Gifts of friends.
This was my last week at “temporary housing #1” and my friends and I spent our time laughing, commiserating about the last days of school, dining out and drinking watermelon margaritas. We also watched a movie called, Bernie, which is based on a fact-is-stranger-than-fiction true story of love and murder. We both chimed in when Jack Black sang old Baptist hymns, familiar to both of us from our childhood years spent in east Texas and southern Missouri. All through the film I was reminded of my Missouri heritage and what it was like to grow up in the country.
A few days after watching the movie, my friend came to me and said she had a gift to offer. I’d barely lifted my head from my computer when she flipped open her worn copy of an old Baptist Hymnal and started singing Love Lifted Me:
Laughing, I immediately joined in. Then we took turns looking in the Index and singing the first verses of hymns such as, Just As I Am and The Old Rugged Cross. It’s been a wonderful gift to live with these dear friends and I will always be grateful for the time we’ve spent together.
Over the weekend, I touched down, for two nights, at another friend’s home. This lovely home will be my “home base” until I move to Turkey. However, until school officially ends in three weeks, I will primarily live with yet another friend and her family. This friend, also an artist, has a home alive with color and textures! It is only because of the generous gifts of my friends that I am able to take the steps necessary to achieve my dreams.
My former next-door neighbors, who I miss very much, emailed me this fabulous short film from the Viking Cruise website. Every time I watch it I get goose bumps. Please watch it! This is the Istanbul I remember from my summer visit in 2011! This is where I’m going to live in a few short months!!
This week I want to give you the gift of encouragement. Don’t be afraid to dream a dream and begin walking toward that dream. It can be anything! You can be anything and do anything. Everything is possible! Make one choice today that will get you headed in the right direction. Give yourself this gift.
Art Teach Travel 