We have arrived in Tennessee, the third stop on our seven state tour. Here we will do what we do best recently: spread the word about our lives and ministry.
The drive here proved… frustrating. Two major interstates over the Appalachians were closed, forcing us to take slow and windy back roads. The payoff: we saw some amazing country. Below are some pictures we took.
Last night we went to the beach to celebrate Sharon finishing her Cherokee analysis. It was great to walk along the boardwalk, splash in the waves, and feel free at last. Here are some pictures:
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| From October 2009 |
Tonight is our last night at the conference in Maryland. We are headed on to our next destination: Virginia. There we will be sharing at my brother Sam’s church on Sunday morning and spending time with Sam on his birthday. I am getting my presentation notes together for church and Sharon is still working on her linguistics paper.
Sharon sitting down to sort through mounds of Cherokee data.
As Sharon sits behind me she alternately scratches her head, bounces her knees, and bangs some phonetic writing out on the keyboard. Today is her first full day of work after four full days of packing, cleaning, traveling, visiting, and unpacking. Outside the orange leaves on the trees are almost gone and rain is in the forecast for the next three days. In the kitchen is a pot of hot coffee and under Sharon’s feet a small space heater breathes warmly on her feet. Ideal conditions.
Now if only the computer would work right, the data would fit together perfectly, someone would spoon food into her mouth, and the kitchen would clean itself. Then it would be perfect, but that’s probably asking too much isn’t it?
Please pray that Sharon will be able to focus on her studies and finish her analysis of the Cherokee language before we hit the road in a few days!
Standing at the border of Michigan and Indiana
Have you seen the new sign at Michigan’s borders? We took this picture in front of it while we stopped for a much-needed break on our way back from Oklahoma. Maybe it’s a play on words with two meanings, one indicating that the state is very environmentally friendly and the other making it clear to all crossing the border that Michigan is not two states, but in fact is just one state (despite the fact that a lake separates its two main halves).
We are back in Michigan for a few days while Sharon works on her write-up of Cherokee. It will take a lot of concentration and effort on her part! While she is doing that I will be working on the house we’re living in with my dad and preparing for our next round of travels to Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, and Arizona.
Sharon made some delicious indian tacos on Saturday with her language helper (Bobbie) and some of her friends who are also in the linguistics course. The time Sharon has spent with the Cherokee friends she has met here in Tahlequah has been priceless, but we are ready to move on and be completely done studying. Sharon still has a lot of work to do! Breaks like this one are much-needed and well-deserved.
Sharon attended a Powwow on Saturday and had a great time watching the dances and seeing the costumes. She was able to try Indian Tacos and even some of the dance moves. Cherokee culture is rich and intricate, so Sharon went to the powwow to learn some important culture that will help her with her analysis of the language and understanding her language helper. I will be posting some video of the event tomorrow.
This wouldn’t necessarily be notable, except that I think the pictures of the gar with the fish in his mouth is amazing:
We haven’t been to Oklahoma yet, but we’ve seen pictures. Here’s a taste of where we’ll be staying for the next few weeks:
The elevator that takes you to the top of the John Hancock Building in downtown Chicago is the fastest in North America, according to the voice that talks to you during the ascent. Traveling the 95 floors to the observation deck takes only 45 seconds! Once we got to the top we had an excellent 360 degree view of the city.
Of course, we took a few pictures but unfortunately since we still had a 5 hour drive today we didn’t say long. Check out the rest of the pictures here and learn more about the missiology conference we were a part of here.
Our last post was about the toolbox that Norm Chenier built. This post is about one that we bought, and it looks quite different and is built with significantly less love. It is the Karachi Outpost by Crumpler, and it holds all our gadgets that help us communicate our ministry with you!
Here is a peek inside the bag. It holds our macbook pro, our DSLR camera and several swappable lenses with additional equipment. It has inches of padding all the way around and a natural zipper lock when it is on my back.
We are committed to providing you with the absolute best, up-to-date information and best quality pictures from our ministry and this toolbox helps protect the tools that allow us to do that. Here are more pictures of the toolboxes that protect our tools for ministry!
I can’t believe that Suzie is eleven years old already. When she was born in 1998 she changed our family’s life for the better in more ways than one. Now she’s talking like crazy and has such a little personality. It’s great to see her grow up.
Suzie was looking pretty nervous toward the end of the day. She got up from her chair and began clicking her heals on the floor just as we finished eating our cake. When my dad asked her what was wrong she responded, "PRESENTS!"
See pictures from Suzie’s birthday here.
When I graduated high school I received a congratulatory card with a very smart looking professor on the front of it. He had his finger in the air and a bubble over his head that read, "Now that you’ve graduated, here’s a tip." The message inside said, "DON’T GO THERE ANYMORE!" Well, we broke that rule last week and headed back to the school we just graduated from… but not to attend class!
We attended our first missionary conference as official New Tribes missionaries with Sharon’s sister Michelle. The whole experience was terrific. The encouraging speakers, refreshment in the Word of God, and chance to re-prioritize life was incredible.
During the conference I worked with experienced photographers to produce a slideshow of the best pictures from the conference and set it to music. I learned a lot about photography and had a great opportunity to re-connect with childhood friends and family I haven’t seen in a long time.
To see pictures of the conference, click here!
By the way, do you use twitter? So do I! Add me here.
Ric and Sharon Bruce