Everyday Life

                                                          By Wendy Bello

One totally random day, or so I thought, I was surfing the web and I found the website of a Christian Spanish radio station. As part of the resources they offered there was a button that said “devotions for women”. After one click, the banner of Proverbs 31 appeared on my screen.

I began reading one devotion after another, and every one of them spoke to me in a unique way. In my excitement, I decided to contact Proverbs 31 and offered my volunteer services to help translate the devotions into Spanish and bring the same encouragement to my Latina sisters and friends. At that time, we had been living in the United States for six years and I had not found anything like that in the Spanish speaking community.

I was so excited that I didn’t realize there was a little button further down that said "En Español."  I hit send to my email and on the same day I got a very sweet reply from someone in the office referring me to the director of their Latin division.

Three years after I first became a volunteer translator and then Editor for Proverbios 31, I prepared to attend She Speaks for the very first time. My mind struggled with something that bothered me more than I was willing to share.

This event is mainly for English-speaking women. English is my second language, learned after age twelve and therefore, according to those who know, if you learn a language after that age, you will speak with an accent. So, even though I know the language, I could not help thinking that my accent would be noticed the moment I opened my mouth.

The funny thing is that this had never before concerned me. For the first time, the issue of "speaking with an accent" was rising like a huge mountain in front of me. And God knew it. The mountain rose so high that I even decided not to participate in certain things during the event because they involved public speaking, and I preferred just to watch from the sidelines than to step out of my comfort zone in Spanish.  I am a professional translator and interpreter, speaking in both languages is common practice for me, nonetheless, insecurity and worry were winning the fight.

I always say that God has a tremendous sense of humor, and in this case it was no different. As soon as I set foot in the hotel where the event was being held, and started talking to other attendees, the first comment I got was, "What a beautiful accent you have! Where are you from?" 

Another person told me, "Did you know it is now fashionable to have a foreign accent?"

I thought to myself —while offering my most gracious smile to my friendly elevator companions— Really? Fashionable? 

By the time similar comments were repeated several times, I had no choice but to tell the Lord, "OK, I get it. I worried for nothing. What for me was a mountain, is nonexistent for others; and in some cases, it is even attractive!"

This is what happens to us so frequently in life. We let some small thing become a huge mountain that prevents us from seeing the real truth. In my case it was the fear that my accent could be a barrier, or make me look inferior. But God made it clear, once more, that there is no use in worrying. He has it all under control. Worry’s only job is to take away the joy of the blessing, now or in the future.

You might be worried about something, this very moment. It has been said that worry is like a rocking chair —it gives you something to do but it doesn't get you anywhere. Look at what God said through the pen of the apostle Paul, "Do not worry about anything, instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and give thanks for all that he has done "(Philippians 4:6, NLT).

For some reason we find it easier to obey many of God’s other commands, but not this one. We don’t realize the real implications of the act of worrying, or being stressed out, as we now call it.

I recently read in One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, "Anything less than gratitude and trust is practical atheism." The words left me speechless. They might be hard to read, but are very real. When we live in a constant state of worry, all we show is that we do not trust the God we say we believe in, nor in his goodness.

I know from experience that this is a struggle for many, if not all people. Making the decision to trust and not to worry requires effort on our part, but I want to choose that lifestyle. Anything can become a mountain if we allow it. Why not stop worrying instead, tell God what we fear or what we need, and thank Him, as we read on the verse of Philippians?

The Lord will be faithful to take your burden, as He did with me. And the mountain will disappear.

Wendy was born in Cuba. She and her husband of almost 18 years have two children in elementary school. She loves writing and blogging, and leading her women’s small group. To read more, visit www.wendybelloblog.com