10 years

July 2001
I am 15, sitting in the dark under a sky painted with glow in the dark orbs.  No I am not in my bedroom at home, the sky is real, and the orbs are stars burning bright under the Arizona mountain sky.  This is my last night at the Fort Appache Indian Reservation, I have just had my feet washed as a ceremonial send off from a week long Mission Trip with Youthworks,  and my close friends from Haslett Community Church. As i sit there I do not bow my head to pray, but I turn my eyes toward the sky, burning the image of Gods vast creations in to my head, and I pray, no i plead to God that I will not go home and forget every thing that has happened here, but instead remember everyone who has touched me. At that moment the first shooting star I have ever seen blazes across the sky, and I am at peace. I thank the Lord for all the things he has blessed me with, and I go on with my evening saying Goodbye to all the friends I have made here.

When I get home I talk for weeks about my trip.  I run the memories over and and over in my head, and try and contact the friends I have made in an effort not to forget a single moment.  But as the weeks past the life that had never really stopped in my absence comes crashing down on me.  Sophomore year begins and I am once again engulfed in the every day rituals of class, and homework, and the ever so stressful task of having the best social life possible.

April 2011
I am 25, older than I feel, and like to admit, I am sitting in the dark once again staring up at the same painted sky with glowing orbs, but this times Kompa Music blast through speakers on the other side of a concrete wall, and incomprehensible chatter buzzes all around me.  It is Saturday night at the Good Shepherd Orphanage in Carrefour Haiti, and as the younger kids sit in their rooms playing, and avoiding sleep, the older kids mill around, stepping in and out of the front gate for a Coke and a little dance in the street.  I laugh at their goofy moves, tell them I can't dance when they encourage me to join in, and I once again look to the sky and pray to God that I can find the best ways and reasons possible to help my friends who have become more like family.  Then as it did ten years earlier a stars shoots across the sky, and I smile because I know God is good, and he will help my find my way.  And this time although I know two weeks from now I will be sitting at home dreading going to work, and thinking of ways to get back to Haiti, I at least feel a little better that even if the every day habits of life get in my way, I will not forget where I have been, and I will forever be trying to get back.