the goal

Ever since I don't even remember when, I've wanted to learn ASL (sign language). I learned to sign the alphabet sometime in my childhood, and my mom gave me a couple books so I could learn some vocabulary. But I could never really focus myself to learn. When I was in college, I knew a Deaf girl at work and we signed a little (wrote notes more often). She tried to teach me some signs; but our job was data entry, so we didn't have much time to use our hands to talk much. Then when Seth was born, I had a real motivation to learn to sign since my baby would almost certainly be delayed in his speech development. I got "Signing Time" dvd's and started learning and teaching him basic signs so that he could communicate his wants and needs. This year, a Deaf minister and his wife whose children attend the same school as mine started teaching ASL at our high school. They and the administrators allowed me to take the class along with the high schoolers. Since the wife is an ASL interpreter, I was both learning ASL and receiving information about what I could do with this knowledge besides communicating with Seth (who by now has started talking more and signing less). So after all these years of trying to figure out "what I want to be when I grow up," I finally know! I'm going to be an ASL interpreter! I've started reading and studying the books that UAA requires for their ASL classes and been in contact with the head of that department. To further learn ASL and Deaf culture, I've been attending Deaf church services on Wednesday nights. And (here's the reason I'm sharing all this information) this weekend I was able to interpret four songs at a ladies' retreat. My teacher and the Deaf ladies said I did a good job, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience! One of the messages God put in my heart from this retreat was that I need to focus more on this goal that He has set before me. Of course, I live with limited free time after all the mom responsibilities; but there is some time that I've used for less than productive activities. I should use as much free time as possible to work diligently at reaching this new path for my life. I'm SO very excited about this gate that God's opening for me -- words typed on a computer screen can't express the excitement at ALL!!

Here's one of my favorite pictures of Seth from a couple years ago. He has SUCH a sweet baby face!!!

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today's song: "You Move Me" by Susan Ashton

You move me
You give me courage I didn't know I had
You move me
I can't go with You and stay where I am
So You move me.

You move me
You get me dancing and You make me sing
You move me
Now I'm taking delight in every little thing
How You move me.