Skip to main content

Bits and Pieces

Being in Costa Rica shows me how little Spanish I know. I often feel like a child learning to walk when I attempt to speak. I step out with new conversation and then one word and I am on my bum, starting over. It can be extremely frustrating to speak because I want to connect to others but my words limit me. My family helps in incredible ways. Vivi continually points to things in the house, or on the table, whose names I learned and makes me repeat them to her. My family continually shows me patience, grace, and kindness, including me as much as they can. Yet every day possesses challenges because basic conversation takes a great deal of effort.
I understand bits and pieces of what I hear, but I miss the quick sayings, specific details, and most jokes. From my perspective, the bits I do pick up make me laugh because I have yet to connect the dots of conversation. For example, on Sunday my family joined another family for late afternoon coffee conversation. The conversation drifted several times and I only understood pieces. I heard discussion about the importance of family meals, the dangers of In vitro fertilization, para-sailing, and stories of Christmas time tamales and childbirth. How they got from family meals to childbirth, I have no idea. With each day, I am more grateful for my family and more aware of how much I have to learn.
Just as the Lord so graciously gives to you, may you extend to others grace, compassion, and patience.
All my love,
Gennavieve

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hampton Court Palace

Today, I toured Hampton Court Palace, an official historic, royal palace. Following are some of the sights I saw, history I learned, and favorites I enjoyed. The guard chamber of King William III. The magnificent display of 2,871 items of armor and weapons displayed a message that William was a great soldier and peacemaker. William's Presence chamber. Only high-ranking individuals were permitted into this room. William would be distinguished by sitting on a Chair of Estate. Those who entered his presence were required to remove their hats and make three low bows to the King, or even his empty chair. I'm grateful to serve an accessible King, who is with me wherever I go. William's eating room. He was expected to dine here on occasions "in front of persons of good fashion and good appearance," in order to display the sumptuousness of his food and to reassure everyone he was in good health. He was served by three servants on bended knee. William's P...
Post a Comment
Read more

God's Love

As I explore the attributes of God, I picked up a work by A. W. Tozer titled, Knowledge of the Holy. In it, Tozer writes on God's many attributes saying, "He never suspends one attribute to exercise another" (p. 68). He explains, "From God's other known attributes we may learn much about His love. We can know, for instance, that because God is self-existent, His love had no beginning; because He is eternal, His love can have no end; because He is infinite, it has no limit; because He is holy, it is the quintessence of all spotless purity; because He is immense, His love is an incomprehensibly vast, bottomless, shoreless sea before which we kneel in joyful silence and from which the loftiest eloquence retreats confused and abashed" (p. 69) This description inspires a sense of awe in the power of my God and reminds me of the gift of being His child. "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And tha...
Post a Comment
Read more

Let Us Love

Idelette McVicker, founder and editor of She Loves magazine wrote a poem titled, "Let Us Be Women Who Love." Below, please find the poem. I bolded my favorite stanzas. Upon contemplation, I believe this poem challenges, not only women, but both men and women to stand up and lead lives of genuine love. To allow the overwhelming love of Christ fill one's heart to the brim until it pours out onto others. I simply desire to share this manifesto and encourage you in love. Let us be women who Love. Let us be women willing to lay down our sword words, our sharp looks, our ignorant silence and towering stance and fill the earth now with extravagant Love. Let us be women who Love. Let us be women who make room. Let us be women who open our arms and invite others into an honest, spacious, glorious embrace. Let us be women who carry each other. Let us be women who give from what we have. Let us be women who leap to do the difficult things , the unexpected thin...
Post a Comment
Read more