December 22, 2004

I have arrived (at SIL)!

Message
Dear friends and family,

Last Friday (Dec 10th), I arrived safely in the Dallas metro and unpacked my car at my new home.  The weather and road conditions were gorgeous.  I have received several needed pieces of furniture for my new room. My recent presentations at two churches were a mutual blessing. And I was able to spend time with friends and family before departing Oklahoma. Thanks for  all your prayers!

My new home address and number is
 
        1520 Bradford StIrving, TX 75061-1902; (972) 251-1615

Monday (Dec 13th), I drove to my assignment at the SIL campus. (SIL is the agency that receives members sent by Wycliffe Bible Translators to work or support language development projects.) My new software team introduced me to my Dell computer decorated with some welcome balloons. Here are some pictures of my new work environment: 

       
http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeEMnLFs5ctGLS

Every morning at 9am the software team has a "stand up" meeting where we stand in a circle, tell what we did on the previous working day, and what we plan to do today.  Then we sit down and pray through prayer requests and ask that the Lord would guide us to use our time in a manner that glorifies Him.

My first task was to pair with a co-worker, Dan, so I could assist him in fixing software bugs.  By the end of the day, we had submitted a bug fix and had started on another.


Tuesday morning, as I set out, the clutch in my car wore out, leaving me without a ride to the office for a few days.  I was, however, left with a good networking opportunity to find a decent repair shop in town.  Providentially, someone referred me to a place that was within the towing range covered by my insurance.  Unfortunately, replacing the clutch was not cheap.  But the car problem did qualify me for "veteran" status on our team. :)


Thursday, someone from my team graciously offered to pick me up while my car was in the shop, so I could at least attend our department Christmas party.  After enjoying a meal, we gathered to sing "Happy Birthday" to someone in the group.  Everyone got a good laugh as I joined their chorus singing "Happy Birthday" to--guess who--me!  (My birthday is officially on Thursday, Dec 23rd, but we will be out of office then.)


Friday, I resumed shadowing (and being shadowed by) other programmers who are trying to stabilize our next generation Dictionary tool called LexText.  The tool has plenty of issues that need to be addressed before it can better help translators to make dictionaries.


As for church, I've already started plugging into the life of a few fellowships that have been dear to me over the years from my previous stays in Dallas.  Maintaining a connection to the life of these churches has given me a needed sense of home away from home.


Please pray for wisdom in the many complex tasks ahead of me and growth in my new relationships at work, at home, and at church. There is plenty for me to learn here and I am eager to grow, learn and be helpful!


Wishing you a glorious advent season,

Eric D. Pyle


To us a child of hope is born, To us a son is giv'n,
Him shall the tribes of earth obey,
Him all the hosts of heaven

Webpage: http://www.opcNorman.org/Wycliffe/EricPyle

Personal Address
: 1520 Bradford St, Irving, TX 75061 (469-222-2865)
Wycliffe Bible Translators
: P.O. Box 628200, Orlando, Florida  32862-8200
Posted by Eric Pyle at 9:58 PM