Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Mis Amigas

If anyone is interested in hearing about the summer from a different perspective, here are the links to the blogs of two friends who were in Honduras with me.

http://www.yoursarethehands.wordpress.com


http://angiemartin08.blogspot.com/

Friday, August 6, 2010

Llegué a mi casa ayer

Well, I’m back in the states now. It was very sad to leave the community and all the people that I have come to love. During the goodbye party everyone was crying. But there is a time for everything and it was time for those of us who came for the summer to go.

It wasn’t as much of a culture shock as I had expected. I guess I had not been gone for long enough. There are still some things though. Hondurans are, as a general rule, quite modest so after being around that for a while it was strange seeing girls in really short shorts and tank tops at the Houston airport. It was also strange to have so many choices of things to wear this morning instead of one of the seven shirts that I brought with me. Last night I tried to reach for my water bottle to brush my teeth, forgetting that I can use the tap water. I also kept trying to respond to American flight attendants with sí, buenas tardes, gracias etc. out of habit.

Carol challenged me before I left by reminding me that my time in Honduras was not just an experience to file along with my other college experiences. It is meant to change me and transform the way I see life and to help me grow. I know that I have grown a lot and the challenge now is to not settle back into complacency as I return to my comfortable life here.

I thank you for your prayers. Please, always keep the country of Honduras in your prayers. There is so much beauty there, but also so much suffering. It has been a pleasure to share my life in Honduras with everyone. I hope to post a link to some pictures within the next couple of days.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

El último día

As I am preparing to leave the community here in Honduras and return home I have been reflecting on what I have learned and how I have grown. One of the common themes of this summer has been mediocrity vs. holiness. Christ says “you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all you soul, with all you mind and with all you strength.” (Mark 12:30) In other words, with your all everything. There is no middle ground. We either live our lives totally dedicated to Christ or we don’t. It's time for us, both Catholics and all Christians, to become who we say we are: followers of Christ. That means living the Gospel message, even the hard parts about the cross, loving our enemies, etc. What will it take to shake us out of our comfortable lives and wake up to the reality of heaven, hell, infinite love, truth, sin, and mercy? We need to ask God to transform our hearts. I’m not there yet, but I hope that at the end of my life I can say I was a true follower of Christ, lived totally for Him, trusted in His mercy and His plan and did all that is asked of His followers in the Gospel. And I hope I can say that at the end of this summer I am a little closer to that calling. It takes little steps. For instance, finding somewhere I can serve when I go back to school.