Traveling through the clouds returning from Mexico I reflect on our week. There are a lot of thoughts that come to my mind. First is how blessed we truly are to be able to travel and see God’s creation. The second was to be able to see how other people live in their own countries.

We stayed at a beautiful resort and we were treated with great respect. The staff was friendly and served us with smiles. We made new friends and talked to others through the week. Now, were the conversations always grateful or full of grumbles? I would say both. Here we are in paradise and people were finding faults with the resort and the staff. I was a little disappointed.

The one day we set off on an excursion to see the Emerald Waterfalls in the mountains. We left in the comfort of an air conditioned van. It didn’t take long to hit the small villages in the mountains. The villagers live in very small houses or shacks with little of anything.

The tour guide proceeded to tell us of the Mexican culture. He mentioned these people may not have much, but their smiles will tell you exactly how happy and content they are. To them family is everything. When someone passes away in the village people will all come together. They bring whatever they can to comfort and surround them. It may be rice or beans, a kind word, a hug, or just overwhelming love. They help each other in so many ways.

I was overwhelmed with so many thoughts as we did this tour. In today’s world we as humans have forgotten what community, true community, is. Yes there are many times when someone is hurting we pull together which is great. But in our day to day travels are we looking for a way to value others? Are we encouraging people?

The competition to be the biggest, the wealthiest, the furthest, is prevalent. Are we too busy to take time to help in our own villages? In our own families? As the guide mentioned, family is everything. Is our family everything to us? Many families I know have strife in the midst. It’s biblical that a house cannot stand with strife in the midst of it. We need to find peace in our homes.

I would love to spend time in this culture learning the simple things in life. They were cooking outside while the laundry is hanging on the line that was just hand washed. The children were playing outside with a ball or sticks, not electronics. There is no air conditioned homes with Wi-Fi, gaming systems or TV. They simply spent time together. Everyone was working together.

When we came through they smiled because they knew were helping them by just being there. The children came to the street and we stopped so they could hand us fruit. They just smiled and waved as we drove off.

I’m going to sit back now for the rest of the flight and just be grateful.