After having Sasha home now for nearly two weeks, what is the number one question that I hear? You may have already guessed it. "So, how do you communicate if she doesn't speak English?" I'll admit I was really worried about how we would communicate, but I'm learning that talking can sometimes be overrated.
Talking is easy. As a parent, it's often the easy way out for me. You know what I'm talking about- nag, nag, nag, blah, blah, blah. Give me a couple of seconds and I'm easily in lecture mode. With Sasha I am being forced to develop new muscles. I have to really think through what I communicate and how I communicate it.
I really found myself thinking about this as I read John 14:1-14 earlier this week. In verse 11 Jesus says, "Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do." Believe. The disciples can believe because they have experienced the very character of the Father through Jesus. They have been with him so much and are so close to him that they know who he is and they can believe in their experience. Jesus follows this by saying that if they cannot accept believing in their experience, then at least believe in what they have seen him do.
One proof is experiencing him. Another lesser proof is what they see- his actions. Amazingly, what they hear Jesus say is not even mentioned. He is not asking them to follow him because of what he says. This is very comforting to me because what I say to Sasha right now doesn't count for much. She cannot believe in something that she cannot understand. Sasha sees what I do. My actions do count, but this passage implies that what she experiences when she is with me is what really matters. When she experiences me, does she experience the Father? That is the question. That is all that really matters.
Words are cheap. Actions are important, but watching is done from a distance. Experiencing someone is intimate and touches the very heart of a person. I want Sasha to experience the Father through me the same way the disciples experienced him through Jesus. This means that I have to experience the Father myself. I cannot pass something on to her that I do not have myself.
All that being said, I look forward to the day that Sasha is fluent in English and we can have long, meaningful conversations with each other. But until then, I'm leaning in and learning new parenting and communication skills. Hey, does anyone know the Russian word for.................
