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Monday, August 02, 2010

Joan of Arc

By now I'm sure that everyone has heard of the legend of Joan of Arc. The young peasant girl who received a vision from God that she was to lead the french army against the english. Which she did with success.  There are a few interesting points in the story, some of it may be only legend and some of it may be fact. I believe that it is a historical fact that at one point, Joan of Arc got hit by an arrow. But it stunned her for only a second before she proceeded to pull it right out of her shoulder. Unfortunately her life would come to a tragic end as she was burned at the stake but legend says that when all was said and done of her execution, her heart was left unburned amongst the ashes.

This story really inspires me because I've been having a real struggle during my time here on the island. All of you know that I keep delaying my trip and to some people I've told them that I've been sick. Well that is true but I never explained the reason why. But I want to maintain a good relationship with my audience so I want to be as honest as possible.

When I first got to the island in March, my landing was bittersweet. Having spent all my life savings,  knew already that this would be a hard time. But some events that happened to me in the early days here turned what was going to be a hard time into an excruciatingly painful time. I had a falling out with two friends in a matter of two weeks. And what made it worse is that in one of those cases, some really venemous words got spoken into my life.

Did you know that your body has pressure points on it and if someone knew how to hit you in the right place in the right time in the right sequence, they could kill you instantly?  It can be done but they would have to be so specific in their aim.  Unfortunately, I was in a situation where people knew exactly where to hit in order to cause massive destruction. They knew exactly what to say and exactly where all my weaknesses were. Kind of like Luke and the Deathstar in Star Wars.

The affect of those destructive words would not only break my heart but actually cause symptoms on my body. For months now, when I get up in the morning I feel sick, then I start to burst our crying and then sometimes I feel nauseated and can't move. I have also had a few times where I felt like I was going to faint. I have been unable to think or plan anything properly, basically I was trapped in my own body and I had to wait until all the symptoms subside. And while I am dealing with the physical reaction of my body, at the same time I am dealing with the emotions of the things that have happened.

But I don't want to keep focusing on that because things are going better and I want to put a positive spin on this whole situation. It's only in the last 3 weeks that I've started to feel semi-whole again. The church is Buenos Aires is very aware of what has happened and they want me to come when I am ready and they are praying actively. The point of me telling you this story about me is just like Joan of Arc, we are all going to get hit with arrows sometimes. And unfortunately, some of us may get hit with arrows by people who know how to hit us where it is going to hurt or even destroy us.

No matter what happens, there has to come a time when we pull that arrow out of our body and continue the battle. Yes, Joan of Arc was stunned for a second but that did not stop her from fighting. And there is a season for us to feel stunned and to rest and draw back, but for me that season is over as of today. I had a bad slump for several months now where I was totally out of it. But like Joan of Arc, I am pulling that arrow out of me and going back to Buenos Aires to finish what I started.  I don't what other challenges await me. But what I do know that just like Joan, even if the darkness seemingly triumphs against me and I get burnt to the ground, there in the ashes you would still find my heart untouched and unharmed :)



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Amorous Alpacas

Amorous Alpacas