Without Words

Without words is my dream of my life. I have a desire to learn and get a certification on ASL.It has always been my desire every since i was little to learn sign language.
I was attending a church in the small town I grew up in, DeFuniak Springs, Florida and they started a sign language class, i thought ok heres my chance so my husband and I started going to the classes, one of the instructors was a deaf man by the name of David Hoffman. Shortly after they started the class the people stopped coming so they stopped the class just as fast as they started it,that broke my heart but, then we became very good friends with David and he started coming over to visit, and at first we would use paper and pen then he started taking it from us and would teach us the signs for whatever we would talk about.We did a lot of finger spelling then he would show us the sign for that.
I had also had a heart for music so I wanted to put the two together and I started teaching myself the different signs for the words to songs.
He told us about a church he attended over in Chipley, Florida named Shiloh and shorlty after that God moved us to a small town called Westville and we searched for a church but couldnt find one so we prayed about it, not having a lot of money for gas, we decied to go to this church and they had a deaf ministry there. I really felt God calling me to learn sign and become an interpeter for the deaf.
So we started going to Shiloh Baptist Church and became a big part of the deaf ministry there. My husband later felt the same calling, which did not suprise me at all since God made my husband for me, why not give us the same intrest right.Shortly after we started going there and they started a basic asl class that teaches about deaf culture and the alphabet.I learned here that the way I was signing songs wasnt really wrong but the deaf would not get alot of what I was saying because in deaf culture you have to fix the sentence so that they will understand it because they are not taught like a hearing person is.It is completly different.so then I was taught by some very dear friends that taught the basic asl class we attended, how to sign songs, so now again i start teaching myself and with their help also I start interpeting at this church. Shortly after that my husband did also.Also my husband and i would go to stores or out to eat and one of us or both of us would pretend to be deaf and help each other to learn signs.:)
We were at Shiloh about a year. We made some very dear friends, but then God gave us an opportunity to move to Decatur,Al. to look for jobs and to help my sister out.
So again here we go church searching again, we didnt have to look far though we found an awesome church, God lead us to and yes they have a deaf ministry. Here we are another year and 1/2 later learning new signs all the time, but making new friends and communitcating with the deaf and they understand what we say!! It is also a different place sio now they have different signs for the same word, its like having different accents for hearing people. Wow, God is so awesome and yes now we are starting to inteperpet here during some of the services and on holidays like the Christmas program and the Easter programs.We are so involved and we love it. I am looking to cointue to further my education in ASL and help the deaf in any way I can. Thank you for taking the time to read "Without Words".I would like to thank one of my sisters for encouraging me to write this and I just want to say God doesnt think anyone is a failure, go after your dreams and reach for the stars.
Thank you, Tracy Huntington