3 Tri's You're Out

We have a saying here at the language school, "Three tri's you're out." That's because the school operates on a trimester schedule. Many students go through all 3 "tri's" as we call them. That's the max you can take, hence the saying.
This third tri has brought with it some interesting things. For one, it's harder, but also you can see the finish line and that's just plain torturous. Unless you've been in language school like this you'd have a hard time understanding the mixture of emotions, but I'll try to explain.
When you first come you're all excited about being in the country and learning Spanish so you can go share the gospel in Latin America. We call it the "honeymoon phase". After a few months you're in the midst of it all and things start to change a little. If you've ever been away from your home country for more than 3 months you may know what culture shock is.
Culture Shock is when homesickness, differences in culture, and differences in daily life as you've always known it just begin to wear on you. It can last for a few days or a few months. Culture shock can involve stress, a withdrawal from the people of that particular country, or can even lead to depression. Most come out of the dip where they began and unscarred, but others never really come out of it. Thank the Lord we didn't dip too far down but we definitely experienced it.
Second tri was interesting because the honeymoon phase was gone, but you also couldn't see the finish line. You're just in the middle grinding through it. Your proficiency with the language goes way up because you learn the past and future tenses this tri, but you know you've still got a long way to go.
By the time you get to the 3rd tri you've given it all you had for the last 9 months and frankly, you're just ready to go. You've moved past the more easily learned things of Spanish and now you're learning the rules of how to talk about possibilities or the hypothetical. You're trying hard not to forget all you've learned, but the only way is to just keep using it. You know enough to be understood and have a basic conversation, but you also know there is a mountain still to climb. The motivation you brought with you is all but used up, but you know you can't quit now. You want to finish strong, but you need a bigger tap on the strength supply from the Lord.
He proved Himself faithful in His giving of strength today once again. Just when you're ready to say, "I'm done. I just can't keep this up." He comes to you through His word or a sermon or a fellow Christian and gives you a little more strength to keep going where He leads.
He reminded me again today as I saw the verse on the wall to "Be strong and courageous...for the Lord your God is with you where ever you go" Joshua 1:9. This was the text He kept telling me right before we came (it was the sermon text at my ordination, it was embroidered on a handkerchief that my mom gave me before we left, it was e-mailed to my by a friend soon after we arrived here) and it has proved to be His message to me even unto today.
He'll get me through. I'm so close thanks to Him. After all, three tri's you're out.