If You Catch the Fruit

... When it falls, It won't get bruised.

It has been an amazing 2nd week so far.. I can't believe it's October! I didn't really believe people when they said time will fly but I'm already feeling like December will come too soon! (Although, when I talk to loved ones back home I start to think it can't come soon enough.. I'm torn.)

I can't really explain all the reasons why I love it here so much but I think a really big one is that I'm down to essentials. I don't really have too much extra stuff going on in my day-to-day here. Life is just simple and peaceful and yet everyday is filled with the excitement of doing things I love. When I'm teaching these girls it's like there's absolutely nothing else going on. One of my girls is dyslexic so she requires a little more hands-on work and a lot more creativity and I find that challenge of working with her to be a real thrill and it's extremely rewarding when she really grasps something.

As I'm faced with the updates from back home and sometimes the little hint of desire that comes when I hear about something a friend is doing that I would like to be able to do right now, God has really been showing me where my priorities are. My heart's desire is to esteem the things He esteems, love the things He loves, be passionate about His passions.. etc. etc. etc. And He's been showing me where I've got that down and some areas where I'm a little confused and off base. I love to be here learning from Him. This environment so promotes a lifestyle of reflection and meditation on truth. This country; this community; this culture is rooted in the essentials. It's the difference between always looking forward for what's 'next' to taking things day-to-day, hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute... and finding the fruit of every moment. I feel like in America I stand under a tree full of unripe fruit and I reach and I stretch and I grasp for that fruit whereas here.. I sit under the tree and the ripe fruit falls and I can collect it from the ground. It's the difference between being dissatisfied and being content.

I wash my Ziplocs, I hardly wear makeup, I don't enjoy live music on a regular basis. BUT-I serve, I think things through, I read, I learn, I have alone time, and I have fellowship. Honduras is showing me what the difference is between needing and wanting, the difference between hunger and starvation.

The good news is that on this trip I have more than 10 days to realize what the non-essentials are. I get to realize what they are, and then I get to build a lifestyle that excludes them. And that is the difference between short-term and long-term. Between 10 days and 9 months. Between visiting Honduras and living in Honduras.