Language

This is such an important daily focus of ours even after 9 plus years of being in Togo. We live in English at home and Eve outside our home. Occasionally we get stuck in the "but NO!" all French situation and our pride suffers greatly as we stumble and bumble along. When we got to Togo it was all consuming, language that is. For those of you who know me well, you know what I'm saying. The old eat it, sleep it, and breathe it. I forgot one very important thing, though. I did not even consider the reality that I wasn't the only one who would need to speak the other languages. I did not even consider our kids. I thought, well, you know they're brilliant, like Louise and I. They'll pick it up through absorption. I didn't consider the fact that for all these years they have sat through three hour long worship services not knowing a thing that was being said and singing songs that were rendered meaningless because they didn't have a clue what they were singing. We taught them the basic greetings and salutations, and then wondered why they shied away and wanted to stay home most of the time. If an Eve or Watchi person did approach them their reaction was that of partial tolerance at best. I kept wondering what we were doing wrong. I wondered why our sons were missing out on the great blessings of knowing and loving these people we lived among. It all came down to language and my not recognizing that my family is here as a team. You know, the old "it's all about me" problem. So, this last summer, while the boys thought they should be playing X-Box, they got to suffer through daily language class. It was taught by Rigobert who is a student in the University of Kara. I would love to say that they thanked me for it, you know "getting" to go to school all summer, but alas .... they did. They actually thanked me. That's the kicker. They saw the need, too. I found out that they had longed to be able to communicate as well. Upon asking them what their favorite / most useful phrases have been, they answer (in Eve), "Dzo yi afeme (Leave, go home!)" or "De asi le nuti nye (Get your hands off of me!). It looks like we'll have to work a little on the relationship aspects of it, but hey, praise God, they speak and they love it!