As I fall deeper into the whirlwind of preparations for Colombia there is one nostalgic song that plays on repeat in my mind, it is a terrible soundtrack. It takes me back to my teeny bopper days of the late 90's to the pop boy band group N*SYNC. For some reason unannounced to me I cannot stop the "catchy lyrics" from playing on repeat, they a go little something like this '...here we go one more time, everybody's feeling fine now. Yes, yes, yes here we go now." (It does make me smile as it transports me into the memories of the younger years of my exquisite youth)
The ironic thing happens to be I do not think 'everybody's feeling fine now'. Many people have expressed their strong feelings about their views on Colombia AND their even stronger views on Audra Marie Krislock, age 23, living in Colombia for one year. These thoughts include but are not limited to the simple fact that there is probably no reason that I would ever need to step foot outside my apartment in Bogota. Not even for a breath of fresh air because that was the entire logic behind the invention of windows. Now I am being a little dramatic and although I do understand this fear and know there is validity to it, it saddens me a little and I'm not exactly how to explain. It might be that I hope that others will feel the same sense of calming peace that I do about my soon to be adventure. But then again God did make all of us humans quite different, so my goal for the year: bask in the worlds inhomogeneity.
Thinking about the wide variety of peoples reactions has caused a realization to strike me. It is the appreciation and love I have for challenge. Challenge causes growth and if something stops growing it dies. This love of challenge/growth is not a feeling everyone gets as excited about, or actively pursues. The number of you who have expressed some concern but intertwined it with such kind words, support and love is very much out weighed by the latter.
And a quick logistical update... struggling to get everything in line before September 9th has made for quite a full plate tacked on with a huge side dish of some big 'life lessons' mostly in the areas of my patience and faith. I have been trying to invest my faith consciously in many positive thoughts and prayers such as: everything with the visa will come through, they will let me into the country without too heavy of an interrogation, and I will have raised enough money before my departure. Aside from those three minor details, I sleep very well at night.
4 comments:
Your intimation, that some people offer you encouragement and some offer you caution, makes me smile. My younger, much younger sister, has been "rediscovering" her true self in the last few years and in that process she has shared her revelations, encouragement, discouragement on her blog. She is a gifted writer and although I wouldn't expect you to plow through her complete blogworks, I would love for you to look a couple of them http://diamondsintheskywithlucy.blogspot.com/2008/08/powerful-womens-motto.html
http://diamondsintheskywithlucy.blogspot.com/2008/01/parisno-perhaps.html
In the Paris piece she declares the positive that yes indeedy, aside from the role of mother/wife/counselor and more, she IS going to Paris by herself as challenge, reward, discovery, courage.....there's whole section on Paris but this one might sum it up. At any rate, it wasn't Columbia by any stretch of the imagination but Paris on your own with no language or partner as an adult woman could present its challenges. She was squarely DISCOURAGED by MANY - but also drew encouragement from those of us who have never had the opportunity OR courage to take on such a journey on our own.
One of my blog posts, I won't bore you with a list, but I do often write about going "outside one's comfort zone".....I want to share with you is:
http://dwmindsieve.blogspot.com/2008/07/so-who-keepsdoors-closed.html
Here's to your courage, your spirit of challenge and adventure. Safe travel and remember photos with but a few words on a blogspot are magical connectors to those who love you. (For visuals - check out http://lucycreates.blogspot.com
xoxox
Dianna
September 9th is so soon! I don't know about you but I have been sitting around so long I subconsciously assumed I might never make it out of the country.
Let the nay-sayers nay it is what makes them comfortable. You are going out to do great things, sometimes those left behind take on our fear for us so we won't be burdened with it. Good luck and keep us posted.
peace and love
Mike
Audra, Thank you so much for sending us the link to your blog. I have added it to mine so that we can share it will all. You will do a great job helping people and you will safe in doing the Lord's work. Love YA!!! Aunt Susan
Audra Marie. I'm so proud of you and excited for your adventures in Columbia. I know you are going to do and see amazing things there. I can't wait to see all the ways God blesses you and makes you grow!
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