Reset button!

There are several good things about temp work. The obvious one of course is the money, which is coming none too soon, as my car is in need of tires and a horn relay. I also enjoy the change of pace, the chance to get out and interact with more people for a while, and the hopes that I can represent Christ in the process. So I like getting to work at the community college bookstore a few weeks out of the year.

That said, it's a big relief to be done with this rush, too. I haven't touched the CTO-puppy conversion these four weeks, except to package what I've done so far for our teachers to get started on. I've had to put off a lot of my fundraising too for lack of time. Just trying to keep up minimal duties as curriculum department head while working long hours at the bookstore has meant significant sleep deprivation. Now that I'll be free in the daytime hours, I hope to reestablish connections with volunteers and get things in Biblical Health & Life Management curriculum, and updates of older material, going again.

The timing has worked out interestingly, as this month the other members of TEN3 curriculum have been focused on other things as well (Ray on a relationship development ministry trip to Maine, and George on getting computers ready for the Training department). So I think now is really a time for us collectively to hit the Reset button. I hope the Lord uses this change of pace to work in the background arrangements we may not realize we need, and to refresh our hearts and minds for service. I pray that we start anew in the Lord's guidance, that we may have His wisdom and priorities in our work.

Nunca quiero estar aburrida! (Como lo dice en frances?)

My last entry was about my decision to learn French. It's interesting that this resolution comes after I decided to strengthen my Spanish for local ministries, especially the nursing home ministry.

So, we'll see how this goes, finding time to work on French and Spanish, and of course sharpening my mind in many other areas. Good thing God gave me a love of learning--so much so that I want to be fluent in every language in the world! So, here's to this item of my fantastic bucket list (http://baptistdancer.xanga.com/635065864/my-dreams-and-in-my-dreams/)!

I have made a little partial list of things I learned in 2011, which I shared with those of you on my newsletter list. See the Newsletter Archives page.

New Years

I normally don't make new year's resolutions. If I know I need to do something, might as well start it now. The date on the calendar isn't going to make it any easier. But I made a decision a few weeks ago that timed out nicely to be a new year's resolution.

Initially as an editor for TEN3, English was the only language I could work in. Then those crazy colleagues of mine invited me to be curriculum department head :) Fifteen months ago I accepted this responsibility to lead TEN3 in our goal to provide the best curriculum there is all over sub-Saharan Africa -- both Anglophone and Francophone countries. This will mean training French-speaking writers, and facilitating the production and distribution of French curriculum, seeing that it meets the legislative and social requirements of each respective country, and much more.

Now, you'd be surprised how much of this I could do with English. Many educated people in Africa are fluent in both English and French. So I envision a lot of my work in Francophone countries such as Burkina Faso, Niger, Senagal, and Central African Republic will be through multilingual volunteers. Still, looking ahead of me, I realize that the more French I learn. That leaves a lot of ground, since the present extent of my French is "Merci, mon ami"!

Like I said, I don't normally put much hype into a new year, but I do thank God for this occasion to look with thankfulness and sobriety over the past, in evaluating how it needs to affect me today. I'd like to post a year-in-review of the things I've learned; but now I'm more inclined to list the things I hope for this coming year:
*Train more writers
*Provide our writers the networked support they need, in person if that is what's best, to see the Biblical Health and Life Management curriculum formed
*See the CTO running in many more schools
*Be 100% funded so I can do my part in all of the above
*Love my family
*Learn a lot
*By far most of all, (would that I do nothing else!) bring glory to my Lord!