Jay and I have been realizing more and more the blessing in English being our first language.
Last month, I was living in Chiang Mai, Thailand, a huge tourist destination for travelers from all over the world. While visiting the night markets, we would hear people with German, French, Chinese and you-name-it accents…and how would they barter and haggle with the Thai people? English.
Here in Malaysia, only 50% of the population is Malay. Chinese, Indian, Indonesian and various others make up the other 50%..and how do they communicate with each other EVERY day? English.
We’ve ridden in taxis all over Central America and Southeast Asia and how have we always ended up at our desired destination? English.
Every airport, bus station and train station has English signage.
Every bookstore sells English dictionaries.
Every church has English Bibles.
Every country has English translators.
Travelling will be easier for the rest of my life because I was blessed to learn English. This isn’t something I chose or that my parents even consciously did for me. It was just a blessing that I didn’t even realize until Jay brought it up a few weeks ago. I lived 27 years of my life taking this HUGE blessing for granted, and I don’t want you to do the same.
You see, the Word of God tells us to take the gospel to every tongue, tribe and nation. My personal conviction is that knowing English has put a call on my life to do just that. I could make a long list of Moses excuses, but at the end of the day, He has already equipped me with everything I need to fulfill His good purpose for my life. One of the ways He has done that is through English.
This huge realization made me ponder a bit and I challenge you to ask yourself:
What other blessings or giftings am I ignorant of and how could I better steward them?
Every good and perfect gift is from above…
James 1:17
Today, thank God for the blessing of being able to read, write and speak English. The English language is more universal than you think and though we have had a handful of snafus in translation, we are BLESSED beyond belief. I cannot begin to imagine how much more difficult this trip would be without this incredible blessing. Thank you, Father!
Jenn Dannelley
