I know the difference between when I'm just being a sap, and when it really counts.
There are many things I missed greatly from February to August; family, comforts of the country I know, and even some luxuries, admittedly.
Today, as I was going through my pictures from my trip to SE Asia, I got this figurative warmth in my core. The nostalgia for those moments dawned on me little by little, with each fondly regarded photograph. I thought about so many aspects of my trip that have already begun to be forgotten, - slipping into the ruts of "normal" daily life back home. It felt good to rehash the memories that already feel like so long ago; that already feel like maybe they never really happened. To remember the people we touched, even in the smallest of ways.
Then, perusing facebook, I saw the name of one of my friends from church who recently moved to India. I don't know him so well, so I didn't really know why he moved there. My curiosity sent me to his blog regarding his time there. He's working with International Justice Mission. I read his recent first post about the work they're doing, and I was amazed. And intrigued.
I went to their website, began looking at how does one get involved? A recent post on their site caught my eye: four women were pulled from prostitution and later the brothel owner was arrested. Even beginning to read the article I began to cry. Big tears danced down my face, ones I haven't cried since I first saw a glimpse of my family in the airport. I read further, with descriptions of the brothel's policies and the investigation the crying ceased, overwhelmed by disgust and the brevity of this reality. Then more tears came.
I went back to looking at how to get involved, but I stopped just short. Crying. I couldn't even help myself, it was a slow melancholy sort of thing. I got lost in the idea that there are things like this in the world; organizations setting out and ACTUALLY doing something! Seventeen people were rescued from that owner's brothels.
And this all led me to think...what's next? What is next?
