Where do I start??  It's a little nerve wrecking to write this first blog.  Is my grammar up to par?  Will my thoughts come out clearly?  I guess since I have no followers I should just wipe those questions from my mind and give it a shot.

I'll start with how I wound up where I am and who I am.  Up until a few years ago all I really knew of the world was that "there are starving people in Africa".  This I found out by trying not to finish my food when I was a kid and being guilted into submission.  My thoughts then were the same as they are now, "then why don't people give them food?"  I've always been a courteous well-mannered guy and I did what I could to help those around me and that was enough for me until one bad day came along.  I was in the drive through at a fast food restaurant placing my order.  When I was done the cashier said "Would you like to donate a dollar to.." typically I would say yes no matter what it was but this time, on this bad day, I said "no" before she could even finish the sentence.  I immediately felt bad for cutting her off and saying that and this was compounded when I pulled up to the window and saw a sticker for the St. Jude foundation for children with cancer.  As you can imagine, I felt like a huge piece of shit.  I started thinking about what I would do with that dollar verses what the family of a sick child would do with it.  The difference was life or death for them and inconsequential for me.  I think this was the moment that got the humanitarian wheels spinning in my head.  But the more I researched the tragedies of the world the more helpless I felt to change them.  They were monumental and I was an ant.  Where do I get the money to help stop sex trafficking in Nepal?  Where do I find the time to do volunteer work when I'm needed?  How will it ever be convenient for me to travel abroad and make a difference?  Most challenging- How will I handle all of the things I now know and how will I live with the sadness that knowledge brings with it?  The truth is there will never be a convenient time and I will never be able to shed the sadness.  I have since realized, thanks to an Angel, that I cannot let those questions stand in my way or make excuses to do what is easy.  There is always a way.  Power, freedom and human rights are only able to be granted by those who have them.  When people exist who do not have these it is not their fault it is ours. I would rather carry the weight of the world on my shoulders than the shame of turning a blind eye to it or letting it exist as it is.  I will make sure that it is known that I was here for them.