The stuff of which sentences are made

Yesterday, we turned on the radiators in the living room. This may not sound very momentus, but when one is paying 1 1/2 times as much for everything AND you have to pay for your heat AND the temperature outside has become "Fall-ish" with highs in the 40's - 50's and low temps that make the Iceman smile - well, I think you get the picture!
Actually, we have had a pretty good week (or so since our last post). Grammar - not the fellow that used to play a psychiatrist on TV; the stuff with which sentences are made has not been very kind to us this week. When I learned German in school, I didn't like grammar very much and learned it only to pass a test - that was a mistake. When Paula learned German, it was "by ear" while we lived in Trunkelsburg and there were no grammar lessons. One of the things that they do at the Goethe Institute is stress GRAMMAR! We have spent every afternoon (save the weekends) since we began at Goethe sitting across the table from one another working on our homework. It takes us hours - why? We are having to learn GRAMMAR from the bottom up! I have likened it to dressing ourselves in our school clothes, putting on hip waders and a heavy woolen overcoat and then jumping into the deep-end of the pool. Just about the time we get our heads above water the teachers turn on the 3 inch firehose and offer us a drink! This is only the end of our first full week! Paula has opted to move down a level from the B1.1 level so that she can learn the grammar more effectively. I, on the other hand, will be working on grammar exercises in addition to my homework.
We have had some pretty awesome quiet-times this week. We are still getting up and meeting God the first thing. I have been studying the names of God as a part of my time with God in the mornings. The other morning I found the lyrics to "My Deliver is Coming" by Rich Mullins. I went searching in my E-Bible and found that Jesus is our deliverer - He will get us through the grammar of language learning. Paula is walking VERY slowly through the book of Ephesians and discovering (again) the power that we already possess IN Christ Jesus!
We are also randomly selecting prayer cards from the stack we acquired before we left Virginia and praying for the folks on the cards - a byproduct is that we also will send an email, if we have the address, to the folks we pray for so that we can stay connected. A cord of three strands is not easily broken!

Please Pray for us:

• We have both had colds this past week. While mine has been pretty mild, Paula has had a really tough time with hers.
• We had our first prayer time at Goethe on Friday. There is a group of us who have decided to gather and pray on Friday afternoons – pray that we will be faithful and bold in our prayers for our fellow students and Goethe staff. (Dr and Mrs C, Vimal, R&P [J took the Picture)
• We are in need of your Prayers for our language study. Our lack of grammar effects our speaking and our writing.
• We are going to Paris with the Kultural Program at Goethe Institute on 23-25 Oct. Pray for our leading a small worship service on Sunday morning in Paris before our return trip.