And so, the adventure continues . . .
I am headed to Roatan, a small island off the coast of Honduras, to fulfill a calling I have had since a close encounter with death almost four years ago. This saga began on Cozumel while on a scuba diving vacation with my family in August of 2007. Shortly after surfacing from the second dive of the trip, I was hit with an arterial gas embolism which was subsequently attributed to a heart defect that I was completely unaware of having. I should have died from this event and at times during those first critical days through hell and back I would have almost welcomed it. But I did not die. By the grace of God and the knowledge and skill of Dr. Eduardo Garcia and his staff, I lived. I left that small island broken into so many pieces to begin a long, arduous, incredible and continuing journey of reconstruction . . . searching for strength, health, understanding, optimism and confidence. And ever so slowly I am becoming whole again . . . reborn, renewed, released. Finally I have arrived at a place that allows me to go back, to learn as well as teach, and to pay a little bit forward. And so I go.
During these years, I have looked to this moment as the place of coming "full circle" . . . the place of closure. But now that it is upon me, I see it more as a continuation of the long and wondrous spiral that is the path of my life . . . not closing but opening wide with new opportunities and adventures. My challenges have helped me discover aspects of myself I never would have known and have allowed me to become a part of things bigger than my own personal imaginings. Everything has reason and purpose and now I know that I am exactly where I am meant to be. I am humbled, grateful, empowered and extremely blessed.
The islands are waiting and I am ready to wander . . .
