Reflecting....

I've been home since late Thursday night. I slept most of Friday, a good portion of Saturday and Sunday as well. No one really told me about how hard it would be for me to come back home. I missed my boys terribly, and was thrilled to see them. But, it's hard to leave a situation that helps define who you are as a person. I went on this trip, because I thought it would be a rather "enjoyable" mission trip. I knew I wouldn't be sleeping on the ground out in the elements somewhere or trekking through less than desirable conditions. Even when I told people I was going to Belize for a mission trip, they would wink and say "oh that sounds rough". I wasn't prepared for falling in love with these gracious people. They want to give so much. I felt ashamed so often to know what my life is like in comparison to theirs. Yet I never heard them complain. At All. Not when they sat for 6 hours to see a Doctor, not when their children were unruly, not when I was in their shack of a house. I want to be more like that.

I realize now that my purpose is more than I ever imagined. I am capable of doing things I never imagined I could. I can sit on the floor of a shack and love the person I'm looking at even though his body is crippled and deformed. I can sit on the bed of a dying girl who has maggots crawling on her body and love her because she's a human being and a child of God. I can scoop bugs out of my beans and rice and keep eating, because it just doesn't matter. My favorite scene in the Grinch is when his heart grows 3 times that day. Now I know what that feels like. Amazing.

Please take the time to go on a Mission trip. You'll grow and change in ways you can't imagine. You'll meet people and never see them again until you're together in Heaven. It's worth it. So worth it...