Final Thoughts

We have made it safely home and now over the next several weeks will have the opportunity to reflect back on the experience time and time again as we share the funny, sad, and interesting stories with our families and friends.
We had a beautiful closing ceremony on Thursday night with Julio, our service team leader in Guatemala, Patrick Atkinson, founder of the GOD's CHILD Project, and some of the other team leaders. Patrick did a nice job of bringing our focus back to what we accomplished on this experience; primarily to learn more about ourselves, God, and the poor. One of the tools he uses during the final reflection is a candle - he asks everyone to focus only on the flame and to filter out all the extraneous sites/sounds. The purpose of this is to realize that we can choose what we focus on. Many times we asked each other how the people of Guatemala could be so happy when they seem to have so little. Patrick's response is that they choose to focus on that which makes them happy and they deal with the rest. That is certainly a very valuable lesson for us all as we return to our busy and hectic schedules and also embark on the busy holiday season.
Many people have asked how they can be of assistance. Others have commented on how guilty they feel for all that we have. Another one of Patrick's lessons is that we have to serve from our positions of strength. If a friend were to yell for help while falling into Niagara Falls, it would do no good to jump in after him. A more helpful strategy would be to use your position of strength and enlist others to help. And that is how it is for all of us who have so many gifts and talents. Be thankful, be humble, be empathetic, and use your position of strength to help others.
Thank you for sharing in this journey with all of us. God Bless.