Nard!

This is what our schedule looks like for the week. 

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
8:30-9:00	Devotions	Devotions	Devotions	Devotions	Devotions
9:00-9:50	Vision 2025	Phonetics	Phonetics	Phonology	Translation & Sem.
9:50-10:00	MORNING SNACK BREAKS EACH DAY
10:00-10:50	Phonetics	Grammar	Grammar	Gram. Test	Phonology Test
11:00-11:50	Grammar	Phonetics	Phonology	Trans. & Sem.	Trans. & Sem.
11:50-1:00	LUNCH	LUNCH	LUNCH	LUNCH	LUNCH
1:00-1:50	Phonetics	Lang. Learn.	Lang. Learn.	Lang. Learn.	Debrief & Conclusion
2:00-2:50	Lang. Learn.	Phonology	Trans. & Sem.	Trans. & Sem.
2:50-3:00	AFTERNOON SNACK BREAKS EACH DAY
3:00-3:50	Trans. & Sem.	Field Reports	Grammar	Field Reports
4:00-4:50	Anthropology	Translation	Anthropology	Translation
6:00-7:00	ETHNIC DINNER	ETH. DINNER	ETH. DINNER	ETH. DINNER
7:00-8:00	SPEAKER	SPEAKER	SPEAKER	SPEAKER
8:00-9:30	HANG OUT TIME & HELP WITH HOMEWORK, IF NEEDED

It's something like that.  There's actually some different types of classes about technology now, and we also got a guided tour of the whole JAARS center.  We got to see the air strip and watch planes take off! 
The first night we heard a story from a man named Nard from the Philippines.  He had become a Christian by reading part of the Bible in his own language.  Well, the translator who was there working in Nard's village had not yet finished the whole new testament, but Nard decided to go to the U.S. to be trained to become a Wycliffe pilot.  Right when he became an official pilot, the New Testament was translated and ready to be given out to his tribe.  Nard got to be the one who flew the New Testaments into his tribe!  Very neat story!  Oh, one other thing...when Nard first began to speak, he said (with a thick accent), "You all are the reason I now have to wear clothes and shoes."   ha!

 He also says his favorite foods are bilingual goat and bilingual chicken, which is dog and cat!  Let's hear it for another "ha"!

TOTAL It Up!

Joel and I are currently at a conference type thing in Waxhaw, North Carolina.  We are staying at the JAARS center, which stands for Jungle Air and Radio Services.  It is one of the main headquarters for Wycliffe Bible Translations.  We came here because we are interested in doing some type of mission work sometime, somewhere.  We don't really have any specific plans, so we came to this week-long event to check out Wycliffe.  This is how they describe it:

The five-day course includes introductory classes on phonetics, phonology, grammar, language and cultural learning, and translation and semantics. The informal, personal atmosphere helps to make this intensely academic course fun and highly interactive.

Field reports, video and personal testimonies offer a chance for students to experience translation as it happens in the field. In addition, Bible study, prayer times and community living allow students a great opportunity to interact with each other, and to work one-on-one with the translators teaching the course.

Purpose:
To provide participants with an introduction to the academic and ministry aspects of translation and linguistics, and to encourage them with a greater sense that God has called us all to engage in the Bible translation movement.

Details:
Housing and meals are provided (ethnic dinners are prepared at most venues.)

This is me, Jennifer, again.  Speaking of the ethnic dinners...I have a story to tell you.  Each night we have the privilege to go into a "retired" missionaries' home.  They cook an ethnic dinner for us and then tell us stories from their times in whichever country in which they served.  For those of you who remember the good 'ol days of CSBC, it's like missionary hour each evening.  It is wonderful!!!  Anyways, the first two nights the food was delicious!  I thought, man if they eat like this in the jungle, it's not too bad!  We had rice and vegetables one night and the other we had rice and chicken and vegetables in some strange but tasty sauce.  So I was excited about tonight's meal.  The missionaries served in the Philippines.  They gave us a little lesson on how to hold our utensils, scoop up our food, etc.  We were served our food and it looked kind of similar to the previous nights'.  Rice, some type of meat, noodles, and vegetables.  Looked good!  I scooped up a large portion onto my spoon, as she had told us to do, and was unpleasantly surprised by the taste!  What kind of meat was that?  It looked kind of like beef...maybe? 

Joel and I didn't know.  The lady called it something, but it was in another language.  Who knows!  I was trying my best to get it all down.  Really, I was!  But something about that taste just was not right!  It kind of made me feel sick.  So about half way through my portion, I quietly asked Joel if he wanted the rest of my "meat".  He nodded yes, so I put it onto his plate.  He will eat most anything, so I didn't think much of it.  I just thought I was giving him a little extra food.  Well, ok, truth be told, I didn't see how it would be possible for him to be enjoying that stuff, but he nodded yes, so I quickly took him up on it!  We finished up the meal and headed back to our meeting room to hear our missionary story for the night.  It wasn't until then that someone broke it to us that we had just been served

CHICKEN LIVERS!!!

Ahh!  I'm just thankful I didn't know until afterwards.  Otherwise, there's no way I would have gotten down as much as I did!  At least now I can say that I've eaten chicken livers!  That's a new one.

Anyways, just thought I'd share that delightful story with you.  We are having a great time here and learning so much!  I've always admired and respected missionaries, and each day that I've been here my respect has grown tremendously!  Each missionary we have met has been so obedient, so trusting, and so faithful to God.  Their stories are mind-blowing!  I feel so privileged to have met them all and gotten to know them a little and hear their stories.  I don't know what God has planned for Joel and me, but I do know that he can do amazing things if we trust and obey!

Our 1st Anniversary!

A year ago today,

this is where I was:

Getting married to my sweet husband, Joel! 

 Lots of family and friends came to celebrate with us!

 It was a most wonderful day!

And it's been a marvelous first year of marriage!

 I love looking at my wedding pictures.

I do it all the time,

so I thought you might enjoy a look back too!

It was the perfect day,

and the perfect wedding!

I loved everything about it! 

 I especially love the husband I got out of the deal! 

This year has flown by,

but it sure has been fun!

I'm looking forward to all the years ahead of me

that I will get to spend with my dear Joel!

Keith Green!

I just finished this book!

It was SO good!

Not only does Keith Green have wonderful music,

he also has an amazing story!

I'm so glad I finally read this book!

Hosea 10:12

Sow for yourselves righteousness;
   reap steadfast love;
    break up your fallow ground,
for it is the time to seek the LORD,
   that he may come and rain righteousness upon you!

Cade's Cove Tour!

Enjoy this little snippet of our drive around Cade's Cove!

Cade's Cove!

We're still at the beach,

but I still have no beach pictures for you.

So let's go back in time to last weekend.

Joel and I went to a Habermas reunion in Townsend.

We had a wonderful time!

Everyone in his family is very kind!

I don't have any pictures of family,

but one day Joel and I went for a drive around Cade's Cove.

We saw lots of deer! 

It was beautiful... 

and lots of fun!

Happy 4th of July!

I am at the BEACH with my family!

It is so wonderful here!

We are all staying in a deluxe house.

While boogy boarding at the beach today,

I got stung by a jelly fish!!! 

That was a first!

It felt like a whole lot of pricks,

and then it tingled.

I thought I might lose my leg,

but now I'm feeling goooood!

I don't have any beach-y pictures to put up yet,

so you'll just have to enjoy these sunflowers!

They are growing in our garden back at home.

Happy 4th of July everyone!!!