Babble

I started a new job on Monday.

I'm so excited to get started, roll up my sleeves and work. I've been thinking about this for a while, going through the interview process, tying up loose ends at my last job, dreaming (literally) about what it might be like.

I'm getting to do what I want to do, which is communication. Anyone who knows me would probably say that I already do a lot of that. But to communicate effectively, I have to know what I'm talking about.

I wrote a post in college about how difficult it was for me to learn to speak Spanish. I really struggled to find the right words with the right connotations. I cried, occasionally, as I studied. I walked the loop with vocabulary flash cards and stayed after class to ask question after question.

During that time, something really became clear to me:

This is supposed to be hard.

I wanted to get Spanish immediately. I wanted to be fluent, and impress people with my accent and have people ask me if I was from Spain (or Portugal). Instead, I prayed a lot. I hit wall after wall. I studied and practiced and read Huevos Verdes Con Jamon until I finally realized that Zorro means "fox." I did well in Spanish, but I never got cocky.

At the time, I remember reading the story of the Tower of Babel. God's people were full of their own plans. They wanted to make themselves a name, to reach Heaven on their own. It's a great story, and if you haven't read it lately, head over to Genesis 11:1-9. I'll wait.

Once again, I'm learning a new language, the language of an industry, of a company, a culture. It's English, but I'm having to study, go slow, repeat and ask questions that make me feel like I'm back in Spanish class.

But it's also making me pray more. It's making me more humble. Every time I reach out to God, saying that I need help, that I can't get there on my own, it feels like I'm tearing down the Tower of Babel. One brick at a time. What God has scattered, He is gathering back together.