Dear family and friends,
In six days, Anya and I will fly to Stavanger, Norway. I have been graciously been given a sabbatical from spring semester from Trinity Lutheran College to set aside time to work toward completing the writing phase of my PhD dissertation.
Anya will be finishing her 9th grade first semester exams this week and will start into a Norwegian school next week, immersed in Norwegian! She is eager and excited!
Janet and Jenn will hold down the fort back in Bellevue. So, I’m sorting, cleaning, packing up a couple rooms, and doing some deferred maintenance to get ready for Janet to live in our area of the house.
There are so many questions that I have right now. Perhaps you have questions too of me. What’s your dissertation? How long will you be gone? Where will you live? How’s your Norwegian? And more! These will unfold, hopefully with Anya’s help.
But to start: Why “Whithersoever thou goest?” This year, I chose Joshua 1:9 for our theme verse in expectations of our giant journey (in the King James Version, which was the sung version at Bible college).
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
While my nature makes me prone to worry with all the unknowns, I try to remember that “worry is prayer to the wrong God.” And wow, has the Hand of Providence been so gracious in this PhD journey. I hope to give you glimpses of past and present blessings through our goings.
(As a Bible teacher, I’ll have to put Joshua 1:9 back in context too.)
As my dad will be praying for us daily (others too), I’ll add some prayer requests on occasion.
- Good wrap up of all my work for Trinity.
- That all my “must do” tick list items get done.
- Thanks for the provision of the sabbatical by Trinity and the friends/mentors who encourage me along.