Finally…Christmas and New Year greetings to all of you from Stateside! I pray that you all had an enjoyable Christmas with family and friends. I spent two weeks in VA with my mom, two sisters and a brother-in-law and it truly was a lovely time to be together, to have some fun and get plenty of rest.
I am now back in PA at Linda’s and have a car thanks to Andy Ford (it’s a Honda!). Unbelievably, a month has already passed. I realize now that this time here is to recupe, rest, re-charge and to re-assess, not to mention travel to meet with some of you folks.
First of all, please excuse my lag in communication – even though I felt well for travel home, I am recuping from some persistent, colitis-like symptoms from the massive antibiotics I took for the pneumonia in November. Please pray that the medicines work and that it clears up soon. Thanks!
To re-charge for the time ahead, continuing education is important since I am working in Romania as a professional. I am currently in the application process for my professional doctorate – done in 6-week courses on the web. After 2007, I would not be able to “grandfather” in, so I need to start the process now. I would have 2 years to finish it. A credentialing exam will let me know how many courses I would have to take – I pray only 10-12. Total cost would be around $6000. It would make for a busy schedule in Romania but it would also allow me to stay abreast in the field of audiology and be ready to teach and train others.
Now, with two years behind me, I need to re-assess my financial support that I went out with two years ago – prices have gone up from my first budget estimates and the professional costs, such as conferences were never accounted for. In April I will be attending the annual international convention and in September I hope to go to a European conference. Attending a European conference would let others know about this dynamic project the Lord has embarked upon and sent little ol’ me to do it! The World Health Organization is very interested in the status of pediatric hearing testing around the world and I am sure they would love to know about this pioneer project. Please let me know if you would like to partner with me in any of these needs.
Looking forward to meeting with many of you to tell you of what the Lord is doing in Romania.
