I spent much of the day yesterday putting together a transcript in Spanish for a message I am going to preach on Sunday. It was exhausting! You may say, “But aren’t you Spanish? Isn’t Spanish your native language?” The answer is “Yes” and “Yes.” I am fluent in both English and Spanish but I primarily use my second language a good 90% of the time.
Consider that I left my beloved Caribbean island some 41 years ago. I married an Anglo blue-eyed girl, my daughters don’t speak Spanish, and of the close to 5,000 sermons I’ve preached as a minister only around 100 of them have been in Spanish.
When Mom was alive she would ask me to read my Spanish manuscripts to her before I preached them so she could correct my many ‘disparates’ (or what she would call absurdities and nonsense). She was ruthless… but I so needed her guidance.
For those who think that speaking a second language is like riding a bike and that it all should all come back to me, you couldn’t be more wrong.
It’s this simple, if you don’t use it, you lose it. I may be able to carry a strong conversation in Spanish but the process of conveying an idea from A to Z that requires illustrations, transitional sentences, relatable punch lines, and a powerful conclusion has been brutal.
I am thankful that the church I am guest speaking at this Sunday is a great congregation and will still love me as I stumble, fumble, and mumble the speech.
Bottom line, I have forgotten the Spanish I love!
This all made me think about a couple of the best things in life that we tend to forget as time passes by. They come from our childhood.
If you want to remember the best of your life, go back in time. Draw an imaginary circle around yourself; forget the other players in your past and think strictly about you.
If you were like most kids there was a time when you believed in yourself and that you could be anyone or anything you wanted. Wasn’t that fun?
Recently in a television show hosted by Steve Harvey called Little Big Shots he introduced a 5 year who loves everything about Abraham Lincoln. She even has part of the Gettysburg Address memorized. At Harvey’s introduction that little girl walked out on stage in a Lincoln outfit, beard and all. She didn’t care millions of people were watching on national tv. She believed, at that moment, she was Abraham Lincoln.
Whatever happened to believing in ourselves? Life is hard and will deliver enough hits to get us to doubting ourselves. And we are so concerned sometimes about what other people think. Really? Don’t!
Zig Ziglar was so optimistic he would say, “I’d go after after Moby Dick in a row boat and taking the tartar sauce with me.” What are you going after?
If you’re a Christian please remember Jesus’ words,
“With God anything is possible.” Matthew 19:26 PHILLIPS
I’ve heard it said that people who don’t aim high hit the target every time! This HUGEMONGOUS GOD of ours made you and He don’t make no junk! Go big with Him!
Another great thing about children is their creativity. Kids are ingenious. They make up games and come up with the craziest ideas and stories. Everything around them provides a possibility, an opportunity for something great.
I recently saw a picture I had forgotten about that my wife and I took of our girls when they were little. They were playing in the mud and using the side of the house as a canvas. My eyes watered when I saw it.
If you were once a child you were creative. How about digging out that creativity that’s been hidden for a while? See the world as your canvas and don’t hold back. No regrets!
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As parents and/or adults, many times we forget what it was like to live the innocent life of a child. Unfortunately, life has a tendency to harden us and we forget the joys we experienced throughout our childhood years.
Your words, Jorge, remind us that life on this earth is too short. We can’t get so caught up in it that we forget how fun it was as a kid to ‘play’! That is something worth re-capturing!
We need to do more of it.
WOW, again your words are invigorating. I use that Bible verse often, I need to remind myself of what a Great and Mighty God we serve.
Me too! Thank you!!