Metamorphosis

"How does one become a butterfly? They have to want to learn to fly so much that they are willing to give up being a caterpillar." Trina Paulus  

Sometimes the things that we want are easy to achieve but often times our big wants, dreams and desires take an extra effort. In addition to that, those same big wants, dreams and desires also require us to give something up or sacrifice in order to get there.

Can you think of the last time you really wanted something? Did you have to work a little harder to get there? Did you have to sacrifice something to get it? Maybe it was that marathon you trained for. You definitely had to work hard and you most likely had to sacrifice a few things, like sleeping in on Saturday morning or not being able to stay out as late. Or maybe it was that promotion you landed which required extra hours at the office and an extra effort to prove yourself worthy. 

You make the sacrifices and put in the extra work because you want to achieve your goal. But before you can even put in the extra work and sacrifices, you need to find your focus--your vision. WHAT are you trying to achieve? Before we can want something, we need to identify what that is. Sometimes that easier said than done. And sometimes it takes some trial and error. 

We spent some time reflecting together on this quote from Trina Paulus and it resonated with us. We have felt so grateful for these two opportunities that we were given that brought us here to Africa to live out our passion and help those in need. But the process wasn't always easy. We went back and forth-- should we do both trips or just one? At times, it seemed impossible to do both but we continued to pray and search. Once we made our decision, then came more difficulties. For example, having to quit our jobs, leave our loving family, friends and great West Michigan community while continuing to enter a life of many unknowns and question marks. We spent many days and nights working hard and brainstorming what we wanted and how we could get there.

But we can honestly say we don't regret it one bit. We have found in order to really get to where you want to be, you need to be WILLING to work hard, dig deep, and to let go of some things that may be comfortable. Not just half way but all the way.

In order to grow into the person you were created and long to be [not the person others want to see], you need to be willing to WORK, SACRIFICE, BELIEVE in yourself and TRUST God's plan. In these moments of hard work and dedication, we create ourselves. We morph from our caterpillar selves to become a beautiful butterfly. 



We've had a great [and fast!] week back at the office. On Thursday we were able to attend our first family training session that SFCS hosted for foster parents. It was encouraging to see the participation and desire to learn from the different community members participating. 

This week we also completed our first video from our time here. We wanted to create something to show what SFCS is doing in the community of Botshabelo. We hope your hearts may be touched as ours have been throughout our time here! Unfortunately the size of the video is too large to load onto this blog but please follow this link to see it: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T_Pkl_nyqA

We hope you have a great weekend!

With Love,
Michelle and Ty