Destino

Destino

masculine noun

1. destiny, fate (sino)

• su destino era convertirse en estrella de cine -> she was destined to become a movie star

2. destination (rumbo)

• (ir) con destino a -> (to be) bound for o going to
• un vuelo con destino a… -> a flight to…
• el tren con destino a La Paz -> the train for La Paz, the La Paz train
• pasajeros con destino a Chicago, embarquen por puerta 6 -> passengers flying to Chicago, please board at gate 6

3. position, post (empleo, plaza)

• le han dado un destino en las Canarias -> he's been posted to the Canaries

4. use, function (finalidad)

*from Spanishdict.com

When I was nine years old my mom took my sister and me to the newly opened Sea World in San Antonio, Texas. I vividly remember walking through the parking lot and saying to the whole group, "There are too many Mexicans here." My mother nearly snatched me bald-headed. She rebuked me to the highest degree and I feel certain she had never been more ashamed of me. A terribly sinful attitude in my heart was exposed. I'm not sure how much my heart really changed at that point, but I definitely learned not to say things like that again.

Several years later, as God would have it, I landed in a 7th grade Spanish class against my will. I'd signed up for a theater class as my elective, but something went very wrong. I had no plans of ever taking Spanish - French sounded so much prettier, I thought. I really don't know why I didn't march into the counselor's office and have my class switched. It probably would've been easy.

Nevertheless, I stayed in the class and was absolutely terrified to be called on. I was embarrassed for anyone to hear me try to speak with an accent. Although when my teacher heard me speak, he asked if my family spoke Spanish at home. No, actually we spoke a blend of Houstonian (where you drop the H-sound from the beginning of words) and Arkansan (using weird figures of speech, such as snatching one bald-headed). It took me many years to understand what my teacher meant when he asked me that question.

I fell in love with the language and continued taking Spanish in high school and college. One day in 11th grade, Sra. Arnold was lecturing on prejudice and attitudes that white Americans have toward Hispanics. She looked right at me and asked, "Amanda,

hay demasiado?" Amanda, are there too many? Can you see how God did not, would not let this go? It was a full circle moment.

I had sin and ugliness in my heart toward Latin Americans, but God had mercy on my soul and did not leave me that way. He stuck me in a Spanish class I never wanted to take, gave me a knack for a language I never wanted to speak, and made me love it. In doing so, He gave me a deep and sincere love for a culture and a people that I used to dishonor in my heart.

You may be thinking "This girl is crazy. I can't believe she told that." We're not really supposed to talk about this, are we? You may be wondering if I'm embarrassed right now. Well, yeah, I am. But God has gone out of His way to redeem my sinful soul. He made beauty out of the ashes that had smoldered privately in my heart. I praise Him for plucking a thorny, ugly, poisonous bush out of my soul and planting something fruitful and life-giving. One of the most cherished treasures God has ever given me is the gift of Spanish. When I hear and understand it, I feel God's pleasure. When I get up the nerve to speak it even though I have been out of classes for almost 10 years, I feel God's pleasure. I see His glory because something happened in my heart that could only have been done by Him.

I would be embarrassed to speak Spanish in front of any of my former teachers now. I've lost so much already. But what remains, even as the meaning of pluscuamperfecto now escapes me, is love. I can no longer understand everything someone says to me in Spanish. I'm of no use as a translator. But what I can still do - and love to do - is give honor.

In my high school Spanish classes we used to watch an educational telenovela called Destinos. Maybe some of you know what I'm talking about. I was thinking about the word destino recently - it means destiny or destination. That seems like such a fitting theme for this story. It may have been my destiny as a young, white, privileged American to grow up truly believing I was superior to people of another economic standing or race. But God changed my destiny. He also gave me new destinations. I have been incredibly blessed to visit places like Venezuela, Honduras, Mexico and Guatemala.

Last fall I had the privilege of traveling to Guatemala on a Compassion blogger trip with Ann, Lindsey, and Lisa-Jo. One night I was sitting in the conference room with the other bloggers while we typed out the stories of what we had seen. I told our leader, Shaun, about the journey God had taken me on since childhood. It started off with "I can never write about this, but..." I think he was a little shocked, but I wanted him to know what it meant to me to be there. It meant redemption.

Jesus also brought redemption into the lives of a number of Guatemalan families because of the incredible blog readers who followed along on that trip and sponsored children. I heard from someone just last week who had been thinking about sponsoring since that trip and had finally done it. That's so awesome.

I'm still pinching myself over this news, but I'm really excited to tell you that I have a new destino with Compassion. I'm going on a blogger alumni trip to Ecuador next month. What grace! We're going to be in the city of Quito for part of the time, and then we're getting in boats and going into the Amazon. Whoa, Nelly! I can only imagine what kind of shenanigans Ann, Sophie, Melanie, and Kelly and I are going to have in those canoes. We will be blogging from November 8-12. I hope you will follow along.