The House Call

Up the dirt road we trudged. Alan, Kay, and I stopped outside the small, concrete home and waited. The door opened. Kay explained why we were there so the door opened wider to allow us to enter.
Clothes hung on lines around the room. Shelves held folded clothes and accessories. An immaculate store occupied the front room of the home. A young woman and older man greeted us.
Earlier in the day, Kay had spoken to the man when she was visiting local residents. Because of recent surgery, he could not walk down the hill to our boat so requested a home visit. Though unusual, we made time to see him.
Because of a dwindling supply of glasses and only three strengths remaining out of ten, the choices were few. Alan picked up three pair of glasses, and we left for the home.
Alan requested a Bible to use for his glasses check. The man told Kay that he could not read. He did know numbers so I found a calendar on the wall to use.
The man put on the glasses Alan handed him. He looked at the calendar and smiled. The first pair worked. Once again, God knew what we needed.
With Kay’s interpretation, he discovered Alan wore the same strength. They were also almost the same age. Smiles went around the room. A lady at an adjoining house a few feet away leaned out her window and smiled into the store.
After a short conversation and handshakes, we were ready to leave. The house call had been very successful. Before we left, Alan wanted to practice the Portuguese Kay had taught him.
He often learns a few phrases of the language wherever we go. He had asked Kay how to say God go with you.
With confidence and a smile, he repeated the words. Even though I don’t try to speak unfamiliar languages, I knew what she had told him. It was not what he said. I began to laugh. After shocked expressions on the faces of the Brazilians, they also started laughing.
“What did I say?” Alan asked.
“You just said, ‘God break your soul’,” Kay giggled.
She quickly got him out of the predicament. All four of us laughed and laughed. With a pat on the back and a smile, we departed.
The goof made me think how easy it is for poor communication to cause problems. People may have good intentions but may jumble the words. Others may hear something that wasn’t actually said.
Thankfully, an excellent interpreter and laugher saved the situation.