From January 2008, through February 2011, I lived in Fort Worth, TX. Its not that I necessarily had anything against Texas, but never in my life did I plan on living here. I seem to do a lot of things I never planned on doing. People have asked me why I left my job, and came back to school. It seemed crazy to some, to others I finally looked like myself for the first time...
Today I woke up crying. Music made me cry. Friends checking on me made me cry. The freckles on my face that I get from daddy made me cry. Today, I was a mess. Today, nothing had changed since yesterday. I still believed everything God has strengthened and encouraged me with, but I was ridiculously sad. Today was one of those days where I was best left alone, but sad to be alone. Today, I...
Have I mentioned I went to Ethiopia and my Dad is sick? Well I did, and he is. It feels like about 3 weeks ago the pause button on life got pushed, and I have been in some other reality. However, it is getting to be time to press play and rejoin regularly scheduled programming. My watch just got wound back to central standard time. That is where it belongs. I know God allowed me...
After over 24 hours of travelling, I am home. I sit in the hospital as I type this. This is where I've sat since about 30 minutes after landing Saturday afternoon. A friend I've known since the 7th grade picked me up from the airport and brought me to the hospital. My Dad is currently on the phone with one of his best friends since Elementary school. I love old friends. Flashbacks of this past...
We are in the air again. This time going the opposite direction. I'm in between the world I used to know, where Daddy wasn't sick and I didn't have one memory from Addis Ababa; and the world where I will soon land where my Dad does have cancer and Addis Ababa is forever a part of me. The whole world has changed in a weeks time. God is still on His throne, and I am...
1) I can finish bathing in an unfamiliar shower in total darkeness when the electricity goes out, even when common sense says this is when the nightmare is supposed to begin. 2) I speak Spanish to all people who speak any language other than English. 3) There appears to be very few traffic laws here. This sometimes causes sudden stops or slamming on breaks. I found out I can survive being thrown into the van floorboard...
We arrived safely in Addis Ababa on time, and with no sleep. It was 8 am here, but our bodies were at midnight. The plane to Ethiopia was one of the big planes you would expect it takes to carry you to another continent, but the staircases they wheeled up to the doors for our dismount kind of reminded me of those metal bleachers from high school. They herded us onto buses where we were...
It's 4am Addis Ababa time. I'm looking out the window at the lights of the cities that dot the coast around the boot of Italy. I seriously just typed that. I've seen that boot on maps, and although my feet haven't touched the earth there, my eyes have seen the lights that outline the sole and tip of that fancy Italian boot. I've just asked for my 3rd little can of ginger ale, and having...
