5… 4… 3… 2… 1…

Let the last minute planning sessions commence! Have we recorded enough Cherokee stories to use in grammar analysis? How are we doing on double-checking all those nouns for written accuracy? Are we fairly confident we’ve collected enough material on what makes questions different from commands? And do any of us have the slightest clue what this part of the Cherokee verb means? Because we’re down to our last week… and if we don’t figure it out now, we never will!

Each day passes by quickly, and with them our remaining opportunities to uncover the secrets of Cherokee. Yet part of the lesson learned in Tahlequah this summer has been just how difficult our job is! Consider that we, in seven weeks, are attempting to describe an entire language… from the largest to the smallest pieces. No wonder we’re not done yet! Most linguists take two to three years to write a ‘preliminary’ report on what how language is structured.

Our goals are falling (completed) by the wayside, and we are all ready to move on to the writeup stage (or possibly a week-long nap!). We pack and clean, and yet still pursue new information every day as the clock ticks down toward Friday. Would you pray for us as we spend our final week here in Oklahoma? Some specific ways you can bring us before the Lord are as follows:

• Pray for productivity in our final sessions, so we can get the most out of what time remains!
• Pray for endurance… as the end approaches, it gets harder and harder to focus.
• Pray for our time with the Lord. Stress mounts easily as time compacts, and its just as important as always for us to rest in Him!

Friday will be our travel day back to Missouri; we’ll leave Tahlequah immediately following our language session, and hope to arrive in Camdenton before nightfall. See you all next weekend from our new apartment at the Training Center!