At the end of every shift, I walk through the nurses’ station and say goodnight to my coworkers before taking the weight of the stethoscope off my shoulders and leaving through the ambulance bay.

“Goodnight; be careful!” they respond.

It’s now as much a part of my vocabulary as “see ya later,” but until I moved to Kentucky, I only said the phrase “be careful” if someone was imminently going to smack into a wall.  I’m not sure if “be careful” is a Kentucky thing or an emergency medicine thing–essentially “I don’t want to be cutting your clothes off in trauma bay in half an hour, so hands at 10 and 2, sister.”  Either way, it’s not the only Kentucky-ism I’ve noticed.  There’s also “do you mind” vs. “do you care.”  For instance, in Kentucky, if someone wants me to bring them a brownie, instead of “would you mind bringing me that brownie?” they ask, “do you care to bring me that brownie?” I never know if I should answer, “No, I don’t care to,” or “yes, I would care to,” so I usually just eat the brownie myself.  Semantics, ya know.

I went back home recently, and for the first time in several years, I got to unpack a suitcase and live like a real Nashvillian again for a couple weeks.   As I listened to and talked with people who have known me forever, I felt myself relaxing into a language that I used to speak exclusively.  It’s hard to articulate the differences between how Nashvillians talk and how Kentuckians talk, but I can feel it, and speaking Nashvillian again felt familiar and comfortable and refreshing.   I went to Costco with my mom, and the guy giving away samples of lentil soup asked me where I was from.  

“Well I’m a Nashville girl, but I live up in Louisville right now,” I chirped with my mouth full.

“Oh, that makes sense,” he said, “I thought I heard some Cincinnati in your accent.”

I choked, faked a smile, and stomped away.  Cincinnati accent?!  No, lentil man!  I am a darling southern belle who says “y’all” and blesses hearts, and you will speak to me accordingly, if you don’t care.  I mean mind!!  If you don’t mind!  Oh, bother.

Through his assaulting comment, lentil man taught me an important lesson.  I am changing.  Now, that’s not news to me.  Christian and I like to talk about the ways the Lord has taught us and changed us, especially over the past few years.   But as I have become more comfortable with what the Lord is doing with me, I’ve eased up on asking Him for help.  I coasted.  I settled into who I had become and thought I could rest there for a while.  Growing is hard, and I grew, so mission accomplished, right?  Wrong, apparently.  Change is inevitable.  I am always becoming something different, so either I swim towards the Lord on purpose, or I float passively in an entirely different direction, but either way, I will move.   

I was blindsided by a change that I had not wanted or even noticed.  I wasn’t paying attention to my voice, so I didn’t notice my “A” sounds turning into “E.”  Something that used to confuse and annoy me had become something that I fully embraced, and I did not even “mind” or “care.”  And while Northern vowel pronunciation is not exactly a character flaw, I am forced to consider the other areas of my life that may be changing against my will, and I am reminded by the lentil man to move with purpose and to “be careful.”