checked off

Remember the first career you thought you wanted as a young child? (I'd love to know...feel free to share it in the comments!) Mine was a veterinarian (although I couldn't even spell it when writing this post). That was soon crossed out when our cat had to have a tube put in her head to drain puss from some kind of wound she'd mysteriously gotten. Then it was a ballerina...I quit that when I was sixteen...it turns out I really didn't like performing in front of hundreds of people. And then, among a host of other careers along the way, it became translator at the U.N.

Well... today, I got my chance.

Shall I tell the long version?? Why not!

Yesterday, my long, dull birthday ended with me wondering what to do about dinner. JP was at work and I thought about going out with just the kids, but we really don't have the money. So then I remembered that Tuesday was dinner night at church and we decided to go. (Keep in mind, I'm pretty sure this is only the second time we've gone since Diego's been born.)

We said our hellos to many friends that were there and sat down to eat. It turns out, two pastors from Cuba, that have a long relationship with our church, are visiting...and THREE different people came up to me to ask me if I'd met them. (Because I speak spanish, of course.) Why, no, I hadn't.

So at the end of the meal, I did meet them, and had a very short conversation about their stay and the cold...stuff I'm sure they were tired of hearing.

But here comes the good part. Their host came up to me a few minutes later and asked if I'd be interested in translating for a meeting they were having (today). He had been emailing JP to see if he could do it (did I forget to mention Juan Pablo and I weren't talking to each other for the last few days?...don't worry, we're fine now)....well, he had told me NOTHING about it...and they hadn't been able to find anybody else. Why, yes, I could!

So I ended up....being the translator....for these two Cuban pastors (it's a husband and wife)....and the Superintendent of the Richmond district of United Methodist Churches. High enough up that my throat was dry and I had butterflies in my stomach as I was driving to the meeting.

I called a close friend just before to pray with me that I could do a good job at translating everything. And I must say, it went extremely well! I only messed up a couple of times, but more importantly, I got to meet this wonderful Cuban couple who are busy doing God's work in their country. We talked about our families, about Cuba, about God's plans and joked and laughed and I had an amazing time.

It is plainly obvious, but I love how God's hands helped to place everyone in the right place at the right time with the right words.

It wasn't the UN, but it was good enough for me. I can cross that off my to do list.

TRANSLATOR AT THE UNITED NATIONS