By a worker in E. Europe

You know, with each new encounter, I become more convinced that learning the local language is an act of love.

I half yelled this fact at the couch last night as I reminded myself that every effort is worth it. On these days, all I need to do is remind myself of the popcorn lady.

The Popcorn Lady

I buy popcorn from a sweet older lady sometimes on my way home from Cross-Fit. She is always very kind and asks me what I am learning in language class— to which I often reply something like, “Otvorila sam vrata,” and dramatically pretend to open a door as she laughs.

One evening, she started to tell me something that I didn’t understand. “Ja sam jelena, a ti?” she said. I knew she was telling me something about herself and was asking me what I was. But, what did “jelena” mean? I got out my dictionary. The popcorn lady shook her head in frustration as I told her “jelena” was not in the dictionary. But she repeated it several times, getting louder each time.

Oh, boy! You can imagine how my stomach fluttered. In the end, I told her that I had class tomorrow and would come back and tell her the answer to her question.

The Meaning of Jelena

The next evening, I was prepared. As I bent down to greet Jelena with a kiss, she said with a heavy accent, “My… name… is…” My heart burst with love as I realized Jelena had also done her homework.

I told her in Serbian, “Ja sam, Mary,” and watched her face light up with love. I realized that the Greatest Love can be shown through speaking the language of someone’s heart. Demonstrating that Jesus cares is worth every minute spent pouring over my language lessons!