Make-A-Difference Monday: A House in the Sky

On Friday evening, Dateline, aired a story about Amanda Lindhout, a former freelance journalist that was kidnapped in Somalia.  It honestly changed my life.  I know that may seem outlandish, exaggerated, or even impossible.  However, it is true.  Since I watched the show, she and her story are all I can think about.  Last night, I woke up having nightmares for her.  It is hard to explain because it was unlike any experience I have had before.  I woke up actually feeling terrified for her.  I stayed awake the rest of the night/morning thinking about her story, but really just about her (and ordering a copy her book, A House in the Sky).  I knew that I had to take action.  I can’t just sit and think about how great her actions are, I need to follow her example.  
So, I spent several hours on the internet reading everything I could find about her.  I wanted to learn more, but I was also trying to figure out what I should do next.  I had all these feelings of inspiration but I wasn’t really sure what to do with them.  How could I turn all these feelings into something more.  So, I kept reading, I learned about the foundation she established, Global Enrichment Foundation, and immediately knew that I wanted to donated to several of their programs.  However, giving money just doesn’t feel like enough.  I want to contribute more, I want to actively participate in helping others.  So, after reading about Global Enrichment Foundation, I continued researching other organizations, looking for nonprofit groups with local chapters or offices where I could volunteer my time and provide support in a more active role. 
In addition, I came up with an idea for my blog.  Since I knew that I wanted to make a difference, I came up with the idea for Make-A-Difference Mondays.  I decided that every Monday I will dedicate my blog to Making a Difference.  Whether it is documenting my own experience volunteering or sharing someone else’s story, I want to share what I learn.  After all, that is how I was impacted, by someone sharing their personal story.  People like Amanda are incredibly brave.  I can’t imagine what it must be like to share an experience so horrifying and heart-breaking.  It is bad enough that she had to live it, but then to continuously retell it to complete strangers – reliving the terror and brutality - seems like another nightmare in itself. 
I don’t want to tell Amanda’s story as I cannot do it justice.  Instead, I encourage beg you to read it or watch it for yourself, as I truly believe she deserves to be heard.  More importantly, I believe it is a story we can all learn from.  I want to emphasize that it is not the story of the kidnapping that I am referring to, when I say her story.  Her story is about much more than being a victim of a kidnapping.  It is about being a survivor, being strong in your weakest moment.  It is about having a will to live even when living is just a another form of hell. It is about believing in good when you are surrounded by evil.  It is about showing kindness, compassion, and forgiveness to those that don’t deserve it.
It is about overcoming the worst of the worst and choosing to live.  But, not just live, live each day to the fullest, dedicating your life to helping others.  It is about choosing to be happy even though you have endured so much cruelty.  It is about being a light in a world that is full of darkness, a voice for the voiceless, a hope for the hopeless, a gift for the forgotten. 
I feel like Amanda is the person we all want to be.  She possesses the qualities and traits that we all wish we had.  She demonstrates kindness, compassion, and forgiveness in a way that we all know we should but don’t.  She is the person that we want to be but aren’t, because we are unwilling to make the effort, too selfish to make the sacrifice, or just too distracted by our lives to ever make the commitment.
It is easy to see that Amanda was an amazing person before she was kidnapped.  The fact that she is still this person after all that she endured, is the most inspiring part of all.