Confession Session

Dear old blog, oh how I've missed you. The Jeru blog has been good to me, but I miss the rawness of writing my so-called profundity. So here it goes. The last two days have convinced me (well really forced me to remember) that I have serious pride issues. I just think I'm so great at reading people, and to a certain degree I am, but I put way to much stock in what I first perceive. Especially when I just base it on observations and not on interaction. Unless you really sit down and talk to someone, plowing through that skim layer of what I like to call "saving face", you don't get to know the real person. The more I talk to people here, the more I realize that I have no idea who these people are until I ask them. Every person has their own story, trials, weaknesses, triumphs and heartaches. The point is that we've got to be there for eachother. So I'm turning over a new leaf, or at least attempting to. I'm throwing off the judgments and determining to dig deeper and find that real self.

Another lesson I'm learning whilst abroad, (again really just a reminder) is that the world is very very big, and I am very very small. How do we all get so wrapped up in our own little lives and forget this entire planet has got so much going on in it? Egypt really reminded me of Ecuador and some of the harsh living conditions that people endure. I remember wondering when I was younger why everyone thought the United States was great. Now I see how blessed we truly are. Then you start wondering why in the world you were born into the life you have and someone else was born in a third world country where they struggle for their lives each day. An attitude of gratitude should be a constant state of being for all of us. No matter what we're struggling with, it's nothing like what happens elsewhere.

Finally, I just have to say how much stronger my testimony of the Lord has grown since I've come here. Even though it's only been a month, I have become a completely different person. I'd like to say it's for the better, as we've previously discussed, my assessments aren't really on target these days. Every day I am struck by the blessings the Lord sees fit to give me. Then I realize just how undeserving I am. If I want to be truly grateful, I've got to get lost in something beyond myself. I know I learned this lesson back in Ecuador, but obviously I didn't remember it well enough because here I am being taught it again. That's okay though, because this time I'm taking it with me.