Persevering to Receive a Good Gift

I’ve always loved to read and I used to write a lot more than I do lately... I believe that literacy (the ability to read and write) is one of the very good gifts God had in mind for my life. 

As a child, I remember watching tv shows such as Reading Rainbow and Wishbone whose entire themes were based around engaging children in stories. I loved participating in any program that had a reward of receiving a free book. And, to this day I can still vividly remember getting my first library card at nine years old; the first book I ever checked out from the library was Matilda and I devoured it. 

As an adult I’m the person who reads the entire instruction manual that comes with anything I purchase.  I want to know every tasty detail offered for each option at a restaurant and will spend quite a lot of time reading the menu.  And, at hotels, museums, zoos or any other attraction I can be relied upon to know the specifics of every service included and what will cost extra. 

Literacy is important to me.  One reason is because it enhances my experiences.  As a person with limited sight I’ve never been able to rely on pictures or gestures to help me understand the world around me.  Words often provide details that I would miss out on if they weren’t there.  I love it that God gave us the Bible- such a wonderfully descriptive book to discover who He is, how He does things and what He has for us!

Another reason that literacy is important to me is probably because it’s one of the gifts that I had to persevere for in order to be able to receive.  There were meetings when I was 4 years old (and earlier but I don’t remember those) in which professionals told my Mom that my visual disability would stop me from reading and writing. That it would be too much to expect me to manage literacy plus navigating the world around me. They said I could become Braille literate but that Braille had limitations and we shouldn’t expect too much.  My Mom, very unprofessionally, told those guys that I would learn both. 

As I went to school it took me longer than the other kids to recognize what each letter looked like, I remember going to a special one on one class for an hour every day where we worked with flash cards, magnetic letters and wikki stix.  

It took me longer to learn how to write each letter, I remember the bold lined paper and felt tip markers.  

It took me longer to learn how to make my letters fit in the appropriate spaces, I remember my first grade teacher tearing up my worksheets in front of the class because I wrote the words too big on the lines that were printed there.  

It took me longer to learn how to see whole words and not just letters next to each other, I remember reading my first book in print (Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?) when I was almost 7. 
There were many tears when I was a kid watching my friends learn faster than me...

It took a long time ... and I did it.  

I’m full of gratitude towards the adults who didn’t quit.  If there's someone in your life who is taking longer than expected to get to where God is calling them don't give up.  Recognize and encourage every small step in the right direction.  

It took me almost 8 years of life in Cambodia to build the courage to begin to learn to read and write Khmer.   I’ve heard many with perfect vision say that they began to learn to read and write Khmer only to quit because it is so difficult.  And they weren’t kidding, it is sooo difficult!  Based on Sanskrit, the writing looks nothing like the Roman alphabet and has more than 100 individual characters used to build words- the most in the world! 

With a one on one teacher for less than 3 hours each week God has been asking me to receive the very good gift of learning literacy in a second language... 

It’s taking a long time to recognize each letter, I still  have to practice as I get ច, ថ, ជ and ផ confused quite often.  

It’s taking a long time to learn how to write each letter, my teacher very creatively has used parts of English letters that I already know how to write as stepping stones to help me learn to write the Khmer ones.   

It’s taking a long time to follow instructions to write my letters bigger and not smaller so that “tall” words like ប្អូន can be read clearly even though they don’t fit into one college ruled line in my notebook. 

It’s taking a long time to recognize whole words, there are usually only spaces in between sentences and not each word. 
There are sometimes tears as this adult watches some friends learn faster than her...

It’s taking a long time... and I’m doing it!

The letters on the left are from my very first time trying to write Khmer letters- Jan. 2018.

The ones on the right I wrote just before posting this blog.

Literacy is important to me and I love sharing this good gift with those God puts in my life. I share it through conversations about words and stories, through inspiring Cambodians towards literacy by showing them the gift God gave me in their own language and by speaking about and showing them that sometimes we need to persevere to receive the good gifts God has for us.

Is there something good God has for you and it's taking longer than you expected to receive it...? Or, longer than others expected...?  Learning a new skill? Breaking a bad habit? Maybe creating healthy routines with your finances or eating or sleeping or time with God...? Maybe your family needs a new home or you need a new job... And, maybe you’ve become discouraged and maybe you’ve stopped trying...

God hasn’t quit. He doesn't measure time the way people do and He's never late.  

As long as you’re willing to persevere He’ll be there and He’ll send the right people to encourage and teach you.  Sometimes, like when I was a kid, He’ll surround you with people and circumstances that will push you forward.  And other times, like me learning Khmer literacy, you’ll need to have the courage to ask someone to be part of the process. 

It might take longer than expected but if it's God's calling and you're willing to persevere you can move forward... slow movement is still movement.