Cockroach Chronicles

First, let me say HHAAAPPPPPYYYYY NNEEEWWWW YYYEEEAARRRRR! I pray this year brings you peace, love, prosperity, and growth!... Okay, now on to the good stuff J

Lately I’ve been trying to find something to write about, but I’ve been blank. There’s a certain feeling I must get from my writing and if that’s lacking, I just can’t post it. Things changed last night when I entered the Cockroach Chronicles!

Usually, I dread cockroaches; they make my skin crawl, attack me when I least expect it, and they draw on the weakness that I’m afraid to kill them. Last night as I sat in church, I watched a cockroach for about an hour. Most times in church I feel like a mute because I barely know any of the songs and by the time I find a scripture (Spanish Bible problems), it’s already been read. So, now I just sit there looking around and following the gestures of the congregation. Instead of looking around counting small paint chunks on the wall, I centered all of my attention on a cockroach that appeared to be fighting for its life.

The cockroach lied on its back and forcefully kicked its feet in order to catapult its body right side up. There were a few times when the cockroach would almost flip over, but 2 seconds later it turned on its back kicking its way through yet again. About 5 times it landed firmly on its feet, but something unbeknownst to me kept forcing it to turn over. I’m not going to lie- I HATE COCKROACHES, but I felt bad. It was really struggling. After about an hour of kicking and failed attempts to correctly position itself, the cockroach gave up. It stopped kicking. I don’t know the science behind it, but not long after the cockroach stopped fighting to stand confidently on its feet, it died. Just like that. Dead. On its back, feet in the air, dead. As afraid as I am of cockroaches, I silently cheered for it. I wanted it to win; I wanted it to keep fighting and see itself through.

I probably sound crazy, but here me out! I promise I was not this weird 5 months ago; Peace Corps made me this way! When you have a bunch of time to think about random things, it’s easy to find inspiration, even in your fears…

As I watched the cockroach struggle, I thought about myself and you all. I asked myself, how many times have I stopped kicking? How many times have I just given up? How many times will it take for me to get knocked down and not find the strength to stand up again? We can’t always be the one flying! Life comes with some knocking down, flipping over, and tossing aside, but the strength is in what we do to get back up!...

My hopes for the cockroach made me realize that silent cheering is just as good as not cheering at all! We all need to be encouraged, to know that someone is there rooting for us until we get to the finish line. When you see someone is down, help them up. Let them know that no matter how much you may hate them, you still want them to win; you want them to know their full potential; and you want them to fight even when they feel like there’s no fight left!... Look at the Cockroach Chronicles and ask yourself when was the last time you did some cheering ;-)