Home Again, Home Again

Just returned 'home' after a week long visit 'home' :)
It was a WONDERFUL visit with family, and in the midst of traveling, Thanksgiving, playing with the nieces, shopping, and a wedding it was still somehow relaxing!

I had a great visit with Angela, Mom and Dad, Jenny and her girls, both Grandmas, the majority of the extended family, and I witnessed the beautiful wedding of John and Marissa Bower!

After such a nice visit it wasn't tough returning to Belize, but it was tough knowing that I won't be back in the States until mid-June.  The thought of not seeing my nieces for 6 months breaks my heart!

I was trying to explain to some of the other volunteers (knowing full well they won't completely get it until they have nieces or nephews of their own) all the little things they do that just melt my heart.  Simple things, like riding in the car and making Megan, who's 10 months old now, laugh, then I laugh, then she laughs louder, and back and forth we go, just watching her big open-mouth smile and hearing her belly laugh all because I'm smiling and laughing with her, that's all it takes!  And then there's Anna, who's 2 and a half, who gets all excited because Auntie Betsy shares a room with her.  We make cookies together and she loves mixing and lucky for us she hates spills so she's quite careful not to make a mess!  Then when we go to bed she falls asleep smiling up at me with that sweet little angelic face.  These are the little things that you miss living far away, these little daily events that melt your heart!  

I was pondering all of this, especially the amazing ability of small children to melt hearts while I waited for my flight to leave from Jackson, MS.  Thanks to the free WiFi I checked my Facebook and my heart was unexpectedly melted by someone other than my nieces, this time by my students.  Those of you that know me well already know I'm not a very emotional teacher.  I love teaching, but I don't miss my students over the holidays, it's not hard for me to discipline them, and I don't get upset if they don't like me, haha.  When I told them I'd be gone for a week the girls asked me to bring them back some candy and the boys were excited and cheered, this is not shocking, students never appreciate their teacher while they have them!  So while I was gone, turns out, they asked about me constantly, and when another teacher was substituting for my girls' homeroom they decided to make a sign and a video message to send to me :)  It was surprisingly touching and I realized I may not have my nieces nearby, but God is giving me adopted nieces and, if I'm open they will melt my heart, too.

God is reminding me to be happy with what He has given me, it's okay to miss people, of course, but not so much that it blocks you from seeing clearly who He has given you in your life where you are.  Wherever we are, He has given us adopted family, children, siblings, friends, and nieces when we are far from our loved ones... our job is to make sure we don't miss seeing them as our family.  Remember that we are meant to be in relationship with our coworkers and neighbors, so don't be afraid to be a sister, brother, mother, cousin, friend, daughter, son, etc to them.  We all need each other, whether we're near home or far away!  Be open, and God will move in unexpected ways and in unexpected people in your life!

How to live in abundance

"I know indeed how to live in humble circumstances; I know also how to live with abundance.In every circumstance and in all thingsI have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry,of living in abundance and of being in need.I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me."   

Phil 4:12-14

I’m really looking forward to my trip to the States next week!  Yes, I plan on taking hot showers, sleeping on a really comfy mattress, watching TV, and going out to eat as much as possible!  St. Paul says he has found the secret to living in abundance and of being in need… the secret is to be happy where God has put you; the secret is that He gives me my strength and my happiness must be found in Him.  

Whether you have a lot or you have very little your happiness isn’t found in your material possessions.  Most of us think we’re not attached to our possessions, right?  But how quickly the truth comes out when our cell phone breaks and it takes a whole 48 hours to replace it!  What about when the internet is out for a few hours?  

I think God uses those little inconveniences to realize when we’re getting attached to our material possessions.  We’re all pretty thickheaded and sometimes the only time we learn the lesson is when He makes it really obvious.  So, next time your flat screen TV falls off the wall and cracks or there’s a scratch on the door of your new car, He might be reminding you that you’re supposed to be happy with or without it.  

Here's the street I live on and my house where the 7 of us female volunteers stay. 

  

For the people living in the States it’s probably crazy to think what it would be like to live without hot water, here it’s the norm and we’ve all gotten used to it.  This is not to say we can’t have nice things!  It's not living in abundance or living without that is right or wrong, not at all!   It's about where our hearts are, how we use the material gifts God has given us.  We have to be able to live either way... and so ... here's us spending Sunday afternoon at the hotel pool in San Ignacio!  Soaking up the sun, having a drink, using the wireless internet and RELAXING!  

and our weekend trip to San Pedro :)

We just have to make sure our hearts are in the right place.  That we can be live our lives happily when we're "living in abundance" and when we're "in need".  When He gives in abundance receive it with open arms and praise Him for His generosity!  But don’t be attached to it, be ready to live happily without it.  We aren’t going to be in this world for long, so we’re not supposed to get too attached to it.  We are supposed to be attached to God, He’s the one we can’t live without, not our TV, house, clothes, internet, or cell phone.  

So yeah, I can’t wait to be in the 1^st world and take advantage of all the amenities!  God wants us to appreciate those things while we have them... As long as I don't cry when I have to come back to my cold showers, uncomfortable bed, and rice and beans and eggs everyday for dinner :)   

Update February 2, 2013: 
Last week ALL my jewelry was stolen!  Let me tell you, I was quite upset when I discovered that someone had broken the screen on my bedroom window and reached in (through the burglar bars) to grab my jewelry bag.  I still feel quite safe, thanks to those burglar bars!  but I was more upset than I should have been about the loss of all my jewelry and hair stuff that was in that case.  I tried to justify why I was so frustrated.  I told myself "I don't have that many material possessions to begin with",  "I'm generous with my stuff, I often give away earrings because I have plenty and someone else really likes them" and "I'm upset because those things were a small collection of places I've visited and lived, and they were presents from my friends and family, I'm upset because of their sentimental value" ... all these things may be true, but in the end all my justification for why it upset me doesn't hold up, the truth is, I'm upset because I was attached and now I'm forced to DETACH.  

It's not fun, but it's a constant lesson we all have to learn, we are not meant to stay on this earth forever, I should be able to live happily with or without it, there's no point to storing up my treasures on earth.  

When I saw this post in my lists of past posts I thought I'd write a little update, a reminder to myself and others that these lessons are "Life" lessons, meaning they aren't just learned and then you get it and move on, the way you learn your multiplication tables, this is one of the lessons we will forever be learning... but the good news is, the more often we learn it, the easier it gets!