The most important lesson of the last six months of my life is: to be who I am without reservation, without restraint. I'm a teacher, not a mushroom. And I participate in a Hispanic church. Therefore, I will write in Spanish first.
Finally, I have made a decision about my Facebook and blog articles: in the future, with one exception that will appear later today or tomorrow, I will write them in Spanish first. So, after I’ve adjusted them and they look good, I’ll use Google’s mechanical translation as the English text.
I know I’ll make some mistakes. I’ll probably make a lot of mistakes! I invite my readers to correct me.
The considerations that were taken into account in this decision are:
1. The most important lesson of the last six months of my life is: to be who I am without reservation, without restraint. In the Holy Spirit, who am I? I’m a teacher, not a mushroom.
2. I must not continue my tantrum with the Lord over my ears. When I first came to Centro Bíblico, I had previously taken a phonology course in 1975 while in college. I already knew that my specific hearing loss could prevent me from reacquiring conversational speech without divine intervention. I came anyway, and I would do it again. The Lord may intervene tomorrow, or after another seven years, or never. That is his decision. In the meantime, I must use the part of the language that I can use.
3. I need to get rid of my fear of criticism for my mistakes. I have to stop listening to the voices of my kindergarten classmates calling me unpleasant names that meant “retarded.” The voices of my critics and my classmates tend to become one in my mind. In my life, I’ve made a lot of bad choices to try to escape these voices. But there’s only one way to overcome them. I must move forward, make mistakes, accept my criticism, and survive it.
4. Finally, if I write in Spanish first, I write simpler. I don’t know how to write a legal brief in Spanish!
Battle joined!