I realise that in the November editorial I began the first of a few instalments, looking at concepts and principles which are tied to the word “language” and its permutations. However, as this month’s instalment of Sprachspielen falls in December, which is dominated by thoughts and celebrations of Christmas and looking forward to the New Year, I am going to take a brief pause from looking at the theme, which we started last month.
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I have to admit that we’ve entered into what is surely one of my favourite times of the year. There is a definite chill in the air here in Middle Tennessee these past few days. The Christmas trees have gone up, as well as lights everywhere and green and red en masse. The radio is filled with music of the season. Christmas will soon be upon us. For someone who is known for being a bit stoic and not particularly demonstrative with my feelings, it surprises some people that I’m such a fan of the Christmas season. But it’s absolutely true; so, I feel very much in my element at the moment. I’m looking forward to spending Christmas itself with my family, though I have to say that I am also missing Christmas in Wales this year (no mince pies here in America sadly).
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Greetings! I hope this note finds you well. After taking a bit of a break during August, I’m returning in earnest to catch I hope that your Autumn has gotten off to a good start. It has been a very busy time for me personally as well as everyone on the Team. Let me catch you up on some things going on with me, as well as the ministry as a whole.
As of 4 October, I have been re-located in the USA. I had an uneventful flight from Dublin to Chicago on the 4th, then later that evening took the night train down from Chicago to Memphis, Tennessee, when I was kindly given a lift to Waynesboro, TN, and where my mother lives.
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Greetings! I hope this note finds you well. After taking a bit of a break during August, I’m returning in earnest to catch you up on a few big things going on at this time in our ministry in general and some of those things that are specific to me personally.
Even though we were taking a bit of a break in August when it comes to our newsletter and blog, there have been some BIG developments since my last update, some good and some a definite request for prayer. So, let’s jump right in.
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Some people speak of saving “the best for last.” However, in this case, I’ve saved the most bizarre for last. I’ve had two major “transitional” and largely unforeseen issues to arise. About the time I finished my last update at the end of July, I heard that my landlords wanted to sell the house that I was renting, which meant that they were needing it back. Under COVID rules, I actually had six months to move out. However, I already knew that I was going to leave at the end of September/beginning of October for my six months living out of Wales. So, this factor forced me to try to be out of the property by mid-September. Consequently, for most of August we unexpectedly had the gargantuan task of moving everything out of the current property.
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Despite a busy September with all of the house moving activities, Andy, Cam and I made a quick trip to the Basque Country and also Catalunya. Given that Daniel, Martu and Iker were leaving at the end of September and I had to be out of the house on the 15th, we made a window to make the journey down to those autonomous areas in what would most commonly be understood as Spain (a problematic understanding for many of the people with whom we serve, who are Basque and Catalan speakers, but perhaps a necessary one for you, the readers).
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