Winds Blow

WE CANT CHOOSE WHICH WAY THE WIND BLOWS,
BUT WE CAN ADJUST OUR SAILS. *

Mexico!

So I have not posted for a while. Partially becuase my life is normally quite time consuming, partially because I simply have not been in the mood to write. Generally, I love to write. However, I find it almost pain-staking (however that is spelled), to write when I am just not in the mood. It is like forcing words that just dont seem eloquent in the least. Anyhow, I am at this point in the mood to write. I am in a bit of a thinking mood, thus, writing is good.

So a couple of weeks ago, I went on a short term mission trip to Mexico; Juarez, Mexico. Juarez is a city that is just across the US border. It is a city that is almost connected to El Paso. Anyhow, it is a very poor city in some parts. The theory behind some of the poverty is that many Mexicans spend their money to move to a bordering city to the US in hopes that eventually they can find themselves a life in the United States. This creates a lot of people moving in and out of Juarez. Anyhow, I went there with my school and built six very simple homes for six different, wonderfull families. It was a very good experiance. You might be wondering, "Was it life changing?" This is a question that people keep asking. For myself, I am not sure of the answer and I dont know if that is a bad thing or not. I went to Haiti in 2001 with my family to help out in an orphanage (in, I think, Port du Point). Now that was a life changing experience for me. I think that, that trip opened my eyes to the fact that there is an entire world out there. It is a world that is completely different than my North American World. The world is full of colour. It's a world full of unique and different cultures, and different ways of life. It is a beautiful world full of diversity and I love it. However, much of the world is also full of issues that I have never had to deal with, such as poverty, disease, malnutrition/ malnourishment, crime, ect. These are some of the things that have allowed me to have a bit more of a global perspective. I think that with the Mexico trip, I already had this perspective and awareness developed. I am very thankfull that I have had some opportunity to travel. As for Mexico, I found that I really loved it there, like I really felt like I was doing something that had a purpose while I was attempting to speak spanish and talking to the family I built a house for (not just me...my whole house building team). I fixed a tiny, tiny little bit of poverty, but more importantly, I showed that there is a God who creates a desire in someone to love a complete stranger. The families that recieved new homes, hopefully felt the love of God and found hope in it.

*I would insert a picture here but I dont know how. HA who would have thunk it?

I am leading a discussion in my Sunday-School class tomorrow and I decided to discuss poverty and how God has commanded His followers to treat the poor and the needy. I am hoping that It will go well. In the last couple years I have put a fair bit of thought into how I need to treat the poor, in my everyday life, and in my views and such. I think I have come to the conclusion that I most definately need to help the poor and the needy, and if God calls me to sell all that I own to do so, then I should. But in the mean time, I need to approach my own wealth with the adittude of gratitude. God has given me what I have, and for that I need to be gratefull. There is a verse in Psalms that says something about praising God for the lot in life that He has provided and how pleasant it is. I like that.

I dont want to be all over the place and hard to follow in my writing, but do you ever feel like you just need to travel? I have itchy feet! Meaning I really want to travel. I love traveling! I love that you can discover different cultures and lifestyles when you travel. I love seeing something new and different than what I am used to. I like the Southern States in the US. Everyone seems to have a front porch. I was at a gas station in Georgia one time and I saw a bunch of old men sitting on an old tire in the middle of some yard chatting. It was like seven in the morning. I just thought that was so cool. Another thing that is cool is that you dont even have to travel to find different cultures. Just go the the inner city in Winnipeg. I volunteer in the inner city of Winnipeg and I have found it so interesting that there seems to be a whole different culture there, than what I am used to. I guess I am just a culture nerd.

Anyhow...time to end this mammoth. Goodbye and Have a lovely time.