Lessons from Mexico

So I'm finally getting past the denial that I won't be seeing all of my people in Mexico again... or at least for a long time. I can talk to them on Facebook, which is great, but for all of you who know me... I'm a face to face conversation kind of person. Phones and internet just can't compare.

So what did I get from being in Mexico? So So much!!

#1- No matter what someone looks like, where they are from, where they live, their mental state, the number of people on Earth who love them, the contributions they've made to society, their IQ, the bad choices that they've made, the language that they use, their outlook on life... Despite all of that- They are still a child of God, created by him, and are deserving of love. No one can take that away.

#2- Actions speak louder than words- no, but for real. I never felt like I had the perfect words to say. I was always jumbling around my sentences. Lots of times I didn't completely understand what was going on. However--- I could comb lice out of a girl's hair for 3 hours listening to her life story. I could hang out with super rough street guys and ignore the BO and their dirt caked clothing and play a game of UNO. I could keep a positive attitude at camp when it was pouring down rain and cold and my last long sleeve shirt got soaked. In those moments I just had to be and rely on God to use me how he wanted because it was obvious that I wasn't the person doing anything. It was all up to God to work through me and let his light shine through me.

#3- That leads to the third- God's doing the doing... not me.

#4- You never know what you're getting into. I thought I was going to work with kids- ended up working with 20/30 yr olds. I never expected to be able to help out the missionaries I was living with or give my input in meetings about the future of the Drop in Center at La Raza.

#5- It's okay not to have everything all planned out. I don't need to know what I'm going to do next after school yet. When it's time for me to know, I'll know. But until that point, there's no use in me fretting over what my next step will be because I just don't know yet. I'm going to live in the moment and enjoy where I'm at. If I end up in Mexico, in the US, going to grad school, whatever, I just want it to be what God wants me to do.

#6- Don't be afraid of your emotions. They're part of who you are and how you were created.

#7- The things you think you need, you really don't need. People live with so much less and are content and still give so much to everyone else.

#8- Mexicans are great.

There is so much more, but that's all I've got for now.