changed.

this morning we went to learn some hebrew songs at the church we've been attending. as we sang (they were beautiful, btw) i felt as if i was falling in love with the language. and not just with hebrew, but with language and words and communication in general. when i'm home, i never really think about it. it's just easy.. everything is so easy because it's the same. it's all english. it's all so.. normal. but here, it's another world. there are several different languages that i hear on a regular basis each day.

hebrew.

arabic.

english.

spanish.

it just comes so easy when we speak in our native tongue.. it's like breathing.. it's simplicity at best. but, it takes years to master another language. it's so interesting how that works. words are so effortless when you know them, and they are terrifying when you don't. it's second nature until you get out of your comfort zone and step into something else. hearing an unknown language just reminds me of how huge this world is and how incredibly diverse it is. it's crazy to think about how truly small and seemingly insignificant my perspective is.. it always seems to be the center of the world until the minute i step away from what i know and become an outsider for a short time.

maybe this is why trips like this are so often referred to as life changing. the entire life, the very essence of everything you have been and known is changed and will never again be the same as it was. you will forget much, but always carry the stories, the faces, the images, the words.. things that impact and alter the very core of your being. it truly is life changing in every sense. the life that you knew dies, and a new one will be born.. you will never be the same as you were when you stepped foot into that foreign place.

and may it be so in my life.