Language School Jitters

Well, it's official. We visited the language school on Monday to arrange for starting our classes. We will begin on August 13....a week from next Monday. Seth, Jake and Caleb will also be going. They will take a 4-6 month course while Joe and I will be in for a minimum of a year. When I say it that way it kinda sounds like a prison sentence, doesn't it? I have lots of good reasons for being excited about language school, yet I find myself dreading it a tad. It's been a long time since I've been a student. So many pregnancies have killed thousands, perhaps even millions, of my formerly useful brain cells.
Now I feel as though my brain is:

one part Jello (or more likely Coca Cola Zero),

(b) a bit of Scripture,

(3) a spotty memory center for recipes, chores, and schedules

(d) my kids' names on a good day and

(5) from time to time there are nagging reminders of things I once knew.

These moments are most clear when trying to help my teens with their math. I once was a math major. Now it all escapes me. I hate ellipses, hyperbolas, distance formulas and everything related to them. (Can you tell what Jake is learning in his math?) Everything escapes me...where I put my money, keys, and sunglasses. The key thing can be maddening here in Bolivia since we must keep our gate padlocked. Therefore, when someone rings the gate bell I must go out and tell them to wait uno momento while I search frantically for my key to let them in. Here’s a scenario that happens to me on a regular basis: I send one of my children to carry out some needed task. They come back and tell me why they couldn't accomplish the goal and I can't even remember what I had told them to do. Many times I also send one of them to do something, then later ask "Where is (fill in the blank with the sent child's name)? I forget that I was the one that sent them on a task!! Often I will call a child and by the time they come to me, I've forgotten why I called them. They say all of our memories are filed neatly in our brains, well evidently I've lost the, the, the....what do you call that? Oh yeah, index. I've lost the keys that unlock the intelligent part of my brain. Sure, on most days I can carry on a conversation with one of my preschoolers, but beyond that I seem to struggle.

I know I wasn't always this way. I remember meditating on complex and deep things. I also believe that I used to be able to communicate multi-syllabically. But of course I can't know for sure since I can't really remember what or when. I also have the attention span of a flea. I flitter from one thing to another. I embark on typing an entry to my blog and remember that I must put in some laundry. (Hey, at least I remembered before we were all out of socks and undies!) Then I begin sorting laundry and decide I must start something for lunch. I go to the kitchen and see dishes that need to be put away, do this, clean the kitchen and then go back to my computer forgetting the lunch and the half sorted laundry. I get distracted more easily than a kindergartener. This is part of growing older I know. I am over 40 now. However, I could definitely use some of those long-gone brain cells as I begin to learn Spanish.

I suppose this could be considered a plea for help. A plea for prayer. Please pray that I will be able to learn what I need to and won't be too overwhelmed in language school. We will be going for 3 hours a day 5 days a week. That's like 15 college credit hours of all Spanish. Plus, there is an additional 3-5 hours a day of homework, work with a tutor and going out into the community to practice my Spanish. My brain feels like mush just thinking of it. So, would you please commit to praying for me as I begin learning Spanish. It is of utmost importance. I must give it my best shot as feeble as I might be. I have been praying for the gift of languages. Actually only the gift of language (singular)...Spanish. I know that God is able to give me this gift and I so desire it. Yet I know that if He withholds it from me it is because He will give me the capability to learn it without His supernatural input. I'm still hoping though. Either way I need His help for this gargantuan task set before me. I can not do it on my own. Thanks for your prayers and even fasting for me on this if you feel led. I would fast as well, but I always forget and eat. :>)