Jim
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Reading through the Bible – in Spanish
You now see a new graph on the sidebar, as promised. I’ve decided that this new one will chart my current Bible reading project.
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For the last few months I’ve been working my way through the Bible in Spanish. The version is La Nueva Biblia de los Hispanos (NBLH) (also called Nueva Biblia Latinoamericana de Hoy). I really like this version so far. It seems to be an excellent translation, and it uses the grammar common in Latin America, as opposed to Spain Spanish. If you’re going to be in Mexico, I suggest you check this one out.
Anyway, I’ve already started, but I’m planning to actually finish by next June.
I’m actually doing something I’ve never done before – I’m reading through the Bible chronologically. I wouldn’t recommend this approach if this is your first time through the Bible (since it breaks up the thought process of the books), but it does give you a different perspective on how everything fits together. If you’re interested in trying it with me (perhaps in English!), here’s the chronological plan I’m using.
If you want to check out the LBLH, you can buy a copy at ChristianBook.com, or download it for e-sword here. It’s also available for Logos Bible Software. You can read it online here. For more on the principles of translation, visit the Lockman Foundation.
Now to kick things off, here’s my favourite Bible passage from my Spanish Bible:
Pues El nos ha desgarrado, pero nos sanará;
Nos ha herido, pero nos vendará.
Nos dará vida después de dos días,
Al tercer día nos levantará
Y viviremos delante de El.
Conozcamos, pues, esforcémonos por conocer al SEÑOR.
Su salida es tan cierta como la aurora,
Y El vendrá a nosotros como la lluvia,
Como la lluvia de primavera que riega la tierra."
(Oseas 6:1-3)
Meetings and update on Claudia
This evening I was over at Alberto and Claudia‘s house with a few friends. She is home now, and looking well (especially considering all she’s been through the last few days – here’s the back story).
She was sitting up and in the middle of a good Mexican welcome home party. 🙂
Thanks for your continued prayers for Claudia and her family. We praise the Lord that she’s home, but the treatment will be continuing. What lies ahead remains to be seen.
We enjoyed a bit of a personal planning meeting for the coming year with Rod this past week. We still have a lot to discuss, but we’re starting to get more of a picture of what will be happening in the year ahead (stay tuned!).
This went together with a brainstorming and planning meeting I went to for the church on … when was that? The week is a bit of a blur. Well, some evening this past week. I tried to mostly listen and learn, but it’s so great to hear the vision for planting new churches in the future, the vision for outreach to the community, and growth among the believers. There will be lots of great things coming up!
Thanks to those who have been praying this week. Now on to next week….
100% done language study?
For months and months you’ve been watching the little bar on the sidebar of this blog. It illustrated the progress of our language studies at the university in Cuernavaca. Finally, in late spring, it reached 100%. Celebration! But what does that actually mean?
Well, in practical terms it meant that we had finished our studies at the university, and were ready to move on to our "Orientation Year" which we are now beginning. We were finished because we had completed (in theory) a certain level of Spanish, which meant that we (supposedly) could figure out how to basically express our thoughts using correct Spanish grammar.
Sounds good right? Well, slow down cowboy. What does that really mean? Where are we, the Cottrills, at – in real life?
It means that, one day I can carry on a 15 minute conversation with someone. The next day I stand baffled at the checkout counter while the cashier tries to ask me something simple (like "do you have 1 peso so I can give you a 50 peso bill in change?").
It means that I can have a great conversation with a friend, and afterward realize I meant to say,"Maybe you can visit my house" but really said,"We all visited my house".
It means I may have a good vocabulary when it comes to cooking, but not know the word for "stir".
My brain works in mysterious ways, and my Spanish ability varies drastically from day to day. I learn things well, but usually need to hear them first a huge number of times, and then after all that I’ll still forget when I need the word the most! I’m sure a lot of you out there know what I’m talking about.
So yes, we’ve come a long way. And no, we’re not fluent comfortable Spanish speakers. We’ve had more than one person tell us that it was about 5 years before they really were able to comfortably carry on regular conversations. 3 years, 3 months to go! 😉
Thankfully, our leadership considers this year (orientation year) to be a language learning year. It gives us a chance to get out of the school where everyone TALKS VERY CLEARLY, to the "real world" where we have no clue what anyone is talking about (with all their accents, "improper" Spanish, idioms, word play, incomplete words and sentences…).
We will most likely try to work with a tutor for most of this year as well, to continue our more formal language study on top of the regular conversations and interactions we have every day. Hannah and Nathanael will also be continuing school in Spanish.
So now that I’ve explained that, I’ll have to put something new in the sidebar for you to watch!
Please pray for Claudia
Just wanted to stop by to ask you to pray for a friend in our church named Claudia. Here’s the news from Rod Fry’s blog:
Yesterday after a biopsy it was confirmed that the lump that Claudia noticed in the last several months in her chest is malignant. She is scheduled to have a mastectomy either tomorrow or Friday. This news has come as quite a shock to the family and church family. Alberto and Claudia are a key family in the church; Alberto plays guitar during worship and Claudia teaches Sunday school. They have two daughters, Noemi is 7 and Karla is 5.
Not only do Alberto and Claudia do an excellent job in the church, they have already been an encouragement to us personally. Please do pray for her and the family.
More on mastectomies – a summary here, and more detail here. See a picture of Claudia and her family at Rod’s blog, In the Shadow of Volcanos.
First day of school in Mexico City (2008/2009)
It was an early morning here as we got the kids ready for their first day of school. Uniforms on, backpacks ready, lunches packed, breakfasts eaten. I went out to the van – chilly morning, I could see my breath – and everyone got in and away we went.
 Nathanael emerges out of his school after the first day |
We successfully found Hannah’s school. Her classes start earlier than Nathanael’s, so we all went there for the welcome ceremonies, including a presentation of the flag, speeches and introductions of the teachers. Nathanael couldn’t stand still that long, so he and I missed the last bit. He did like the bathrooms there, though, which have a huge painted Superman for the boys and a Wonder Woman for the girls.
With Hannah safely at school, we headed over to Nathanael’s school. We got there just in time, and in he was whisked. Did I even say goodbye? It was all so sudden! These days are certainly more stressful for the parents than the kids, right?
After some time we picked up Nathanael. He was very happy and had lots to tell us – especially that he had eaten all his lunch (although he also told us he had "shared" some of it). He seems to really like his school, and is convinced it’s better than Hannah’s (where all they seem to do is give boring speeches).
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Shari went to pick up Hannah. The traffic was horrendous, so I think we may be looking for alternate routes! However, Hannah had a great day too. I missed the initial excitement, of course, since I didn’t pick her up.
We thought we were doing well getting everything ready for school until today. Hannah got a note home in her bag, telling us that they had forgotten some things that she needed to bring to school. Would we please buy them and have her bring them on Tuesday?
We also got Nathanael’s list of school supplies (they didn’t have a copy when we registered). 60-some-odd different items to buy. Not just one of each, either – several. Having been through this once, we know what most of them are. But there are a few… ! – – and where do we buy these? ! and …. we need them by when??
Well, we’re swamped as usual. But overall, the day went pretty well, everyone likes school, and no one lost a limb. So far so good.
And now that are the parents are rushing around trying to buy last minute school supplies, it’s time to get ready for Christmas! Here’s a photo I took of Nathanael today at WalMart…
Nathanael with an electronic Santa
at WalMart today