Q'eqchi School and Ecclesiates

"I have seen what is best for people here on earth.  They should eat, drink and enjoy their work, because the life God has given them on earth is short....They do not worry about how short life is because God keeps them busy with what they love to do."  Ecc. 5:18 & 20

Q'eqchi class , to say the least, is a circus.  Knowing words in Q'eqchi and being able to find/use them in a sentence are two entirely different things.  You may know the word for "to have", but it's a game of find the peanut as you try to find it in a sentence.  If I ask the teacher to explain, the answer without fail is basically, "beacuse it just is".  I have found myself incredibly frustrated because I'm accostumed to being able to master anything I set my mind to master, but Q'eqchi is not one of those things I'm going to be able to...ever.  About a week ago, I decided to just have fun in my classes.  I'm trying to find joy in the work given to me.  My teacher enjoys life and her laugh is infectious, so we laugh quite a bit (I think mostly at my expense, but hey, that's ok).  Things have been much more enjoyable since I've taken this particular attitude, and I have found that I'm actually quite found of my teacher, Zoila.  At the end of each week, she gives me a test which is a lot like opening a box of chocolates.  In the words of Forrest Gump, "You never know what you're gonna get".  Without fail, before the test  Zoila asks that we pray.  We don't exactly pray together as much as we both say our own prayer aloud (very common in the Q'eqchi culture).  As I sat at the desk while we prayed yesterday, I was overwhelmed by a sense of how big our God really is.  Here Zoila sat, praying in a foreign tongue, but I knew she was praying for me because I heard my name mentioned in the midst of the Q'eqchi.  We were praying to the same God about the same thing but in totally different languages.  Then I thought about all the languages of the world and all the prayers that are offered at any given time to our God.  And we are really all asking Him for the same thing; for a tiny part of His kingdom to come here on earth.  I know that's what we are asking for in the valley...for the people there to be able to see His kingdom through us and that we will find joy in the work He gives us to do there.

And then I think about the people of the valley.  They don't have anything compared to what we are used to having, but they find joy in the work they do.  They, more than us, realize that life is short, and I think they have a better handle on what Solomon is saying in the midst of his cynicism.  Enjoy life!!!  It is a gift from God, and it is gone before you can turn around.  Life is hard;  the people in the valley know this.  They spend an awful lot of time smiling, though.  They don't have 401K's that are wrapped up in a failing stock market, or lots of electronics to maintain.  They have more time to eat, drink and be merry.  It's not a feast by any means, but it's what has been given them, and they are content in ways that I do not see in myself.

So, this weekend I'm trying to practice Solomon's words of wisdom.  There are sounds of my children playing happily outside.  There is the wonderful aroma of pepian wafting through the house, and there is the beauty of God's creation surrounding me on all sides.  I think I'll eat, drink and enjoy my work today.