¨Don't eat the Pudding¨

30 de Octubre de 2014

¨Try to look at your experience here like a Mandala, Chapman, work hard, to make something as beautiful and meaningful as you can. And when your done, pack it all in and know that it was all temporary. You have to remember that------ its all temporary. I’m telling you, surviving here is all about perspective….dont eat the pudding.”

-Jones (Orange is the New Black)

 So, it is week 11 and this week we had our last Spanish interviews for the end of training. For the past few weeks I had been feeling as though my Spanish was improving tremendously and currently I do still feel as though my Spanish is bomb. One of the most important things while learning a language is having the confidence to speak, which is one of the things that I teach my students in Nicaragua. The more you are afraid to speak the target language, the less one is able to improve the language and will possibly miss out on an opportunity to effectively communicate. Thank God that I have broken out of this fear since studying abroad in Ecuador 2012.

This evening I received a call from our director that I would be receiving extra Spanish Language training in my training site and I would not be able to go to my actual site because I have not reached the required language level. While on the phone with my director, it was almost as if a smirk crept across my cheek bones because this also meant that not only would I be receiving personalized Spanish class for an extra week, I would be spending time with a family of the 18 people that I have grown to love and appreciate during my training period. Above all,  I will say that my God works in mysterious ways and Him and I have always had an understanding when it comes to the number 11.  Many of my accomplishments, candidate number(s), days after an open-hearted prayer to God have revolved around or included the number 11. So, I definitely look at this as a confirmation to be here and will maintain obedient and let him work his favor on my life…

God always has something up his sleeves and that I will never doubt this because He is always preparing me for the next task as I surrender as His servant. It was also enlightening to see how much of an impact and a relashionship that I have built with my family. After I informed my Host mother that I was going to stay for an extra week, she squeezed me lifeless with happiness and told me she was elated that I was staying (in Spanish of course). Shortly after she asked me if I was leaving to go hang out because my friends had showed up right as I was about to eat dinner. I informed her that they had come to watch a tv show with me (Orange is the New Black) which is the first time in a long while that I had watched a t.v show in English.   Toward the end Jones put soo much into perspective about perspective. I knew that I came here to benefit the lives of others, not considering that helping others benefitted me the most. It is all about perspective. Rest in Him because work is still being done.

Signed   --ReceptiveSoul