Improvement

I just wanted to take a few moments to report that Jeff & I are doing so much better. We've been in country for over 3 months now and praise the Lord, we are continuously improving.
I'm so proud of my husband... he has really pushed himself and is doing such a tremendous job of making the most of life here. Learning a new language with 44 letters in the alphabet, many of which make a sound that has no English equivalent is pretty daunting. Especially when you have to learn to read and write all over again! It is really neat to see how well loved Jeff is here. He says 'hello how are you' (in Kurdish) to just about every guy we pass on the streets and they all LOVE him. The shop owners and restaurant workers he has befriended are constantly giving him free stuff and refusing to let him pay for things because he has been such a good friend to them. Every time I am with our neighbors or the families we have helped through PLC they are always asking about Jeff and when they will see him again. He spends time most days in the big outdoor market just meeting people and practicing his Kurdish with them. I know it is exhausting trying to think and speak in another language all day but Jeff is doing such a great job and improving in his ability to understand and communicate every day.
It is hard. I know lots of you probably have hard jobs that you have to do every day. I just wanted everyone to know what a great job Jeff is doing and how even at the end of these long days of language learning he still comes home singing some oldies song and smiling. There aren't a lot of people here to pat you on the back for using a new word correctly or celebrate with you that you said what you meant to say to that guy and he understood you. I just wanted to invite you to celebrate Jeff with me and the strides he is making in loving people well and learning a really difficult language. Ultimately, this isn't about Jeff and his ability to learn Kurdish and succeed here. I think we both have come to understand in new ways the depths of grace available when we most need it. So, praise be to God who gives us every good thing and prepares good works in advance for us to walk in them!