Worldly Holiness

Train is off, originally uploaded by papalars.

I just came home from my Arabic classes tonight and this picture above is the way I feel in my language learning!! The train is picking up speed and I feel like I’m sitting on the bench trying to see the objects swishing by my face and make the sounds with my mouth…and throat. While I was away in Malta last week, I missed two class sessions, the equivalent of four hours of class time. I missed a substantial section of the alphabet and since it is all brand new to me, I feel way behind. Last Saturday, the day before the Super Bowl [which by the way nobody knows about here in Barcelona…it didn’t even appear on the sport’s page in the daily paper!!] we started to read Arabic and I was totally lost. Will my old brain wrap around these new sounds and symbols?

All is not loss because my teacher is emphasizing that we help each other out. I already have two people who have scheduled sessions with me to fill in my gaps! Wow. One of them is the class assistant, a focus person from some Middle Eastern country. My class consists of six students and it is starting to feel like a small group. So while the language learning is painful for me at this point, it is also getting fun and I’m starting to feel like there is some potential in relationships. Could you pray for several things? One, that I am able to stick to the discipline and bend my mind to this new language. Two, that I am able to build some good relationships. Three, pray for my teacher, M———!

M——— is leaving tomorrow to visit a brother in Washington DC who had heart by-pass surgery last week and needs yet another procedure. My teacher wants to be with him at this time and is unsure about the potential outcomes of the next procedure. Last time my teacher went to the US he was harassed by immigration because he is from a Middle Eastern country. We had a long discussion about this in class on Saturday and I could see the angst and frustration in his story and expressions. My heart is growing warm toward my teacher. I so desire that I can speak about the things of Christ with him down the road. Tonight I told him I would pray for his trip and for his brother’s health. He knows I’m a Christian [I like the term, “follower of Christ],” so this is where the rubber meets the road in my witness. Anyway, I will keep you posted on the developments with each thing you are praying for.

Bendiciones a todos!

Comments are welcome, encouraged, AND invited! I also have some new pictures in my flickr badge from Malta, the Barcelona metro and a sinful indulgence that I took part in last night with some friends…curious? Check it out! It is the most recent photo in the photostream.