Oh, Mexico
It sounds so sweet with the sun sinking low
Moon's so bright like to light up the night
Make everything all right
-James Taylor


Sing it Sweet Baby James

We are back from Mexico, but part of me wishes we had never left.
It was an incrdible time of playing, watching,
talking, singing, swinging, laughing,
hugging, working, relaxing, learning,
teaching, changing,
and I couldnt have had more fun doing it.
Maybe it was because of the 100 Mexican children,
always at our feet or crawling into our arms.
Maybe it was the 100 screw holes into sheetrock,
or the 100 strokes on each mudded and taped seam.
Maybe it was the 100 times Aaron growled
"You gonna' eat yo' cornbread, boy?"
Maybe it was the 100 times we heard Fabio say "Amen"
...at our share times.
Maybe it was the 100 dishes we had to wash after every meal.
Maybe it was the 100 tresses we made into a jungle gym
to jump on, a seat to talk from, a bed to lay across,
a support for the roof of a house we built.
Maybe it was the 100 times we had to walk from our dorms
to the 2 houses we worked on.
Maybe it was the 100 times the electricity failed us.
Maybe it was the 100 cows that were hunted.
Maybe it was 100 bottles of joya we drank with delight.
Maybe it was the 100 degree weather that kept us hot and still.
Maybe it was the 100 words we knew in Spanish.
Maybe it was the 100 crashing waves at the beautiful beach.
Maybe it was the 100 pictures we took
of the 100 colors in the sunsetting sky,
or the 100 stars we could count before our eyes got lost,
or the 100 smiles that never tired,
or the 100 people who brought the smiles,
or took the smiles,
or loved the smiles.
Maybe it was the 100 things that God blessed each of us with
at each moment that we were too dizzy to see.


commentary:
All these maybe's add up to one thing i am sure of:
I had an amazing time.
I learned things about myself and about people I love. I learned to love things about myself and people I didn't love. I learned how people feel about me (more good than bad). I learned how I feel about new people in my life I can love. I learned about God, and in ways, I am closer to him than ever, but still, I find myself distant. However, I also learned that God is patient with my imperfections, and he is teaching me to be patient with mine as well as those of other people. I just love God, even when I don't feel close to him.
So, Mexico was beautiful and lovely. Different, yes. But wonderful all the same.