Breakfast at Gloria's

Learning Spanish is hard work. Every day we begin classes at 7 a.m. in our living room and end between 12:30 and 1:00. And to be honest, it can get a little monotonous at times. That's why our Spanish teachers decided to change things up one day last week. Instead of convening classes in our apartment as usual, we took a field trip to Gloria's house for breakfast with her and her husband, Elvis.

Our teacher, Gloria, and her husband, Elvis, who is also a teacher in a local school.

Gloria is one of our teachers. She's one of those people you can't help but instantly love. She's soft-spoken and polite, but has a great sense of humor. She's patient, sympathetic and affectionate in everything she does. Gloria starts our morning with a short Bible study every day. Steve and I usually lead it. With our limited Spanish, that usually means it's very brief and very basic. But she doesn't seem to mind. She just enjoys reading and talking about the Word of God. After our prayers together, we start to work on verb conjugation or vocabulary. Sometimes we read a story from a child's workbook to practice our understanding. We haven't failed to notice the title of Gloria's workbook, Spanish for First Graders.

You may wonder what having breakfast at Gloria's house has to do with learning Spanish. And I have to admit as I scarfed down the traditional beans, eggs, tortillas and fresh fruit I didn't really care about noun-verb agreement. But as the morning passed and the subject turned to different types of wood used to build furniture, I noticed that Steve was eager to talk to Elvis about guy things. Although his Spanish was awkward at times, I could tell that Steve's skills have improved and Elvis seemed to be just as patient as his wife in teaching Steve new and useful words. And when I asked about the juice served with the meal, I learned that it was actually a very common kind of tea brewed from the leaves of a hibiscus flower and that is an excellent home remedy for high blood pressure.

Dried hibiscus flowers used to make Jamaica, a refreshing, sweet tea that helps lower blood pressure.

We are amazed by Gloria's intimate understanding of the church in Honduras, missions and cultural differences. It's clear that the Lord has placed her in our lives to teach more than Spanish. She is our mentor, our prayer partner and our friend. And we are grateful for the ministry she's having with us.

She is also an excellent cook, which is why we can't wait to have breakfast at Gloria's again!