Surrounded by languages I didn't understand, in a setting that's still very new to me, where I don't yet have friends, I stood a bit awkwardly and walked down the hall and back a couple of times, trying to seem like I had something to do or someone to go chat with. Listening to the rhythm of the Africans' speech, I couldn't help but smile. I felt full of joy this morning during this break at work, while the students visited with friends in different classes and I waited for the time to end so we could play alphabet bingo.
While I smiled and wished I could know what they were discussing in Kirundi, with a thankful heart I realized that I've had great joy in my work this week. That on Wednesday night as I drifted off to sleep I was actually excited to get up really early the next day and make the trek to High Point to go teach what is often my most difficult and least favorite class. That I get to spend my days with people who truly appreciate what I have to offer and whose lives I can actually impact. That I am immersed in new cultures and have students who not only want to improve their English, but who are also curious about their classmates' lives and traditions in their countries of origin.
On Wednesday afternoon I was greatly blessed to go spend about an hour at the house of a former student, a 24-year-old Egyptian wife and the mother of 8-month-old and adorable 'Hammed. She cooked me a feast. She blessed me greatly with genuine love and overwhelming hospitality. I want to be a blessing to her in whatever ways I am able.
Relationships. When I feel frustrated or tired of my job and working with people who show up late, or not at all, whose cell phones go off too much, or with whom I can't really communicate too well (or at all), I want to be able to return, to refocus on what matters. Love.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am as a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
Teaching English is good, it is valuable, it is necessary and desired and appreciated. But teaching English is not the end-all. It is a means to love, in relationships (even though they must be bounded by professionalism, which means they can't get too personal). And this week I count it as one of my biggest blessings to have work which is purposeful for my "clients", fulfilling for me personally, and that provides an outlet for me to learn more about incarnational love and radical approachability.
Also, it was my birthday today (yesterday, by this point), and it was wonderful. I worked, I cooked good food for myself, I read for an hour, and I spent a lot of quality time with friends! (As an added bonus, I went the whole day without using my car, but I did bum a ride from Leah, so my day wasn't 100% car-free.)
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