Oh, the irony

Last night I was watching a movie about a runaway train and about halfway through it realized the irony. I won't go into the details, but the opportunity/temptation to jump back on the runaway train in my life presented itself not too long ago, so in some ways watching a movie about a literal runaway train was maybe God's gentle reminder to me to be wise and remember that runaway trains are dangerous and unpredictable and even though it may seem like the ride of your life, in the end it might kill you. Point taken, God and Netflix.

Also on the irony radar in the last couple of weeks is that I started going gangbusters on learning Spanish better. I'll get to the ironic part in a second. It started when I joined a Spanish Meetup Group right before I went to Cuba, mostly because I wanted to practice some Spanish before my trip but also partly because I was starting to feel like I should meet some new people. I really hate meeting new people, and it astounds me that I have any friends at all because at some point they all were new people to me and I probably hated meeting them. It's not that I hate people, it's just the act of meeting them that's tough for me. I'm terrible at small talk, I never know what to ask people, and it freaks me out when new people want to know anything about me. I'm the girl who doesn't go to parties at all or when she does, she stands in a corner with a cup of water and tries to not make eye contact and then leaves when she's been there for a reasonable amount of time, usually around 17 minutes.

But every few years I get this idea that I should meet new people. It's been about three years since the last time and with all of my friends up and moving to different states, it seemed like the time to make new friends. (I would like to mention that I still have Christina. She would point this out to me if I did not first acknowledge it here.)

So I went to the Meetup twice before Cuba and since coming home from Cuba have added Spanish movie nights, Spanish game nights, Spanish lessons, Spanish workshops and more to my calendar. I have six Spanish events happening this week and five next week.

My name is Robin and I'm a Spanish-a-holic.

Here's where the irony comes in. Back when Erika got engaged, there was an engagement party for her. This was back in January. At said engagement party, I was standing in a corner with a cup of water in my hand when this woman came up to me and started a conversation. Yes, a new person had the nerve to talk to me and somehow I managed to choke out a conversation back. She knew Erika through her husband - her husband and Robert are in the Air Force together. When she was growing up she used to travel a lot with her family. I started sharing some of my travel stories with her and how I really wanted to learn Spanish better, and she told me about this guy who teaches Spanish and that I should go take lessons from him.

So after the party, I checked out the guy's website and it looked like something that would be right up my alley. But then runaway train ran me over and one of the side effects of that was a complete aversion to all things Spanish, and the thought of purposely learning the language any more than I already knew it seemed like the quickest way to make myself vomit. I forgot the guy's name, forgot about lessons, and mostly forgot the conversation at that party ever really happened.

I had to work through some things, mostly forgiveness, so learning Spanish was put on the backburner until right before I went to Cuba, when it all of a sudden became a necessity again.

Ironically, since January, the guy changed the name of his company so when I started going to the Spanish Meetup he organized, it didn't click at all that he was the same person who had been recommended to me months earlier. In fact, I didn't make the connection until a couple of weeks ago when I overheard him say the name of the old company to someone else. All of a sudden, I realized I was right where I was supposed to be and where I should have been months ago before runaway train happened.

So I'm taking Spanish lessons because Erika's friend told me to from the guy she told me to take them from but I went about it in a very roundabout way. Sometimes life has a way of working itself out that way. You never know who or what is going to reappear in your life, so it's a good idea to be as kind as much as possible, forgive, and be open to new opportunities. That's probably a whole separate blog topic for another day.

I love that God has put me back on track even though I was derailed for awhile earlier this year. I love that He puts movies about runaway trains in my Netflix list right when I need the reminder. I love that He brings us back to where we should have been before bad things happened and somehow makes it look like the good, the bad, and the ugly were all part of His plan for our lives. I love that what seems like irony to us is just His way of doing things. I love that He is the same yesterday, today and forever.