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My love for Julie Andrews is somewhat unexplainable. I just love that dame (a female knight – literally.)

But recently I was blessed to go to an Evening of Conversation with Julie Andrews. And as I walked into the beautifully adorned Chicago Theater while the music from the ball sequence when Cinderella walks into the palace plays, it suddenly hits me: beauty. Beauty is what a love about Julie.

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When the helicopter rounds on her in the mountains and the orchestra rises to meet it at the beginning of The Sound of Music: beauty. When the father is able to show his children love again because of his life lesson from Mary Poppins: beauty. When she tap dances the elevator up and down as a roaring Thoroughly Modern Millie: beauty. When she sing-speaks in Princess Diaries 2 like a whisper of her golden days: the sweetest hint of beauty.

I once had a friend tell me, “She’s not really that person you know.” “I know.” “The woman in those movies – that’s not really her.” “I know.” “She’s not really like that in real life.” “I know.” And I do know that famous people are not the characters they play. But just like Hanson is my favorite band because of Jesus, Julie is my favorite actor because of Jesus. Jesus uses her to lead me to beauty.

Jesus/God/Holy Spirit is the most beautiful thing – ever. E.V.E.R. Sunrise over the mountains? Breathe taking. Timelapse in high def of the stars moving through the sky? A jaw-dropping wonder. A thundering wave making a perfect circle as it crashes in on itself? There are no words. Women? Holy Smokes. But compare them to Jesus and they can’t even hold a flame. So minuscule.

Jesus likes to show us parts of him and that’s why we have so many stop-and-stare-glories on Earth. He likes to show off his beauty, his generosity, his power, his gentleness, himself. So he’ll use whatever he can to make that happen. And for me, he uses Julie Andrews. It doesn’t matter how many times I watch her singing “Your Crowning Glory” in Princess Diaries 2, I cry every time. Just thinking about it now I have tears rolling down my cheeks.

What’s Jesus doing to show off for you these days? Think of the things you love most, I bet he’s there.

There’s something you’ve been learning since birth. Even before birth. You’ve been learning the language of your mother. Your father. The people around you. And you’ve grown into that language. And guess what, that makes you an expert. Most experts only have to study like 8 years to be considered an expert, and you’ve definitely been studying your mother language for more than 8 years. Unless you’re Deaf.

I often get told, “I’m not even good at English,” when I tell people that I study the world’s languages and how they work. Or, “Don’t study my English.” You have a lifetime of knowledge, and you don’t think that matters. It does! You’re an expert! You can create new words in the rules that bind English. You know when something sounds wrong. And you knew it when you were a kid. Three-year-olds can question a person’s pronunciation. My 5-year-old nephew is constantly amazing me with his English skills. He’s never gone to school to study English.

You are an expert.

It’s true that you might not talk like a President you respect. You probably definitely don’t talk like your English teacher… unless you are an English teacher. And you probably fumble your words sometimes. Still an expert. You probably sound like your friends. You probably have no problem communicating with someone you see every day. (Well, as far as your word choice. Communication and understanding are still very hard.) And, you could meet someone you’ve never met before that’s “not from ’round here,” and still communicate. Because you’re an expert.

If I were coming to your town to do a survey, I’d want to talk to someone just like you. Someone who learned their language from birth, who isn’t hoity-toity, and who talks with people who use the same language. Because that’s the group of people that are the experts.

But, I work with a language group that doesn’t get their language from their parents – most of the time. I work with a language group that has to go outside of the home to learn any words. They have to leave their house to actually understand someone. They have to leave their neighborhood to have something in common with someone else. (That is until they get a home of their own and get to choose the language used there.) But a group of people who didn’t start learning language before they were born doesn’t always result in experts. I’ve met a Deaf person who didn’t start learning language until “a year ago” and he was 50! I couldn’t ask him his sign for “island.” He didn’t have one.

Survey work is hard. And not just because of the travelling and linguistics and scheduling and word lists. It’s hard because I meet people who aren’t fluent in their only language. I meet people who don’t have a relationship with their parents because they can’t communicate. I meet people who don’t know words like “forgiveness,” “Jesus,” and “island” (even though they lived on an island!)

I’m thankful for my expertise in my mother tongue, and I hope you’ve gained a new respect for yours.

Something that most people know about me – I love Hanson. I love their sound. I love their humor. I love their humanness. I love their dedication to their fans and to their community. But mostly, I love their lyrics. Because Jesus speaks to me through their lyrics.

For example, a couple years ago I was feeling like the lyrics from “Save Me From Myself:”

Cecilia with flowers in her hair was like the sun, brought me to life
And I can’t tell you for the life of me why I would choose to let it burn out

I wish I was numb, alone here in my cell
Something in my heart is making me not feel so well
Won’t you save me from myself

I remember sitting in my car and feeling like I couldn’t explain how I felt, but it was a lost feeling, but a lost feeling that I had put on myself. And then this song comes through my speakers and I’m like – YES! That’s it.

So, I go inside and I’m sitting in my room and I ask my Google home to play some other Hanson song. That song ends and then through the speakers comes this super deep cut that I’ve hardly ever heard before – “Never Let Go.” And I just start weeping. Jesus had played a song in response to how I was feeling in the one way he knew I would hear him. Here’s what he told me:

Just cry out
Yeah I’ve cried those tears before
I can feel it now
As your teardrops hit the floor

‘Cause you know
That I’ll love you and never let go
And you know
That I’ll love you forever
I’ll love you and never let go
Yes I love you and never let go

So, I love Hanson because Jesus uses them to tell me about myself, about himself, about our relationship, and how to process my emotions.

But, there is one song that I’ve never really been able to understand. It’s just well, to be honest, weird. It’s called “Yearbook” and it came out on their first album. I blame their youth. It’s a song about a missing picture in a yearbook and they don’t know where Johnny went and no one will tell them.

Where did he go?
I wanna know.
Tell me where did Johnny go?
It says “picture unavailable” right here.
More than sad, it makes me mad
To know somebody knows.
I see lying in your silence.
Tell me where did Johnny go.

Weird.

Every year, Hanson has this member’s only event in Tulsa. And I’ve gone for like seven years now. And I can’t tell you all the ways Jesus has used this time to reset my spirit and mind. How many times I’ve cried in the back of Cain’s ballroom. I love it. Well, before Hanson Day in 2018, Hanson was teasing us fans with hints of “String Theory,” but we had no idea what it was. Hanson Day came and they revealed that String Theory was actually a symphony of their music! A story line of their work – performed with an entire huge orchestra! Well, you can image that I was thrilled!

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They had already announced shows that they were playing around the country and the closest one to me was either in Chicago, Dallas, or Colorado. Those are all far away. But, Jesus told me, “Go to the one in Nashville.” So, I went out to the car and bought my tickets to “String Theory” in Nashville. Even though that sounds like a crazy idea.

That was in May. October came and I drove all night to my friend’s house in Tennessee. I got to spend the weekend with this friend and talking about life. (Remember, this is the time in my life when I feel, well, the worst – ha.) Then, I go to “String Theory.” And I’m crying the entire time, I love it so much. And it’s so beautiful. And it’s this story of a boy with a dream and the outside world is telling him he’s crazy for pursuing it, but he’s denying them all and going after it anyway. And then he gets knocked down, and beaten, and bruised. And then – they play “Yearbook.” And I cry harder than I have been the entire night because for the first time, I understand it and it’s piercing me to my core. Because the boy from String Theory is Johnny and he doesn’t know where he himself went. He’s looking through the empty halls and doesn’t recognize himself. And for the first time in a long time, I felt close to Jesus. Like he was telling me about myself again.

It’s just beautiful. Listen to String Theory, it could change your life. But my point – I was in a rotten place in 2018. Sad most of the time. Missing community. Missing Jesus. Feeling closer to him and farther away from him than ever before. Kinda down on life. But, when I listened to Jesus and bought a ticket to a concert half-way across the country – he gave me a joy that I will never forget.

Jesus doesn’t just tell us what to do to save us from danger or keep us from doing bad things. Sometimes he tells us what to do because he wants our hearts to soar with happiness. Answer the call. It’s worth it.

Do you have a story of when you answered the call? Share it below!

Here’s some more great stories to read:
Dry Land
Generosity

Disclosure – I will not give away major plot points in this blog. But I will tell specific quotes, song lyrics, or minor scenes. That’s you warning. Read at your own risk.

I saw Frozen II and it did not disappoint. In fact, I went back and saw it again only 2 days later. And then went back a couple weeks later. I don’t want to talk it up too much – that can get a person excited just for them to be let down when they go see it. But I definitely recommend you seeing it.

But, every time I see it, or listen to the soundtrack, there is one line that throws me.

“Hope is gone.”

All my life, I’ve been taught that there is hope. Hope never leaves. “Hope guides me. It’s what gets me through the day.” Hope is the only thing that can remain. But here, Anna sings that her hope is gone. Wait, what?

There’s an episode of Lois and Clark the New Adventures of Superman where Mxyzptlk comes and takes away tomorrow. “You take away tomorrow, you take away hope.” But Superman never lost his hope. And it was because of his endurance and patience that they were able to banish Mxyzptlk back to the 5th dimension.

But there is an Enemy with one goal, separate you from Jesus. One little piece of doubt, one festering thought can grow and now you can’t see tomorrow. You can’t see any good. Anna, at this point in the movie, feels all alone. And she loses her hope.

And now I realize, that I have been a fool. Hope can definitely leave. (Fool might be too strong of a word – but I was blessed with parents who made me naive to the desperation of the lost.) Because some people have nothing that is hope-worthy. They’ve given up on Jesus or don’t even know he exists. And that’s why they lose hope. But the best part of any story – the main character – Jesus! The embodiment of hope. The reason we all can sing. The reason we can endure and banish evil. You, dear friend, have access to eternal hope. Your hope never has to be gone.

It takes a bold person to say, “I choose hope.” Depression, desperation, detachment, destitution – those are far easier. Be bold, friends. Choose life. Choose the hard path, it’s much more worth it.

Disclosure – Depression can sneak into a life with hope. Because life has to be fought for. I’ve fallen into its grasp. And I’m not saying hope stops depression. But hope combats it.

You’ve probably heard of the 5 love languages. You know, the ways that you feel or show love. I’m not an expert on the love languages but they are as follows:

Physical Touch
Acts of Service
Quality Time
Gifts
Words of Affirmation

In the past, people have asked me what my love language was. And, if you know me, you know I hate personality tests and refuse to answer those type questions. But love languages, I am apt to answer. But my answer is something like, “Knowing what the other person’s way of showing love is, and then realizing they’re doing that to me – that’s my love language.” Or, “When someone does something intentionally and I notice that they’ve done it on purpose, that is my love language.”

So, I’m not opposed to the 5 love languages. Personally, I really like giving gifts. But, I’ve always kinda felt like there was more to it.

Recently, I was at a conference about reunion with God. About fighting against the Spirit of Death and the Spirit of Hatred to restore ourselves to the union Jesus talks about when he says, “I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you.” At this conference, the speaker was praying and he said, “Love is Your language.”

My linguist mind blew up! This opened so many doors for me. Love itself is a language?! What a relief. What a joy. If you think about it, every thing Jesus does in the New Testament is love. E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. When he clears out the temple – love. When he touches the leper – love. When he walks away from all the people waiting to meet him – love. When he calls the pharisees white washed tombs – love. When he tells Peter, “Get behind me, Satan” – love. When he lets all the children crawl all over him – love. Those things don’t all fall into the five categories listed above. But they would work if love is a language. With morphology, phonology, syntax, pragmatics and all the facets that make up a language.

Love does not get only 5 definitions to try to fit into. It has countless words with infinite variations of word order. Which makes it impossible to fully understand. Especially since it is our second language. But, God’s been teaching it to us since day 1. It’s his first language and He uses it so well. He loves you in more ways than you can express and he’s showing you in infinite ways every day. Think of that sunset you saw today. Or that warm chocolate chip cookie. Or that swift kick in the behind.

Don’t limit God’s love. Ask him to show you how he’s loving you today. Because I can guarantee you he is. Don’t let the Enemy take away your union with God. Don’t let the Spirits of Hatred and Death assault your ability to hear God’s language.

I’ve made two New Year’s Resolutions that lasted the whole year. Out of the years of New Year’s Resolutions I’ve made. But 2018 and 2019 were good years for me – as far as resolutions go.

In 2018, I resolved to fast one day a week. And I went the whole year and fasted one day a week. And it became a part of my routine that for most of 2019 I also fasted one day a week. You can hear more about that in this vlog I made a year ago: click here.

In 2019, I wanted to fall in love with reading again. So, the plan was to read a book a month. And by George, I did it! Some months I read 4 books. And some months I was up until early hours on the 30th to make sure I finished. But, I’m glad I did it. Because I fell in love with reading again. I learned new things. I got to imagine – pure (as in clean) imagination. And I got to read the shelves of books that have been sitting in my room for years waiting for my fingers to come pick them up.

I got reacquainted with Anne. I dived into Betsy’s world. I got to walk through a wardrobe, fall through a frame, and run through a door in a schoolyard. Healed some wounds. Learned about a hero of mine, and much more.

Why were these resolutions successful?

I think it is because they sparked something in me. The fasting helped me learn things about myself and led to so much growth. I woke up on Wednesday mornings and wanted to fast.

And reading books rekindled a desire in my heart – to be swept away in a story. To lose myself not in TV or my phone, but in adventure and growth.

Both resolutions weren’t about punishing myself and determining to just do better. They were about growing and sparking joy. They were about life.

In your 2020 resolution making process, look for the things that will bring you life and resolve to do them.

I wanted to take a moment to share how blessed I am to know you and have you in my life. This past year, I have been reminded over and over again that I couldn’t be doing what I was doing if it weren’t for people like you. Not only am I thankful for everyone who’s helped me financially, but all the prayers, the asking me how I’m doing, the listening to my stories, the interest in my life – I can’t tell you how much it means to me.

I visited many of you this year and you welcomed me, took care of me, told me about your walk, and shared life with me. I’m so blessed by your stories and your work.

I think of each one of you and see your story. I see your beautiful soul. I see how special you are. Not stop-eating-the-paste-special, but an interesting and intriguing and appealing special. Your story is important. Your soul is important. And I’m so glad for both of them.

So, thank you for being vulnerable. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for sharing your life with me. Thank you.

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When I was in high school, my sister approached me and told me, “Mom says that you’re the worst at being social. First it’s this sister, then this sister, then me, and then you.” While I was hurt, I couldn’t really deny it.

You see, one sister is an extrovert with so much life knowledge that she can actively participate in pretty much any conversation. The next sister has an English degree and such a witty personality that she can eloquently and interestingly explain herself and keep you entertained at the same time. And the last sister has such an imagination that any time she opens her mouth, she grabs the attention, adoration, and interest of any group. And I was an introvert who is so afraid of looking like an idiot AND felt like I had hardly anything in common with most people that I preferred to stay quiet and listen than participate in conversation.

So, she wasn’t wrong. And today people don’t necessarily mind being socially awkward. They even boast about it on social media. But, it was like one of those situations in a movie: “The only person who gets to call my brother a moron is me!” Except this time it was, “The only person who can call me socially awkward is me!”

Nonetheless, I wanted to get better. I am still not on the same level as my sisters – how could I compete with that – but linguistics school taught me some lessons that help me better communicate with family, friends, and strangers. Today, I’m more of an ambivert who isn’t afraid to talk to new people, the lady at the supermarket, the uncle I only see once a year, or the long lost friend who gets back in touch.

Here’s three tips to help you better communicate with your family and friends, too:

1. Don’t ask questions you already know the answers to

I think this one is very important. If you want to really communicate with someone, that is. I don’t wear shoes – as you may know. Many times I get stopped in the grocery store by old people who say, “Did you forget something?” They already know the answer. And they don’t care about my response. Which is fine for a random lady in a random store. Lighthearted chatting between two citizens. Great. But this isn’t good style when you’re trying to talk to a family member.

Don’t ask them a question you already know the answer to. Because that means you’re not interested in the answer. And that means you won’t listen to the answer. Set yourself up for success and ask things that you actually want to know. And if that’s hard for you, fake it til you make it. Practice being interested. It’ll become natural after you practice.

2. Pay attention to the other person’s communication style

One of my favorite things I learned about is Relevance Theory. Relevance Theory states that people communicate with as few words as possible based on what they know their audience already knows. Take for example this story:

My Great Aunt Mary Lou makes the best beef and noodles around. I mean, she makes the noodles from scratch – thick but thin, the perfect size – and the beef is tender and brilliant.

The first time I mentioned Aunt Mary Lou, I used her full name. The second time I said “she” because I knew you knew who that referred to. Inside the – -, I didn’t even say noodles, but I knew you knew what I was referring to. This is a form of Relevance Theory. This is small scale – it can broaden based on how far back a person’s immediate recollection goes. This is what makes many stand-up comedian punch lines work. The mention something at the beginning of a bit. Then they talk for ten minutes and then at the end use that same something with a gut-wrenching laugh as a result. This is what I would call “top of mind.” Based on what was just shared, I alter how I communicate.

Relevance Theory also includes shared knowledge. My sisters and I talk in movie quotes. When we use a movie quote, it’s not just words that get conveyed, but a full scale of emotions, an environment, and possibly an entire scene of back history. I can tell a sister, “If my dog was as ugly as you, I’d shave it’s butt and tell him to walk backwards,” and she’s not offended, she laughs hysterically and responds with, “You play ball like a girl!”

Basically, people choose what they say based on shared knowledge and what they find most top of mind. But each person has a different range of what their shared knowledge and “top of mind” topics are.

If you pay attention, you can learn some shared knowledge you two have. And if you pay attention, you can learn how far back a person’s “top of mind” goes. Knowing these two things will help you come up with conversation ideas and how to keep a conversation going.

3. Ask open ended questions

This one might be obvious, but my Ethnographic methods class really taught me that if you ask someone a yes/no question – you’ll get a one word answer. But most any question can be shifted from yes/no to an open ended question.

“Did you like your trip to Disney?” “Yes.” “Cool.”

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“What did you like most about your trip to Disney?” “Well, I loved the rides. We went on all of them” “All of them? That sounds fun! What was your favorite?” “The Matterhorn.” “Oh, cool! Tell me more about that one.”

An open-ended question invites someone into the conversation. It gives them a chance to talk without having to come up with a conversation starter. And the right question will get a person to open up to you on a level that you might not have reached otherwise.

4. Don’t freak out when it’s silent

There is more than one way to communicate. People don’t always have to use their lips, tongue, and vocal chords. They don’t even have to use their hands. Every time you’re around someone else, you’re communicating something. Therefore, your words are not the most important thing about you. When you can be comfortable with someone in silence, you’ve reached a milestone in your relationship that many people don’t reach. So, don’t freak out when no one is saying anything – learn from their silence like you would learn from their words.

5. Remember He loves you

One of my biggest problems in high school was looking like an idiot. I didn’t want to look like an idiot because that was the only thing that kept people around – me being smart. (This wasn’t actually true, but good luck telling high school Kate that.)

If I would have remembered that most of the people I came in contact with loved me, I could have let my guard down. I could have been a little more myself. I could have been a little goofier. I could have been a little more personable instead of the silent, self-restricted girl that I was.

Your crazy family is crazy. Your whacked out relative’s cheese might have slipped off their cracker. Your quiet father is a man of few words. But ultimately they love you. You can be yourself and open up because they love your crazy. They love your whack. They love your quiet. And even if they don’t, Jesus does. And his opinion is more important than theirs. He validates you. He believes in you. He loves you. More than you know. And he wants to spend time with you and hear you talk. And he knows your true self, so you can be honest with him. What a joy to know he loves me.

What tips do you use to communicate?

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Last February, I was invited to Kenya. In fact, I was told, “We’re going to Kenya tomorrow and you should come.” I was like, yeah, no problem. I’ll just pull that $3,000 out of my back pocket I’ve been hiding that I’ll need for that plane ticket.

Understand, I had no money and didn’t actually know where I would get $3,000. But I also knew that going to Kenya was something that I probably should do. So, I started asking people to support me. About a week before I was scheduled to go, I had someone ask me how much money I still needed. I told them, “$538.” And they said, “Ok. I’m going on a run to pray and I’ll get back to you.” The next thing I hear is, “Ok, the $538 is in your account.”

Recently, my dad needed to borrow my car. So I lent it and he ran over to the next town. When he got back, he was hanging out in the living room and noticed a guy hanging around outside. Dad walks out and the man says, “Is this yours?” He had Dad’s iPad. Dad had placed it on the top of my car, it flew off on the highway, got ran over, was found by this guy, brought into town and delivered to Dad’s front door all before Dad even realized it was missing. And it still worked perfectly.

One time, I was desperately lonely. I had been removed from my community and didn’t have anyone in my walk of life around me. And it made me feel like Jesus had left me, too. But, an opportunity came for me to go to Spain for a three month internship. And the house I moved to had someone in my walk of life living in it. Not down the street. Not next door. In the house. And I found community again. And I was reminded that Jesus never leaves.

One time, there was this wedding. And it was a big party. Like days of celebrating. But, the party ran out of wine. Major faux pas at this type of wedding. So, this elderly woman goes to her son and tells him to make more wine. And he’s like, “mom – I’m not ready.” But she tells the people there, “do whatever he says.” And what he says is to fill up these big ol’ jugs with water – to the brim. Then, this is crazy, he turns all that water into wine. Like 908 bottles of wine. NINE HUNDRED AND EIGHT BOTTLES. The average person goes to a party and takes 1. Not this guy. And he didn’t take the wine cooler cheap stuff, he took top shelf.

But what do all these stories have in common? Jesus doesn’t just give. He gives generously. In big areas. In small areas. Always generously. You would have been happy way before he finished giving to you, but he just keeps on going. That’s one thing I love about him.

How has Jesus been generous to you lately? Comment below!

P.S. Sometimes, we blow the generosity. Sometimes, we’re like, you did great Jesus, now watch this. For example, I know someone who recently had their iPad returned to them in perfect working condition after being run over even though the screen was a little cracked. Then they go to have the screen replaced to “make it better” and they get the iPad back imcompasitated. The home key doesn’t work.

What this says to me, let Jesus give. Let him give generously. Let him blow you away. And don’t try to outdo him. You can’t. And that’s a good thing.

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“Finally, bros, brothers, brothren, whatever is straight up, whatever is knight in shining armor, whatever is right on, whatever is a pure, whatever is purty, whatever is jaw dropping- if anything is supurbulous or standing o worthy – think about em, foo!” – Philippians 4:8

Back in 2010, I translated this verse above to, well, be funny. But it raises a question, which version of the Bible is correct?

Let’s take it away from the Bible for a second. Spoiler alert: Voldemort from the Harry Potter books is actually named Tom Marvolo Riddle. When you rearrange the letters in his name it can spell, “I am Lord Voldemort.” This is how he reveals himself to Harry in the second book. So it’s a big plot point. But, when you translate “I am Lord Voldemort” into French, you get different letters: “Je suis Voldemort.” So, the translator had to make some decisions. They decided that “Voldemort” was more important than “Marvolo.” So they changed his name to Tom Elvis Jedusor.

When translating, the translators first establish their skopos. The skopos gives them a guideline for translating the whole text. While translating they make sure their work matches their guidelines. The skopos decides if they want to translate based on the intention of the original author to the original audience or the literal word for word writings of the original author, or a mixture of both. Then they have to consider the intended audience and the new audience. What information is the most valuable at what time. In other words, translation is not an easy job, even before you start changing words.

The translator for Harry Potter into French decided that, according to their skopos, changing Marvolo to Elvis was the appropriate thing. Does “Elvis” ruin the text? No. Does it completely throw off the story line? I would say it, in fact, helps keep it true to form. Is it funny for English speakers? Absolutely. Could I have done better? Absolutely not. Does making it say “Elvis” make it not Harry Potter? No. Even though it is in French, it is still very much Harry Potter.

Now, back to the Bible. Different translators establish different skopos. Some choose to match the new audience’s understanding. Some choose a more literal approach that doesn’t necessarily account for the new audience. Then there are several different translators with skopos in between. And that’s why we end up with, in English, several different versions of the Bible. Are they all still the Bible? Most likely. Do some speak to you better than others? Of course. Is it shameful that you can’t understand the New King James Version? Uh, no. Not even a little bit. Is it bad that you prefer the Message? Uh, no. Not even a little bit.

Linguistically, translation is hard. There are several factors to consider and much tugging of hair before it’s all said and done. But, I believe, that when we ask Jesus to speak to us through his word, he’ll do it with any version we pick up.

What version have you been reading lately? Let me know in a comment below!

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