Sunday evening ended with a FaceTime connection with the Tanzanian mission team leaders for our church, Cross of Christ Lutheran, as we continue in preparations for our July return. It is amazing to have the capacity to converse in real time over 9 hours of time zone.
Anya woke with a sore throat, but it seems to have subsided. Her cough is lingering, but is greatly reduced.
I took a walk in the middle of the day to stretch my legs and restock the fridge. My groceries are limited to what I can carry. It was beautiful and sunny, but it has been very windy all day, as the creaks and pops of this old house remind us.
So, most of our day was computer time. Anya with some of her online English class, me with the Maasai chapter. I’m a little concerned that I’m depending too heavily on Spencer’s ethnography, but he is the one who is specifically dealing with powers and Providence in the Maasai worldview. I’m laying things out with an eye to broaden my sources with further readings. I know I can draw upon my Maasai informants once I review the transcripts.
I learned this past summer when Anya was at Norwegian camp and I was laboriously writing on my dissertation that this PhD journey is less proof that I have any significant intelligence, however it does demonstrate that I can withstand the barrage of a thousand self-doubts every day and keep on keeping on. One more day of keeping on!
Hi, Beth–
Greetings from Shoreline. This is just a brief note to say hello and remind you that, as you confront the *normal* doubts that accompany dissertation research and writing, you are being remembered in our thoughts and prayers.
May God sustain you through this challenging academic journey.
–Charlie