kellybell wrote:...Spanish, French, German, Latin, Gaelic, Russian Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Hebrew? What am I skipping? We need to narrow it down to one language and have all four kiddos take the same language. So, what language are you taking? AND WHY? We're still praying...
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 2:14 pm
Hi Kelly :)
Oh, this is a subject near & dear to my heart...
I am a language person. If I could, I would study as many languages as possible! I took French in HS because I wanted to go to Paris one day (talk about your dumb reasoning...). Loved it & eventually did go to Belgium, France, Switzerland, etc., & got to use a bit of it! What a rush!!
Like you, I've been holding off purchasing RS, primarily because of the financial investment. While I realize French would be soooo much easier to work on together, I just can't make that make sense in real life ~ and I'm all about making it work in real life.
Here's a bit of my prayer process, in case that helps:
1 ~ who are the people in my community that our family could bless by knowing their language? Spanish would be the obvious choice in this area as well.
2 ~ I am praying for, but have not been shown a clear path for my children's life-callings. Since I haven't been shown that Max will be a missionary in Mozambique or Halle will be a pastor's wife in Moscow, the practical side of this mom kind of takes over. HOWEVER, all the while, I am praying for a sensitivity to the Spirit as He's leading my children. If His passion is stirred in them toward a specific culture, I want to be ready to help them down that path as fully as possible. He will provide the finances for the training if/when it's needed.
Here are my conclusions at this point:
I feel very strongly that we are "home" missionaries living in the US. I don't live in Mozambique & right now my husband feels no particular calling for foreign missions. I feel that it is a very practical, loving choice to not only ask my children to learn Spanish, but to learn it myself as well. If & when the Lord places a burden or desire for another people group, we will hop on it! But until that time, as a person called to love people in the place I currently live, the choice for me, today, is Spanish. Left solely up to me, I'd probably pick something else ~ German, Chinese, Russian, Japanese; But because I can love the Spanish-speaking community around me by learning their language, that answers one of the calls on my life in Christ and makes it pretty easy for me to choose.