Dallas in Pictures!

We wanted to show you some of what is happening here in Texas. Enjoying checking out our snapshots of happenings on the GIAL (Graduate Institute for Applied Linguistics) campus and around Dallas.

Sign as you enter the campus for the International Linguistics Center where the Graduate Institute for Applied Linguistics is located.

Trailer #14, where we are living while here. It is on campus and Matthew is able to easily walk to class.

Cool GIAL sign outside of one of the buildings.

This friendly squirrel greats you when you are walking through the quad!

One of our neighbors brought us a “welcome” dinner!

If you look at the sky any time day or night, you are sure to see at least 2 or 3 airplanes flying above.

There are miles and miles of trails we have access to!

MK Trace is one of Teresa’s favorite afternoon runs!

Cool watering holes off of the trail.

Fun fort off of the trails.

A group of students we went hiking with!

The Wal-Mart in Arlington is adorned with stars and bulls.

And footballs! (The Cowboys stadium is right across the road)

This is where Teresa will be substituting!

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Pray Until Something Happened!?

Those of you that are up on popular Christian Culture will know the acronym P.U.S.H. or Pray Until Something Happens. It’s an encouragement toward being constant and continuous prayer warriors. I think that’s a great idea, but I’m taking it one step further.

I’m horrible with keeping up with time and dates.  I may end up with two Tuesdays in a row, or I’m likely to get lost sometime between 2 AM and…well…February. There are times when pivotal events are happening in the lives of my friends and family, but while I’m aware that they’re coming, I miss the actual “when” by not connecting the date with the current day.

If I wake up and realize that I was meaning to pray for, for example, a surgery that had happened the day before, I have no qualms about praying right then not only for recovery, but for the process, talent, and outcome of the surgery itself.  I refuse to believe that my God is limited by a little thing like time, and imagine that, in my temporal ignorance, my prayers of intercession get in just under the wire. My encouragement to you is to not let a little thing like time hamper your prayer life. We live in a world created by the God of Miracles, and He’s listening!

The Most Terrifying Thing I’ve Ever Done

You would think that some of the exploits of the past years would top my list.  Getting Married, jumping off of a cliff on skis into a ravine in Switzerland, or even swimming toward a waterfall in Cameroon to save my camera (that little misadventure didn’t make the blog at the time, because my mom didn’t want to know about such things, but just ask Teresa about it sometime).

December 24th, I was driving back with Teresa to South Boston for the Christmas Eve service.  This has always been one of my favorite services to run the sound and projector, because we have a Christmas hymn request section.  People call out a hymn number, and if all goes well, I’ve found it in the list and the words are on the screen in the intervening seconds.

A few days earlier, I’d had a conversation with my mom about the Christmas Eve service to this effect:

Mom: “Daniele’s going to sing Silent Night in Italian, and someone might sing it in German. Would you be interested in singing it in French?”

Me: “Je n’aimerais pas le faire.” (I don’t really want to do that.)

Since that time, for some reason, I’d repented and changed my mind. We arrived in town about an hour before the service, and I ran inside to get dressed in some nicer clothes before running off to the church. Soon I was standing in the choir room with our choir director and we were doing our single practice of the single verse.

Let me explain some things here…

• I like talking in front of people, that’s a lot of my job. Nevertheless, the last time I sang in front of a large group was Chorus in elementary school, and even then it was never a solo.
• I’ve been blessed with a strong voice inherited from my father, but it is in no way trained. Sometimes I growl like Kenny Rodgers, and sometimes I sing awkwardly high, but I usually can’t find that elusive middle range where most songs seem to be written.
• Oh yeah, I was going to be singing the song in my second language.  While it is a beautiful language to speak, there’s a reason why most good French music is spoken-word poetry instead of full singing…you can’t rhyme and the rhythm gets off when you don’t pronounce the last half of each word.

During my practice session, my voice decided to go low and it turned out OK as I sang as a bass, as long as I’d have a microphone.

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Jump to the end of  the service…after the hymn-sing.

Lights go out and candles are being lit as the flame passes around the room. The intro begins, and Daniele sings a beautiful rendition of Silent night in Italian, complete with the beautiful rolling suffixes we all love in Italian. 4…3..2..1..I start to sing…Oh! my voice decided to go high…oh goody! No starting over here like an awkward teenager.

Douce nuit, sainte nuit (Gentle/Silent night, Holy night)
Dans les cieux, l’astre luit. (In the heavens, the star shines)
Le mystère annoncé s’accomplit . (The announced mystery is accomplished.)
Cet enfant sur la paille endormi, (This child on the hay fast asleep,)
C’est l’amour infini, c’est l’amour infini. (He is infinite love, He is the infinite love.)

All things considered, it went well, and I think my voice only cracked once. I was a bit shaky as I squeezed my heart back down from my throat into my chest before stepping forward to light my candle as the congregation joined in English.

Thank you, Lord, for once again calling me out of my comfort zone to worship you in a different way. Thank you for the gifts you’ve given us, and on that Christmas night, thank you for sending your Son to go from helpless babe to conquering savior!