1) Disneyland...although not looking forward to the trip, it was a success due to the fireworks and the new space mountain (new since the last time I had been).
2) My girlfriends hands...she gives a far superior back-rub to any that I have had, and actually has very strong hands for a tiny woman.
3) Being in Mexico and working among the needy...on the last day we went to a house that was probably 100ft. x 30ft., and 60 people, or so, in 10 families live there. It struck me how eager the kids were to grab any, and everything, that we would give them. Some of the youngest ones had no shoes and we were able to get them some so that by the time we left, they were all wearing shoes. One thing that struck me was that while we were playing and throwing all the kids up in the air, some of the older girls (age 11-13) wanted to be thrown into the air as well. Of course, I could only throw them like 10 inches above me because they were a little heavier, but this caused me to think about a few things. It got me thinking about the fact that all of these kids basically skip their childhood. Although they might get a chance to occasionally play, they lack the basic experiences that we take for granted as kids...like hugs, and dads throwing us in the air, and having chicken fights in swimming pools. One of the girls there was 14 and was 8 months pregnant with her second child. As far as I'm concerned...she has skipped her childhood. She will never know what its like to go on a first date, to go to a high school prom, to let a male love her apart from wanting her body...so sad. I know this seems like I am asserting a lot of possibly false things, but the problem is that she will probably become like all the other women around that house. Most of them seem to be somewhere between 25-35 and they all have 4 or more kids, and we found out from someone at the orphanage that incest is a common thing in that house. So, I will continue to pray for the situation and try to help every time I go back, because kids need to be able to be kids. I hope someday to be able to do a longer term missions trip and really make some difference. I believe that grace is a powerful thing, and is best used when it is given by us to others...because Christ has extended it to us. May we all extend grace to others at some point...even when it is simply giving someone back their childhood.
4) we also saw a Mexican guy get beat up and shoved out of the back of a truck by his boss who didn't want to pay him. So, we flagged down a police car and sent him with the police after his boss that had done this to him. Random story...but quite an experience.
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