Our normal work week and a huge prayer request

Many people ask, how many days are you in class? The answer is Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. We're in class for about 5 1/2 hours and spend a few hours each night on homework. You're probably thinking, how do I get a 4 day work week?

Well, while we work 4 days on school work, in reality, the only way to not be working on French is to not leave the apartment and only watch American movies. It's impossible to leave our apartment and not be involved somehow in learning French whether it's by talking to people or reading roadsigns. In fact, probably our most intense day of language studies is at church on Sunday, and if we get invited to have lunch with someone, it's even more exhausting. That's not because we don't enjoy the people. We have an awesome church and everybody has been incredibly kind and patient with us.

In fact, now, there are a lot of things that we once did to relax, but now are anything but.

1) Going to someone's house for a meal
2) Watching TV or a movie (in french of course)
3) Listening to the radio (in french)
4) Making a phone call (you have no idea how awkward this still feels)
5) Playing basketball (being in the shape I'm in already makes this physically tiring, but now it's mentally exhausting also)

These are all things that now are certainly enjoyable and fun, but downright exhausting! This brings me to foreigners in Dallas and our prayer request. I remember seeing foreigners (not all or course) in Dallas who couldn't speak English and seemed to not be trying and I always wondered why not? I now know. The toughest thing to do is force yourself to get out of your apartment and do something that involves talking to other people!

So, our big prayer request: energy! This may be hard to believe, but I even find it difficult to find the motivation to play basketball here. After class, I'm already tired and don't feel like I have the energy to go. Often, the Thursday night Bible study at church comes (which starts at 9PM!!) and I think, I'm too tired.

Please pray that along with the grace to understand what we're being taught in class, we have the energy to practice it!