My beautiful sister-in-law, Jennie

My beautiful sister-in-law finally lost the battle she fought so bravely for more than 2 years. She is no longer in pain but dancing at the feet of her Savior. From the moment I laid eyes on her, I was struck by her beauty and grace. She was a perfect help meet for my brother. They adored one another; when they walked into a room, all eyes turned to ask who the handsome couple was. I remember the day John & Jennie got married; it was a day full of laughter and fun as Puerto Rican culture met Anglo. We were all uptight about the lack of punctuality and they were relaxed and having a good time! Hearing Jennie stand at the piano and sing with her brother-in-law is a memory etched in my mind; what a beautiful voice she had. Jennie will be missed at our family reunions; she was the life of the party and our kids loved her. (pictured above with our daughter Rachel & playing games with the nieces & nephews) My son recently said "Aunt Jennie is the coolest person in our family". How we miss her and how we loved her. She is far better off now; no one would ever want to bring her back to the pain she endured. We who are left behind are the ones to be pitied; our sorrow is great, our sadness deep but we do not mourn as others do; we will be with Jennie one day and spend eternity together.
Thank you Jennie, for the memories. Thank you for the example of a faith that could not be shaken; that hung on until the last breath. Surely your reward is great & your crown full of jewels. I wonder what it was like when you heard the words "well done, good and faithful servant". I guess it's worth it all when we see the face of our Lord.
*I am flying home for 10 days to be with my family and attend the memorial service for Jennie. Thank you for remembering us all during these difficult days, especially my brother John. He has lost his soul mate & best friend.

A morning walk

This morning I decided to start a new habit of going out for a walk in the mornings. The weather has cooled down enough to make that a very pleasant experience. It was interesting to observe the city waking up. Some of the things I saw...
-lines of men waiting at the bakeries for their bread
-women washing their sidewalks and balconies, water running down the streets everywhere
-sleepy children walking to school, burdened down by their heavy backpacks
-stragglers at the mosque, finishing up their morning prayers
-sidewalks with cars parked on them and trees growing in the middle of them, not quite like the
beautiful sidewalks in Bloomingdale, Illinois where I used to walk
-stinky sewer water running everywhere
-vegetable stands washing off their fruits & vegetables, getting ready for customers
It was fun walking up and down the little side streets, seeing real Kurdish life and dreaming about how we can reach these people with our message of life.

Opening night

The building you see here is the one we are dreaming of buying. Actually, you can change your petitions now because the owner has agreed to sell but he's come up with a ridiculous price, so now we need to ask that he'll be willing to come down to something within our reach. We dream on...
Our English program got off to a great start last night! It feels good to be back in the classroom and mingling with students, even though I'd be the first to admit that I am not a born teacher! But I love people. The air was full of excitement as students arrived more than an hour early to pay their fees and get their books. There were unexpected reunions happening as some found their friends among the crowd, not knowing that they had also registered. It was fun to watch. We thought break time would be chaotic with all 60 students breaking at once but it was orderly and smooth. We served 60 cups of hot tea with sugar; they dumped another several spoonfuls into their cups on top of that! Kurds like it sweeeeet! It was all a great team effort and went off without a hitch. Thanks for your thoughts toward us.