September 12: Encouraged to continue

I’ve been encouraged by a couple non-family members to keep the blog going. Well, with everything going on, it won’t be a daily post. However, I’m going to try to post once a week on the weekend with a few updates to share a bit of life.

Anya’s back in school and on the soccer team. On Thursday night, they won their first game with Anya starting and contributing a goal!

Anya’s school started on Sept. 1. Her rigorous schedule is:

1. Honors sophomore composition and literature
2. Racquet sports
3. Pre-calculus (technically an IB [International Baccalaureate] math, but she will advance with other IB maths over the next 2 years)
4. Spanish for bilingual speakrs 2
5. AP World History
6. AP/IB Physics
7. Stained Glass 1

After being a foreign student in Norway, Anya has developed a special compassion for students who are new to Interlake from other countries. So, she’s reaching out and making friends with students from Spain, Tanzania, and Colombia. Compassion is one of our core family values, so I’m pleased to see her initiative to care for others.

School started before Labor Day this year. But then we went off with several neighbor families to Cascades Camp in Yelm, which is operated by the Covenant church. This family camp has become an annual event, cherished for its great activities, programming, and food. However, this will probably be our last time together with plans to move to Sweden next year.

Since returning to the USA on Aug. 2, I have:

• moved out of my office at Trinity with the help of Jean and Marv;
• processed through the farewells and closure after 22 years as student, staff, and faculty at LBI/Trinity;
• got unpacked from travel luggage and storage of stuff while Janet moved in and held down the fort;
• sorted through 6 months of mail and deferred life-stuff (dentist appointments; got new health coverage after leaving Trinity; completed my extended taxes with a tax man’s help; registered for security hack monitoring; neglected hedge trimming, etc.)
• got Anya settled for soccer and school, which began Sept. 1;
• got back into the Tanzania mission team leadership and preparation for a 2016 trip;
• and made wonderful connections with friends I hadn’t seen for a while.

In the midst of life, I’ve been chipping away on my dissertation. Chapter 1 was revised and resubmitted. I am working on re-revisions, while moving ahead on revisions for chapter 2. Currently, I’m sick with a miserable cold, so I’m unable to be as diligent as I’d like. Pray for diligence for me. I must finish writing this calendar year! In the next few days, I have to figure out if I can manage taking the Swedish 101 course at University of Washington this fall and still progress on my dissertation. Being a student would give me better access to the UW library, which is quite good. Perhaps taking it pass/fail!?!

With blessings,

Beth