Language & Love

I know many of you are wondering how it's going......learning the language. I am confident that I couldn't imagine a better man in the entire world......AND I couldn't have fallen for a man with a MORE difficult language. Whew. It's tough! I only hear a few words here and there that I understand. It is difficult for me to discern where one word ends and the next word begins. I feel a lot like Charlie Brown, to be honest. :(

Last week I finished my first round of Mongolian lessons. A teacher at ASU (who is obviously talented in languages...being just 24 yo and speaking 4+ of them!) offered four weeks (3 hours each week) of "Survival Mongolian" lessons. While I am by no means speaking in Mongolian, I AM able to read signs and can pronounce *most* of the 36 characters in the Mongolian cyrillic alphabet. This pictures shows the characters. To listen to the sounds that accompany the letters, click here. The Es, Os, and Ys are by far the most difficult; and the L and R are a close second. The R rolls a bit like Rs in Spanish. This language requires a great emphasis on using the back of your tongue and the throat. It's different from English, no doubt. 

I've finished my first phase and intend to invest in a Mongolian tutor after our fall break has gone. It will take me some time to learn this language and I confess that it intimidates me. It's easy to stay inside the English-speaking bubble. I will need to force myself to step outside of it. Soon. In the meantime, I am always interpreting signs and practicing my pronunciations with Zorig. 

This man lets me be me--and that is beautiful!

On to other thoughts..... Remember the movie Jerry Maguire and the infamous line, "you complete me?" Some people took hold of that idea--were moved by it, while others rebelled. I've been musing about the premise in recent days and have my humble thoughts to offer up. 

I do believe we are fully formed individuals, though always evolving and growing, working to discern and determine who we want to become, what we believe, where we want to be, when to pursue life and when to ride the tide, and why we are here. 

I do not believe we need another person to complete us or make us whole. We are complete and whole as individuals (though many are working on this piece). However, I have come to believe and know that there is an extraordinary grace and beauty and wholeness that comes from LOVE WITH/FROM ANOTHER that ALLOWS you to be completely yourself. To be so free in one's skin and self-being, this indeed is a beautiful and supernatural experience. I bask in this kind of love daily. From morning until I rest my head to sleep at night, I am free. I am seen AS I AM and loved and adored for nothing other. I can strangely relate to Maria Von Trapp from the Sound of Music, thinking....I must have done something good to deserve this. Granted, my childhood was idyllic in many ways. I have no dark and twisted past from which I'm trying to recover. My parents loved me and raised me to pursue my dreams. Though I'm sure they had no idea that would include moving to Mongolia for Love! 

Some days I can't help but feel as though I have too much good in my life.  It is a certain slice of dream-like reality. How did I get so fortunate to meet this man? In a world of 7 Billion, what caused our paths to cross? And what gave each of us, individually, the where-with-all to pursue this life together? And then caused us to follow-through? Really.....the pieces of this puzzle are mind-boggling. It's a mystery. And therein lies the beauty of it. I do not want to know why.....don't explain it to me. The mystery is what lends it beauty and magnificence. 

All I know is that I know love in a new and ever-expanding way and it has colored my life in entirely new ways. I will never see or feel the same way again. The past is but a memory.....all we have is NOW.