LEARNING TO SWEAR ON THE MISSION FIELD

I didn't become comfortable with swearing until I entered the mission field.

Before that, only the very occasional "shit!" would escape my lips in shocking or frustrating moments. I recall times of embarrassment when someone else heard, or when I'd admit the tendency at a church small group. People were always surprised by the confession, which just cemented in my mind that I should work harder to replace certain phrases with "oh shoot" or "what the freak". It was what good Christians did, right?