Hindi ~ Romanization and Devanagari

Hindi has become a second language in our family. We started learning some romanized versions many months ago, like 1,2,3 are ek, do, teen and blue, red, green are neela, laal, and hara. We've learned some initial phrases like hello, my name is..., how are you?, etc. It's been great, and we are all very excited for summer vacation to arrive so that we can focus on it much more. I'll even be incorporating Hindi days, where we can only communicate in it. This will be challenging, but fun and beneficial in our learning this language. But, my personal excitement has recently begun with learning the actual Devanagari script. I've pretty much mastered recognizing, reading and writing the first four consanants, which are basically ka, kha, ga, and gha. This became even more exciting when I could locate these letters in actual hindi words, and the realization that once I master the entire Hindi alphabet, I'll actually be able to read in that script...this will open up so many doors to communication when we go to India. And once I learn this, I'll be able to easily teach my kids and husband. Amazing how much more the world opens up when you learn a new language. Even more amazing is the fact that will will not have the usual language barrier that many missionaries face when going to a new country. No, we won't know Marathi, Gujurati, Tamil or many of the other languages of India, but with the knowledge of English and Hindi, we should be pretty well off. Now we just need to find some Hindi speaking people to practice on. :)

A Blessed Life and Oh the Dream

It's been some time since posting. I'm sure there are things I could have written, but life gets so busy at times, especially when you have a family. While praying this morning, I came to the realization that I am truly blessed. I have a wonderful, loving, Godly husband, who is also an extremely loving father to our children. We've had our ups and downs, but through our almost 13 years of marriage, God has sustained us and our love has grown more and more. I also am blessed with the ability to stay home with the two other most important gifts of my life...my son and my daughter. I can hardly believe that she is nearing 8 and he is nearing 10. And the greatest part is that I get to spend so much time with them through homeschooling. Yes, it's difficult at times, but aren't most things that are worth it in life? We have our spats, but what a blessing and privilege it is to help mold and shape these two precious children into people of God. So, here's the crux of the message today...before 13 years ago, I had prayed and dreamed. Prayed so often that God would be merciful to me and allow me the opportunity to meet a man, who would become my husband. That I could share life's experiences with. That prayer was answered. Then, I prayed and dreamed of raising children. I longed to hold a baby in my arms, and know that I was responsible for that little bundle of hopes and dreams. And this prayer was answered, twice. Thus, I am living the dream. Which leads me to another dream. One only God could place in the heart of two typical Americans. India. The realization hit me, that at one time, I prayed and dreamed of being married and having kids, and I'm living that. Just as one day, I'll be living the answered prayer and dream of being in India...not just a trip, but actually living there and doing all I can to lead those people to Jesus. Oh the thought, of how many other wonderful dreams will come to be.