Have I been so blind?

As I have had a short experience with traveling and meeting people from different countries and FINALLY traveling abroad, I have to ask myself this question: Have I been so blind? Have I missed out on so much happening in the world? I must say, I truly admire those who speak their native tongue and English... I only speak English. I do know American Sign Language as well, but I feel like I have missed on so much as I am sitting here in Frankfurt, Germany. I am not saying that life up until now hasn't been great, however with each trip I take I feel something inside me awakening and stirring, like I am discovering myself. I know who I am in the Lord, in Jesus, no worries there, and what I am trying to say I guess is I feel like there has been a blindness I have had towards other cultures and even people groups that I never realized. God has shown me a lot through prayer and study, but it's nothing compared to traveling and being immersed in the language, culture, and people... I have to say I LOVE IT.

I also feel like I have been so caught up in this little bubble back in America where most everyone speaks my language and I want to apologize to those that I know and love for not taking time and effort to learn their native tongue... Not saying that I have to learn every single language now, but I am seeing, possibly for the first time, how difficult it must be at times to speak, read, see, etc... English all day long when it's not your language and then have people automatically assume you know what you are saying etc... It's my ignorance and blindness smacking me in the face, that while I studied and learned about other cultures it was't enough. Not that I have been ignorant to different cultures in their entirety, I just haven't put as much effort into learning about them as I could and SHOULD. There is so much going through my head right now being here... I want to learn languages. I need to learn them. I believe it's God's heart that we all, out of love, put effort into being able to communicate with each other and it should be EQUAL EFFORT! Not others learning English for me or me learning whatever language they speak for them, but a collaborated effort to speak to each other. I hope this makes sense... This is basically just my own thoughts on how I have gotten so trapped and caught up with my life in America that I have been blind to so much else in the world. I encourage you to learn about cultures, learn languages, travel if you can! See, experience, know, etc... the world that God created and the people he loves. It will impact your heart so much and show you what really matters in life. If you're so caught up with work, school, and life that you can't take a break to even do some travel to broaden your perspective on life and the world, then it may be long overdue. With our "world" becoming smaller with internet, trains, airplanes, etc... it would be a tragic loss for the body of Christ to not go and get understanding of people. Not saying you have to do this NOW. Maybe you don't have a heart for that... No problem. America has enough people coming in that you could still stay there and learn a culture and language! I think it's God's blessing of drawing and knitting all people closer and closer together so that we can grow more in him and his love. Our diversity in culture, skin, languages, personalities, etc... all speaks and testifies to the VAST diversity in our God and we can learn so much about Him through that! So take advantage and don't remain blind to ALL the beauty that is in our God that we each carry! (Mostly saying that to myself!)