I'm kicking around the idea of writing a book. This is the working introduction...
This book started out as a blog of the same name in May 2011, while I was studying abroad in Spain. Many of my classmates started blogs to keep their families and friends updated on what we were learning and what we were seeing during our time there. Since I was already doing this through Facebook, I didn't see the need to keep up with a blog. Plus, as you'll learn later on in this book, I had a lot of thoughts and experiences on my mind that were not exactly standard fare in a "What I Did During My Semester Abroad" blog.
As the semester was drawing to a close, though, I realized that just because my experience of being abroad was so different from those of my classmates didn't mean that my experience was any less real or any less valid. In fact, some of my closest friends were feeling the same way I was, which both astounded and encouraged me. So, with just 13 days left in my semester abroad, I began my blog.
The blog evolved into a very honest portrayal of my life and my thoughts beyond the time I spent in Spain. The more I wrote, the more I wanted to write. I strived to write about topics that actually mattered, not just what I happened to be doing that day. I don't particularly enjoy reading blogs like that, and I figured others wouldn't want to either. I wanted my blog to be a worthwhile read every time I updated, not just a weekly spew about my life.
A blog (or book, for that matter) that is worth reading requires honesty. Writing has been an exercise in becoming more honest with myself and, more importantly, not being afraid of that honesty. It has helped me to grow in my understanding of why God allows certain things happen and in my ability to see the beauty that He can create in an otherwise hopeless situation.
This concept is best visualized by something that I saw once at the campground I worked at during the summers of my college years. Before leaving their campsite, someone had placed a little yellow flower in the ashes of their fire pit. On first glance, I thought this was extremely odd. Flowers and fire do not go together. Any amateur pyromaniac who has played in a campfire with a long stick knows this. I can always tell which campsites have just been vacated by pyromaniacs because all vegetation within a 2-foot radius of the fire pot is charred and curled in on itself. That flower was just waiting to be tortured.
As I continued on my way, I kept thinking about that flower. I knew there was no way that it could have grown there naturally, but if it had, it would make a perfect metaphor for life. Bad things happen and leave physical, emotional, financial, psychological, and spiritual wreckage behind. When I picture wreckage, I see fire, smoke, twisted metal, dirt...and ashes. How could anything grow in the midst of wreckage?
Ashes signify that something has been completely and irreversibly destroyed. If I had paid more attention during chemistry back in high school, I would be able to tell you all about how ashes are the result of a chemical reaction, an irreversible process by which chemicals interact to create an entirely new substance. The original chemicals are gone and you are left with something that is both better and stronger than those chemicals were on their own.
In life, ashes happen when everything you are comfortable with goes up in flames. But in order to become a better and stronger person, you have to have ashes. You have to allow things to burn and fall apart so that God can put the pieces back together the way He wants to.
And while you're waiting for God to put the pieces together, look for the flowers that He plants in the ashes. When you least expect it, they burst through the surface and smile at you.
It took me a couple of years to realize that being reduced to ashes is not the end. God is creating beauty from my ashes and He is doing the same thing for you. Everyone can see the ashes in their life. But not everyone can see the beauty in those ashes.
I would love to hear what you think. After all, even though a book may have only one or two official authors, there are many more people that contribute to its production.
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