Shifting Perspectives

  One of my good friends, Cathy Yost, has been an amazing support to me through this project by helping me to work through  things I have struggled with along the way.  I knew I needed to have a Skype date with her after the cockroach incident in Rwanda.

I heard it scuttling and immediately freaked out jumping on top of my bed, barricading myself inside my bug net while swinging my only weapon, a welcome mat!  I knew in that moment that my reaction was ridiculous but how could I get over my fear of spiders, cockroaches and all creepy crawlies?

Cathy helped me to realize that it wasn’t about the bugs it was about looking for what I wanted to see.  That if I chose to look for the good I wouldn’t see as much of the bad.  So that has been my challenge over the last coupe of months -- to not look for the creepy crawlies, to keep going one step at a time forward in this journey of becoming more courageous in small ways.

Inspirational Monday: Love Cafe – Cafe Converso

Well after spending the whole day trying to upload the Inspirational Monday I can relate to Thomas Edison when he said “ I have not failed. I’ve just found 10000 ways that won’t work.”  I found it hard today to keep pressing on but I believe that this story is so important and I want to others to see how doing something so simple like smiling or being welcoming can make the world a better place.  After doing this all day though, I am very excited to leave the hostel and go in search of something with lots of chocolate! Andres and Diana, the owners of Cafe Converso, declared themselves my first friends in Bogota and they may never know how much that meant to me.  They helped me to feel welcome and loved when I was wondering if I was doing the right thing. I will be forever grateful to them for helping me to remember why I am doing this and for reminding me of what I know to be true -- there are good people everywhere, we just have to be brave enough to seek them out! Today is family day back home.  My mom prayed for me before I left that I would find family everywhere I went and I believe I have found it here in Colombia.