Over the past 3 days I have learned 196 new words in French. Only two words come to mind in English…Mental Exhaustion. The encouraging part has been watching my comprehension grow rapidly over a very short amount of time. There have been moments of blurred vision by tears, but all in all it has been a positive experience. We are supposed to average 50 new words a day. That aggressive pace that will keep us working hard…very hard. The first day of school we came home to meetings and appointments, not realizing what a toll the morning of school would have on our bodies. We have learned now that we can only plan one thing a day to accomplish in the afternoon (outside of our normal daily tasks like making dinner and caring for our children). Language will be the summation of our life for a while, because it will be all that we can handle. We are blessed to have a wonderful language helper who is very patient and speaks wonderful French. It will be a blessing to get to know her more as the days go on.
Things I am learning
– The first thing we learned was how to listen. It is amazing how bad we are at this naturally. Hopefully through working so hard at listening, I will become a better listener in life. I have noticed that being a better listener makes me a better mom, wife, friend and witness.
– I am learning to appreciate each small step up the mountain even when the top is not anywhere in sight.
– The importance of a siesta. With the heat and such strenuous work, Joel and I have come to appreciate moments of rest even if it is just a short time to lie down and take a break.
The Blessings
– TORI!!! I can’t begin to think about going through all we are doing without the support of Tori. She has been amazingly helpful. I know that we could survive without her, but I am glad at this moment right now that we don’t have to.
– We are learning successfully learning language!
– The emotional exhaustion subsided before the mental exhaustion started. I am so grateful that we became semi adjusted in our life here before school started.
The Long road ahead…
I am sure the days ahead are going to be long and hard, filled with ups and downs. I am praising God that he has lit our path, even if I can only see enough to take the next step. Thank you for praying for us in our classes.
Whoa, Andi, congratulations. God has uniquely prepared you for everything there is to come, so I pray you can keep walking in that knowledge even though it may, at times, just be about putting one foot in front of the other and then doing that again. That’s how I’ve survived some challenging times. One foot in front of the other. Repeat.
You guys are awesome!!! Way to go!!! Praying for you!
I can relate to the mental exhaustion. After working all day with kids, sometimes it’s all I can do now to attend my two hour class twice a week. I am ever so grateful though that I have been working in an environment where I hear Japanese all day long because it has prepared me to be a better student, especially since the teacher only speaks in Japanese. I amazed at how fast you guys are going and overwhelmed at the thought of it. As we say in Japan, “Ganbate,” which means keep working hard! Love you both and I’m praying for you!
I am praying for the Lord to continue to sustain the weary!! And as one who is not able to see the next step, I am very sensitive to the blessing it is to see that one step and be able to step out. Keep walking!!
And tell Tori I said thanks for being there. Never mind, I’ll tell her myself.
Love you.
Dad