Yesterday a group of friends met up to talk and we started on the topic of humility (Isa. 2). We discussed how often students and their parents don't treat teachers with respect, especially here where the teachers at the school are a couple classes lower than the families of the students. We discussed how that is hard it is to strive for excellence without seeking the praise for it and how difficult a balance it is to stay truly humble while still knowing and using our strengths.
Today was, for the most part a normal day. At the end of the day, I had tutoring and after tutoring the mom wanted to talk to me. This was complicated, because we had to work through her son to translate everything we said. After this, I was going to join a group to play ultimate frisbee. However, whenever I told the taxi drivers where I wanted to go, they asked me something in Arabic that I really did not understand, so I could not respond to them, so I waived them on. This is always a humbling experience. After a few taxis I got tired and gave up and decided to walk home instead. On my way home, I felt so tired. I'm tired of not knowing the language. I'm tired of not being able to communicate. I'm tired of not understanding the culture. I'm tired of not knowing my way around.
Here I am, sitting and realizing that in my tiredness, all I can do is rest in God's arms and trust that He will do the rest. I am realizing more each day what it means to truly be a humble servant of the Lord and follow Him wherever He leads, even if it is not easy. I am realizing how difficult it is to be humble, and yet our Shepherd who leads us is the perfect example of humility and wants us to follow in his footsteps.
This morning, I realized that the word 'holy' sounds very similar to the Arabic word for sheep. In thinking about that, I thought about how the Israelites had to kill a sheep in order to be holy (cleansed of all their sin). I also thought about the sheep who sacrificed himself for all our sins and how as a perfect representation of humility, he was also perfectly holy.
We're also on the tired side as we read your message, and as the song that we're listening to says, "tenemos puesto la mirada en nuestro redentor. La victoria es segura." You're posting on humility and the lamb is very true and we give thanks to God for the perfect sacrifice. Interesting how the classes affect even the relationship between students and teachers, that must be difficult for the students to accept correction. We look forward to hear a lot from your experiences and your take on those things. We didn't realize how class-structured the country was, we wonder if other countries in Africa are like that too.
ReplyDeleteLili's home for thanksgiving and will try to call or skype, possibly on Friday or Saturday if either of those days is convenient for you. Will's family leaves for Michigan THursday. We're all doing fine, Lili's visit was a surprise in that she came home Tuesday evening instead of today (wed). The first thing we've done as a family is to write to you. We're happy for your experience in Morocco though at times we realize it would have its challenges.
You look nice in the pictures, even thinner. this may sound a bit strange, but mom and dad are randomly putting in their ideas while Lili serves as the scribe. We love you and we miss you. Love and Blessings,
Mom, Dad & Lili