Yo No Habla Espanol

Sorry, but I don't speak much Spanish. I know enough to indicate that I would like one more of whatever it is I have and I can communicate that I'm looking for the bathroom. That's pretty much it. I took French in high school. At the time, I lived much closer to Canada than to Mexico so French seemed a better option. And let's face it, high school French was such a long time ago, I only remember enough to do crossword puzzles. Although I do remember one or two useful phrases like Je t'aime (I love you) and Je suis le crayon rouge (I am the red pencil). Not that I wouldn't like to learn Spanish. I would. But Rosetta Stone gets mixed reviews and I'm not ready to take the month long immersion course in Barcelona that Mark wants to do.

But I guess whatever I decide to do, I'd better decide and learn quickly. I just had a flyer stuck in my door and it's in Spanish, which is a bit surprising because while I don't know everyone in my neighborhood, I do know quite a few people and they all speak English. I think there is one Hispanic family across the street, but to be truthful, that particular house changes occupants so often I can't keep up with who lives there.

Has Prestonwood en Espanol got their demographics wrong or have my English speaking neighbors moved out? I'm assuming that in their arrogance they've got it wrong.

I applaud their zeal in reaching out to the Hispanic community. But if their target is the Hispanic community, they really should find out where the Hispanic community is.

To their credit, they didn't compound the waste by mailing these flyers. They were hand delivered. But why not ring the bell and hand it to me? If they'd done that, they would have realized that I speak English and they could have given me an English flyer if they had one or they could have apologized for ringing my bell and asked me to point them in the direction of the nearest Spanish-speaking people.

Since I have no real idea what this says, I can only hope that it is a useful ministry and that it will have a positive impact on the people it reaches.

Want to know why I called them arrogant? To be honest, I haven't thought much of the way they do things at Prestonwood since a group of their kids turned up at my door a year or so ago and asked if there were any chores they could do for me. I thought they might be trying to earn money for a trip or something so I asked what their rate was. They weren't charging anything but they seemed so eager to do something that I had them spread mulch around my garden. They rang the bell to let me know they were finished. I couldn't leave well enough alone. I had to ask the young lady who seemed to be the leader why they were doing yard work at no charge. Did she tell me that they were there to reach out to people in the community? No. They weren't even there to invite me to church. It seems they were practicing doing things for "disadvantaged" people before their mission trip. I hadn't realized until then that I was disadvantaged. And I was a bit put off by it. My husband and I both have advanced degrees, we're members of a country club, we take at least two trips to Europe each year, and we have three vehicles for two people. Oh yeah, none of our cars are BMWs or Porsches and our house is smaller than 3500 square feet. Of course! By their standards, we must appear severely disadvantaged. And apparently there were no disadvantaged people in Plano to practice on.

I hope they make a better impression on other people than they've made on me. (Their professional production Christmas pageant didn't go down well with me, either. I'd rather hear the neighborhood kids sing Away in a Manger.) Anyway, I hope that whatever disadvantaged group they've targeted will look past them and see God's love. And really, if God loves you, how disadvantaged can you be?

And if anybody has any idea what this says, please let me know.