Oct 18, 2010
Oct 15, 2010
A Design, An Alignment, A Cry
This is the 1st and title track of my favorite album by Mumford and Sons. The entire CD is great, but the last stanza is what I connect with the most. Call it my creed.
Sigh No More
Serve God love me and men
This is not the end
Live unbruised we are friends
And I'm sorry
I'm sorry
Sigh no more, no more
One foot in sea, one on shore
My heart was never pure
you know me
you know me
Man is a giddy thing (4x)
Love will not betray you,
dismay or enslave you,
It will set you free
Be more like the man
you were made to be.
There is a design,
An alignment, a cry,
Of my heart to see
The beauty of love
as it was made to be (x4)
Sigh No More
Serve God love me and men
This is not the end
Live unbruised we are friends
And I'm sorry
I'm sorry
Sigh no more, no more
One foot in sea, one on shore
My heart was never pure
you know me
you know me
Man is a giddy thing (4x)
Love will not betray you,
dismay or enslave you,
It will set you free
Be more like the man
you were made to be.
There is a design,
An alignment, a cry,
Of my heart to see
The beauty of love
as it was made to be (x4)
Reflections on Sunday
A had a dream last night about leading praise and worship at my home church in Benson, NC. This type of dream has become more common within the past year, occurring several times a month now. I'm always on stage, behind a keyboard and microphone, looking out over a crowd. Most of the faces are familiar -- my church family. Some of the people are singing. Some are raising their hands. Others sit silently, and others simply watch me.
At times, the dream is stressful. Maybe this time I don't have the song list, so I'm winging it. Sometimes I'm the only one in the band who doesn't know the song. Usually, though, the dream is peaceful because I feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be. I don't mean in front of people. I mean worshipping. So when I woke up this morning after leading praise and worship in my dream, and I realized it's Sunday morning, and I'm across the ocean from my church, I got a slight case of the blues. Then I remembered.
The church is everywhere. It's me, my family, and my new roommate and friend. And, funny enough, the church is the man who comes to collect my rent. When I first met Jose, a sixty-something year old man, I thought he must have a lot of patience to listen to four girls speak in English for thirty minutes, trying to figure out who pays what. Finally, I told him in Spanish, "Please take a seat." He smiled and told us not to worry. Little did I know how serious he was.
As soon as we had everything figured out, he made another comment like "Don't worry. Why should we worry when God's got things under control?" At this, one of my roommates left, not knowing how to respond. Roommate #2 soon did the same. I stayed put, though, because something in my spirit was saying, "Oooh, this is gonna be good! Get ready for what this man has to say!"
By this time, he was standing, as if to leave, but he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. He was beaming and so wound up, he looked like he was about to burst. And he soon did, after realizing that me and roommate #3 were Christians with open ears and hearts.
He talked, and he talked, and he talked. He gave his testimony, talked about his encounters with other people, shared his innermost thoughts, and praised and thanked God for His blessings and for us coming into his life. He talked so much that I could only respond with an occasional "Si!" or nod of my head. He talked for at least an hour, never slowing down or forgetting to say, "Thank you, Father! Oh, how He loves me!" A few, rare times, I would affirm his musings or give my point of view, but I mostly listened (and hard). Remember: He's speaking in Spanish this whole time. Amazingly, though, I understood 95% of what he said! This is truly miraculous since my Spanish is firmly intermediate. Love, I realized while watching his open, clear eyes and glowing face, is a universal language.
When he finally realized the time (way after midnight), he made for the door. A few times down the hall, he thought of a something, and he launched into another story of God's faithfulness. I didn't mind. When he was truly done, I hugged him close and kissed him on the cheek. I told him, in Spanish, "Thank you, my brother. You are beautiful vessel of God's love." I feel cheesy even when typing that, but you had to have been there. This man could have levitated, and I wouldn't have been surprised. He was that...light! He said he was glad to have met two young women who already understood God's love and grace. I told him how much I loved his visit because he reminded me of times with my family and our typical conversations. After the door closed behind him, I felt filled to the brim, like I do on a Sunday morning after going to church.
Newsboys - He Reigns
Cargado por wanzea. - Explorar otros videos musicales.
He Reigns
It’s the song of the redeemed
Rising from the African plain
It’s the song of the forgiven
Drowning out the Amazon rain
The song of Asian believers
Filled with God’s holy fire
It’s every tribe, every tongue, every nation
A love song born of a grateful choir
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
Let it rise about the four winds
Caught up in the heavenly sound
Let praises echo from the towers of cathedrals
To the faithful gathered underground
Of all the songs sung from the dawn of creation
Some were meant to persist
Of all the bells rung from a thousand steeples
None rings truer than this
And all the powers of darkness
Tremble at what they’ve just heard
‘Cause all the powers of darkness
Can’t drown out a single word
At times, the dream is stressful. Maybe this time I don't have the song list, so I'm winging it. Sometimes I'm the only one in the band who doesn't know the song. Usually, though, the dream is peaceful because I feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be. I don't mean in front of people. I mean worshipping. So when I woke up this morning after leading praise and worship in my dream, and I realized it's Sunday morning, and I'm across the ocean from my church, I got a slight case of the blues. Then I remembered.
The church is everywhere. It's me, my family, and my new roommate and friend. And, funny enough, the church is the man who comes to collect my rent. When I first met Jose, a sixty-something year old man, I thought he must have a lot of patience to listen to four girls speak in English for thirty minutes, trying to figure out who pays what. Finally, I told him in Spanish, "Please take a seat." He smiled and told us not to worry. Little did I know how serious he was.
As soon as we had everything figured out, he made another comment like "Don't worry. Why should we worry when God's got things under control?" At this, one of my roommates left, not knowing how to respond. Roommate #2 soon did the same. I stayed put, though, because something in my spirit was saying, "Oooh, this is gonna be good! Get ready for what this man has to say!"
By this time, he was standing, as if to leave, but he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. He was beaming and so wound up, he looked like he was about to burst. And he soon did, after realizing that me and roommate #3 were Christians with open ears and hearts.
He talked, and he talked, and he talked. He gave his testimony, talked about his encounters with other people, shared his innermost thoughts, and praised and thanked God for His blessings and for us coming into his life. He talked so much that I could only respond with an occasional "Si!" or nod of my head. He talked for at least an hour, never slowing down or forgetting to say, "Thank you, Father! Oh, how He loves me!" A few, rare times, I would affirm his musings or give my point of view, but I mostly listened (and hard). Remember: He's speaking in Spanish this whole time. Amazingly, though, I understood 95% of what he said! This is truly miraculous since my Spanish is firmly intermediate. Love, I realized while watching his open, clear eyes and glowing face, is a universal language.
When he finally realized the time (way after midnight), he made for the door. A few times down the hall, he thought of a something, and he launched into another story of God's faithfulness. I didn't mind. When he was truly done, I hugged him close and kissed him on the cheek. I told him, in Spanish, "Thank you, my brother. You are beautiful vessel of God's love." I feel cheesy even when typing that, but you had to have been there. This man could have levitated, and I wouldn't have been surprised. He was that...light! He said he was glad to have met two young women who already understood God's love and grace. I told him how much I loved his visit because he reminded me of times with my family and our typical conversations. After the door closed behind him, I felt filled to the brim, like I do on a Sunday morning after going to church.
Newsboys - He Reigns
Cargado por wanzea. - Explorar otros videos musicales.
He Reigns
It’s the song of the redeemed
Rising from the African plain
It’s the song of the forgiven
Drowning out the Amazon rain
The song of Asian believers
Filled with God’s holy fire
It’s every tribe, every tongue, every nation
A love song born of a grateful choir
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
Let it rise about the four winds
Caught up in the heavenly sound
Let praises echo from the towers of cathedrals
To the faithful gathered underground
Of all the songs sung from the dawn of creation
Some were meant to persist
Of all the bells rung from a thousand steeples
None rings truer than this
And all the powers of darkness
Tremble at what they’ve just heard
‘Cause all the powers of darkness
Can’t drown out a single word
Oct 9, 2010
"Machu Picchu"
Most of the people I talked to this week met the following criteria:
- Spoke little English
- Had wide, brown, smiling eyes
- Owned a rolling book bag (decorated with Hello Kitty, the Jonas Brothers or Spiderman)
- Came up to about my waist
I'm obviously describing the students at my two assigned primary schools, General Izquierdo and Ramon Gomez de la Serna. These children truly brighten my day. When I walk into school, the students who recognize me say, "Hello, Debon," and those who don't simply wave. When I walk down the halls, groups of children hug me until some grumpy lunch lady in a hairnet scolds them and shoos them into the cafeteria. In the classroom, they listen in complete silence as I read aloud and laugh when I swear to them that "I don't understand ANY Spanish." Yeah, right. They're smarter than that.
I realize I'm in a unique position because I'm getting teaching experience without the trials of a normal teacher. I don't have to scream for silence, give students The Face (duh duh duuuh) or send a child to the headmaster's office. I don't grade papers in the break room and take the unfinished ones home. I'm not "the teacher". I'm that cool chick from the United States.
When I talk with a student, I am supposed to go through a simple routine to get the student accustomed to conversational English. It usually goes something like this:
"Hello! My name is Devon. What is your name?"
(shyly) "My name is Paula/Javier."
(nodding) "Very good Paula/Javier. Nice to meet you!"
"Machu Picchu, too."
The first time this happened, I almost lost it. Machu Picchu? That place I visited in the fall? Adorable. Another trick they've been taught is to always say, "I'm doing fine, thank you, and you?" They often say this phrase, though, after I've already told them how I'm doing. Their responses can be awkward, too. ("How are you today, Javier?" Stony-faced: "Fantastic." Yeah, okay, Javier.) Hopefully, they'll have enough conversations with me during the next year that they'll fall into a more natural conversational pattern.
So far, I'm really enjoying my time at school. Some of my first memories are learning the alphabet and the joy of putting the scribbles together to form words with meaning. S-T-O-P. Stop. That chain of connections which makes communication possible is a magical thing to me, just as much today as it was when I was in preschool. Therefore, I absolutely love the moment when a first grader realizes the label that says "table" is the word for the object. What's really cool is seeing them have this realization a second time, in English. Sometimes they get into a session of pointing and asking, "What is this in English? And this?" The excitement I feel in passing this knowledge on is making me wonder if I'm going to end up teaching...
Sometimes, though, I get so excited, the kids look at me funny. I usually meet with pairs at the back of the classroom to go over recent vocabulary. While talking, I gesticulate, make funny faces and change the tone of my voice to help them learn. They usually understand me better this way, but that doesn't stop them from laughing at me. On Thursday, two third grader boys kept giggling while we were discussing the different types of vertebrates. They finally said, together, "You're a crazy woman." I grinned and thanked them. Of course, they laughed even harder. When I left the classroom at the end of the session, they waved extra hard from their desks and shouted, "Viviparous!" At least I did something right.
I wish I had pictures to post of me with the kids, but since I'm not using my own laptop, that will have to wait. Now, I'm off to look up train tickets for Murcia. After a extra-rough first week at school (sigh), I have a five-day weekend. I visited Toledo yesterday, and now I'm off again! I'll write about these adventures soon!
Oct 3, 2010
Spain, in List Form
Since I'm sick, thinking about 1 billion things at once, and borrowing my friend's laptop (muchas gracias!), I will make this post short 'n sweet. Perhaps a list or two will help me organize my initial thoughts on Spain and will give you, dear reader, a glimpse of my life in Madrid so far. I promise more details later! As for now...
10 Cosas Buenas
1. A new group of friends, most of them fellow teaching assistants
2. A dependable, clean, and fairly simple Metro system
3. An apartment with sunshine-yellow walls, space to unroll my yoga mat and a room with a view
4. Walks around the barrio
5. Cereal on the kitchen shelf and fresh fruit and veggies from the corner mart in the fridge
6. TV in Spanish
7. A hot mug of green tea with mint for when I start to cough
8. Skyping with my family
9. Menus del dia (The Day's Special) that includes 2 courses, drink (wine, beer, soda) and dessert/coffee for just a few euros
10. Autumn's 1st cool, rainy day
10 Cosas Malas
1. Having the worst cold of your life for a week...and that week including your 1st day of school and moving in
2. A landlord who gets confused and expects too much money the day you move in
3. Teeny washer machines
4. Graffiti everywhere
5. No customer service, especially in restaurants
6. TV only in Spanish when all you want is some easy-to-understand, trashy, American shows
7. Couples on every corner, park bench and against every wall, doing things that make you disgusted/curious
8. Very little green to be seen
9. The dollar against the euro
10. A rainy day
Do not be fooled. There are certainly more positives than negatives in my life right now for I have been truly blessed. I could have gone on and on with my "good" list, and list things like how I always have wifi in my apartment, how I have too many clothes with me and how my family can afford to buy me a new laptop and ship it to me the moment my old one dies. I could count my blessings all day and into the night! I'm so very thankful for this opportunity. My friends and I frequently jump and squeal while walking around Madrid and shout, "We're in SPAIN!" A new friend of mine, Matt, recently spent all day grinning from ear-to-ear and announcing, "I'm so excited!" That's how I feel each and everyday, cold or no cold. Rain or shine.
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