I have a physical therapist spending the night tonight. No, it's not someone I picked up at the office today, it's my dear, dear friend Emily! We had such a blast this evening. She brought over gingerbread houses all the way from Racine, WI. I covered mine in pink frosting. Like, literally, covered. It looked like a three-year-old created a house, and their favorite color was pink. Except my favorite color is most definitely not pink, and I'm pretty sure HJ could have done a better job. I mostly just got carried away, but I blamed it on the fact that Santa got run over by his reindeer.
: )
I actually called my physical-therapist-to-be today about scheduling an appointment, and apparently, the receptionist needs more than a "referral". She needs "orders". Who knew? I need a medical translator! All of the information is pretty much the same, but the sheet has a different title. I just hope that I can schedule an appointment soon! As much as I've enjoyed the rest & time that God has so richly blessed me with in the last two months, I'm excited to start using my feet again. And I'm excited to swim in their indoor POOL!
I'm really going to miss playing with my Rosetta Stone. I have a feeling that once PT starts, I probably won't be using my time the same way I have been. I've been using R.S. for about three weeks now, and didn't realize I even had access to it! Once I did, my student loan debt seemed a little less overwhelming. Carroll offers Rosetta Stone to its alumni! Pretty sweet deal, right? Somehow I feel like it lessens the blow of a $30,000 tuition bill. That's one expensive piece of software, eh?
Anyway, I've spent some time freshening up my Espanol skills. So far, not so good, but that's okay! Rosetta does not like my accent. I'm working on it. I tallied up the years, and it's been almost SIX since I've taken a Spanish class. Cah-razy! I really wish that I had listened to my inner-wiser self when I was in high school..."Take Spanish all four years, not twooooo, not twoooooooooo" I didn't listen. Now I'm reaping what I've sown. I can't remember a lick of what I learned, with the exception of, "¿Donde esta el bano?", which means, "Where's the bathroom?" And "platanos" because bananas are my favorite fruit.
I know several songs in Spanish, and I treasure them greatly. InterVarsity played a major role in shaping my understanding of what it means to worship God, and what it means to do so in other languages & styles than I might be used to. Something I have also been learning over the last several years is the freedom that we have in the church to worship God outside of the barriers that the world places us in. One of those barriers happens to be language. And when I say barrier, I do not imply that people who speak different languages cannot relate to one another, or connect to one another. I simply mean that language can sometimes keep us from complete unity. From understanding.
One of my favorite Christmas songs has been stuck in my head for quite some time. My dad came down the stairs singing it this morning, and I couldn't help but giggle. It's stuck in his too, apparently. Anyway, I got to thinking about how wonderful it would be to sing my favorite song in Spanish! Here's how it goes:
Santa la noche hermosas las estrellas
La noche cuando nació el Señor
El mundo envuelto estuvo en sus querellas.
Hasta que Dios nos envió al Salvador
Una esperanza todo el mundo siente
La luz de un nuevo día al fin brilló
Hoy adorad a Cristo reverente,
¡Oh, noche divina!¡Nació el Salvador!
Divina noche de Cristo el Señor
Hoy adorad a Cristo reverente,
¡Oh, noche divina!¡Nació el Salvador!
Divina noche de Cristo el Señor
I may have to migrate to a Spanish-speaking church for a while, just so that I can absorb their music. I would love to go to a Christmas Eve service at midnight this Friday, and sing Santa La Noche, "Oh Holy Night". I can't wait to hear what language is like in heaven. And I can't wait until every barrier is broken down between human beings. It is my belief that the breaking down of those barriers starts now, within our world, because God's garden has been planted! Another way of saying this is that his kingdom is here, right now! One way that we can tangibly show that is to sing songs that may not be in our first language. I love it.
I pray that barriers would continue to crumble within our lives & within the body of Jesus, even in this holiday, and that we can continue to be stretched and shaped into the likeness of Him whose birth we celebrate.
