many of you know that i have been a big advocate for women and girls involved in sexual exploitation/trafficking for quite some time now. this passion has taken me everywhere, from Louisville to Kolkata to Los Angeles to Nashville and now it's taking me back to Southeast Asia. come september, i will be boarding a plane and headed to the other side of the globe for a bit.
i have accepted a position with Hope for Justice as a Clinical Director of an assessment center that will help in placing these women and girls in treatment after they have been rescued. we will help get them stabilized and introduce them to therapy and begin the healing process with them. i can't even tell you how big of a dream this is for me.
it does bring a lot of other emotions too. i'm scared beyond any understanding of scared i have had before. i am nervous, because i have never been a "director" before. do i have what it takes? can i even do this?
a huge hunk of my heart will remain in the states until i am able to return to retrieve it. tears fill my eyes as i think about all the things i am going to miss from the daily lives of my family and my friends. the weight of missing my nieces and those silly, magical moments with them is so great. no bench press or back squat prepared me for the strength needed to carry that. i will miss the ease of being able to talk to my family and my friends. having my best friend on the other side of my bedroom wall is something i have very much taken for granted. i will miss gym fams, tradition at village pub, and the spontaneous trip to cave city for mexican food. my heart hurts and my eyes tear at just the thought.
God gives you dreams, and then opportunities that you can't allow to pass by. He shakes you awake at night, and squeezes your heart until it bursts. this vast unknown that i'm about to jump into has my knees literally shaking with fear and anxiety, i wobble to the edge of the cliff and i can't see what i'm jumping into. but i have to take the jump.
i have tried many different avenues to work with these women in the states. and frankly, i think i'm not supposed to right now. i've wanted to be back in Asia for quite some time. i thought that the door was shut and that i was here in Nashville for the long haul. and i will be back. this adventure just needs to happen.
when i saw the superintendent at work today, he congratulated me. he asked if i was ready for something like this, i said it was my dream job. he asked how old i was, when i told him almost 33 he said, "it's time for you to start dreaming bigger. there's more work to be done". this is only my first leap. there's still more to come.
i'll be back and forth between louisville and nashville, so i'd love to see folks as i close up shop here for a bit. i'll be putting together an email list, to send out a newsletter of sorts...still working on that. i'll keep up with this blog...much better than i have been. and i will be posting video blogs (those are vlogs right?) and still active in social media. i'm not disappearing. i'll just be a few hours in the future.
thanks for everyone's support. this was a difficult decision. but i know it's the right one.
much love, amos