Being welcomed into a home is good for the soul and I hope to learn and adopt the gift of hospitality from my Turkish friends. Last weekend we went to a city called Mersin for an American football match. Five of us went together. We stayed at my language helper’s cousin’s house. Her name is Demet, and she is one of the sweetest, most generous people I have ever met! She greeted us with exuberance and took all 5 of us in as if we were her family. We each had a warm bed to... Read moreWhat is Best
Today, God answered a prayer. It was not what any of us had hoped, but it is what God knows is best. When my husband and I moved here seven months ago, we met another American couple, Heather & Austin, who have become good friends. They have an 18 month-old son and just had twin girls two months ago. One of the girls, Noa, was born with a heart problem. The problem was diagnosed in utero, and so for the past seven months we, along with many others, have been praying. We’ve prayed for healing, restoration, a miracle, “God-sized” things, for Noa to go home and so much more. All this we... Read more
A Fuller Fruit Bowl
Recently, Brandon and I had the opportunity to go on a sort-of marriage retreat and learn tips and get advice about being married while living overseas. We learned a lot – about ourselves, each other and how cool God is in the way He creates people. The biggest concept I took away from the experience is learning how to embrace differences. We all have different temperaments (extroverted/introverted, task-oriented/relationship-oriented); ways we process information (internally or externally); communication styles; likes/dislikes, the list goes on and on. Wow, all of that could really make a... Read more