Thankfulness and Hospitality

One of our favorite summer activities is having people over to barbecue, or have tea or breakfast.  I have learned a lot during this month about being thankful for the everyday grace of the Lord and not being afraid to just shout it out whenever you feel like it!


I love eating outside and having time to just sit and chat and get to know people, encourage them, and learn.

I am learning a lot about hospitality and friendship and how valued that is in this culture.  I never want to be too busy to share a meal or a cup of tea with someone.  This is how relationships are built here, not over meetings or even at a restaurant.  I have learned from their example that what matters is sharing whatever you have with those around you.  Taking the time to listen and just pass some time together.  I think this is how Jesus, Paul, and the early believers spent many of their days.

Our pet duck

For the next few weeks I have the awesome opportunity to live with a Turkish family.  They also love our father and have encouraged me in my walk so much as we sing together and talk to the father each morning and night.  (In Turkish of course, which is really a challenge for me!)  I am able to understand almost everything they say to me and even sometimes when they talk to each other so that has been really encouraging.  PTL for such fast progress in Turkish that I may be able to finish by the end of September. 

It has been quite a transition to be speaking and thinking in Turkish all the time and also fun but sometimes hard to live with a kid who wants to play all the time.  They have been so patient and understanding as they teach me and we are becoming good friends.

So we have this pet duck.  This is actually the second one since the first one couldn't seem to stay afloat in the bucket as long as they thought it could.  It's really cute but pretty annoying in the morning when it wants out.

Here's a classic shot of their eight-year-old doing his schoolwork with her basking in the lamplight.  She's actually really sweet and likes to be held and follows us around.  Life with a family can sometimes seem like a zoo, not just because we have a duck.  It can be hard to get time alone.  But I am learning so much about culture and more language than I can handle.  It's cool to see how this was something I asked the father to provide a long time ago and He has blessed me beyond what I could have imagined.