Speak to Me ***Fiction***

“M'entendez-vous?/Do you hear me?” he calls. “M'entendez-vous?”
“Yes,” I think to myself. “I’ve always heard you.”
So I respond in my own tongue, “Te escucho. Yo simplemente no quieren hablar su idioma de hoy./I hear you. I just don’t want to speak your language today.”

“Qu'est-ce?/What?” is all that he says in return. At that point I just give up, look at him quizzically and smile. After another round of “M'entendez-vous’s” he gives up and walks away grumbling.

As he walks away, I think back to when we first met. That day at the coffee shop. That day that started out like any other, but felt extra alive. Like the very air I was breathing was electrified. Nothing special happened before I went to the coffee shop, but I expected something to happen. Something wonderful or magical. Something different. So I decided to stop at a little coffee shop to just enjoy the day. And as I sat there sipping my sugary mocha, he presented himself and the air took notice.

“Hola,” he said, “Como esta usted?/How are you?” Then he smiled and the air was sucked out of the room. As I struggled to catch my breath, I glanced around the room and noticed that everyone else looked unfazed by the lack of air. Hadn’t they felt that?

“Bien, y tu?” I responded.

“Bueno. ¿Disfruta de su café?/Well. Are you enjoying your coffee?” He quickly answered. And that is how the conversation started. After hours of coffee and stimulating conversation, I was pleasantly surprised. “Wow,” I thought, “He is speaking my language… well.” In my experience most guys that I meet can only say a few words in my language and quickly revert back to their native tongue. But this man spoke my language not only well, but beautifully.

And that was the start of our relationship. It was freeing speaking one tongue. If I saw something funny, I didn’t have to wonder if he “got it” or if the humor was lost in translation. We were linguisticly synced. Heated discussion of politics (“Él es un ladrón!/He is a crook!” or passion “me prendió fuego/You set me on fire” didn’t need explanation. He spoke my language so well, that slowly I began to learn his.

I admit I was tentative at first. My natural “Hola” hesitantly greeted him with “Bonjour.” My “te amo” changed to “je t'aime” not because he asked me to learn his language, but because I was happy to embrace his world as fully as he embraced mine. Being in love will do that. I enjoyed being able to converse with him in his natural tongue. I wanted him to see that I loved him enough to learn all about him, including his language.
As our lives grew more entangled, so did our words. A “Qu'est-ce que pour le diner/what’s for dinner?” was easily answered with “arroz con pollo/chicken with rice.” Our respective languages flowed together so much we joked that we had created a third language – our own.

But over time, our language gave way to his. I don’t know when it happened. I can’t pinpoint the moment when “bonjour” became my greeting. Not just as a tribute to my love of him, but actually as the only greeting that felt right. I don’t know when we quit communicating in both languages and selected only one- his. I don’t remember voting on this. I don’t remember being asked my opinion. I just remember the moment I realized that my language was gone. I was walking down the street and heard a woman speaking to her friends. She was laughing and smiling and the words flowed so effortlessly from her mouth. I don’t know what the conversation was about but I know that it was joyous from her facial expressions. “Chica déjame decirte../Girl, let me tell you…” was how it started before the group drew closer to get all of the juicy details. But hearing my language gave me pause. I was surprised because I hadn’t heard my tongue in such a long time that the sound of it made me homesick. As I headed home, I forced myself to only think or sing in my language. I was determined to remember who I was or who I had been.

When I arrived home, I attempted to speak to him. “Hola?” I called out to announce my arrival. He responded with “Bonjour.” I tried it again, “Cómo fue su día?/How was your day?” And he paused and looked at me quizzically.
“Qu'est-ce que vous avez dit/what did you say?” He asked.
“Cómo fue su día?” I repeated.
“Je ne vous comprends/I don’t understand you.” He said, “le dire clairement/ say it plainly.” Meaning say it my way. So I did. I used his words.

We went on like this for days. Me speaking my language only to eventually switch over to his. But this morning I had it. I wasn’t in the mood to use his words. I didn’t want to speak his tongue. I wanted to only use my palabras/words.

So here we are. He is calling out, “M'entendez-vous?/Do you hear me?”
“Yes,” I think to myself. “I’ve always heard you.”
So I respond in my own tongue, “Te escucho. Yo simplemente no quieren hablar su idioma de hoy./I hear you. I just don’t want to speak your language today.”

“Qu'est-ce?/What?” is all that he says in return. At that point I just give up, look at him quizzically and smile. After another round of “M'entendez-vous’s” he gives up and walks away grumbling.

And I answer back so that my words are heard plainly, “au revoir, mon amour. Goodbye, my love.” And as I head to the door I pass my reflection in the mirror.“Me alegro de verte otra vez/Nice to see you again.”

Your Prayer Life

What are you praying for? And who are you praying for? Are you praying for anyone beside yourself? Are you praying for tangible items (house, car, promotion) or are you praying for God's will to be done in your life? Are you doing childish prayers -"now I lay me down to sleep"- or are you really talking to God, seeking Him?

I can't tell you the right way to pray. I am sure there are those that think I have it all wrong. But I can tell you to pray. Talk to Him. Seek Him. There are two bits of wisdom that were given to me that I will pass along.

The first came from my friend LaCheryl Tucker. She told me to write my prayers down and put them in my Bible.

Try these: Matthew 7:7 " 7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

or James 4:2-3 "2You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."

And another friend: Mardell S. Redd has come up with this book to assist you in organizing your prayer life. Take a look. (uneed2pray.com)



And one final note: after you talk to God, make sure you listen for His answer.

Tramaine Hawkins "Holy One"

Lyrics to Holy One :
[Verse 1:]
Day is almost night,
I don't want to lose this fight,
I've fooled around much too long.
Now I've been laxed,
but I don't want to look back
I know that I've done wrong.

[Verse 2:]
Give me the strength I need
to be able to succeed,
and I will heed to Your every command.
And to everyone I'll show,
my purpose and my goal,
and in You, I'll be able to stand.

[Chorus:]
Holy one,
I never want to let you down no more.

Neysa's Note: Do I really need to say anything more? What more can I say than "God I want to be exactly where you want me to be?" Be Blessed.