For the past 2-1/2 weeks, Laura & I have been back in full-time language learning. This involves classroom time, study time, & community time where we practice all that we have learned from the day along with previously learned materials. Our schedule is nuts!!! But...amidst the chaos of crying kids, playing taxi driver for the older 2 boys, trying to get the babá (babysitter) situated with Dristen before our class starts, SKYPE connections, books, headaches, & everything associated with this process...call me crazy, it's something I love!
I love the fact that we once again have a schedule. Well, I guess we call it a schedule! :) I love the fact that I have a reason to get out of bed EARLY again so I can start my day in the Word before I take the boys to school. I love the fact that we can once again remember the phrases that had started to slip from our feeble memories after only a few short weeks! I love the fact that I get to spend class time with just my wife (and a tutor of course). But hey, it's the fact that we get to be together to learn the language that we have both grown to love. Let me step back one tiny step...the language that we have both grown to appreciate the difficulty of. :) And yes, we do love it! Laura may say otherwise, but deep down she would confess that her heart belongs in Brazil & to it's native tongue.
Yep, call me crazy, but learning another language is really cool. It's not easy...but it's really rewarding when the person on the street is FINALLY able to understand what you are saying. It's awesome when at the butcher's counter he hands you the meat that you asked for & not a plastic bag. It's a great feeling when you know the difference between a lady, an apple, & pasta (moça, maçã, & massa). Get all those mixed up & you might have a moça mixing your massa with green maçãs! Yikes!!!
All of this to say...it's fun & enjoyable for me to know that God has given me the energy, knowledge, & courage to learn this tough language. It's not the easiest of things to try to practice language with a complete stranger, especially when I know there is a GOOD chance of me calling him something that he's not or fumbling for words when trying to speak. I used to laugh at our language teachers in Ribeirão Preto. I would ask them if I sounded like a 3 year old when I tried to speak to them.
Me: T----h-------e-------T-he----
Them: Dee, it's the word, "The."
Ok, so it's not THAT bad! But it sure seems like it sometimes! God has taught me humility in a world where it's not cool to be an "outsider." Far too often, I get discouraged thinking about the future & how I will ever be able to clearly communicate with these people I have grown to love. But God is constantly reminding me that my strength lies in Him & that He is in control of my tongue. His timing is perfect. His words are perfect.
"Rely on Me & My words, Dee. Don't try this alone."
How amazing will it be when we see those "from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb...crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'" -Revelation 7:9-10
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