Let It Be

Hey Team,

Sorry it's been so long since I've last updated but I've been uber busy over the last couple weeks. Anywho let's get started.

We went to Jagua Clara in late early February and stayed for ten days. It was definitely one of the most memorable experiences of my life for all sorts of various reasons. I stayed with a host family-my family-for all ten days. They are the Henriquez Almontes family. I have a mom and a dad, my dad is a farmer and my mom worked at home. I also had a younger brother, Eddy, who is 18 and a younger sister, Sarah, who is 15. They're the best. I WILL fight about that fact. On top of those living in the home, I also have ten (yup I said ten) other brothers and sisters living in other places.

Every night my brother, sister, and I would play cards for a couple of hours before going to bed (which was at around 9 o'clock every night. It. Was. Awesome.) We would talk, using the term talk incredibly lightly as my Spanish still leaves much to be desired or watch a telenovela (my brother and sister seemed to enjoy the one entitled "Perro Amor" the best-I was just confused about what was going on) if there was luz (electricity) which was not an incredibly common occurrence.

They were the definition of generosity of kindness to me. My mom made me coffee every morning and every evening. She seemed to always love the opportunity to give me something. Sometimes I would look over at her and she was always smiling at me. This is something I really had a hard time understanding. Here I was, an American, who spoke very terrible Spanish and could rarely communicate anything had barged into the lives of my family members for ten days. I took up space and a bed. However, I really had nothing to offer them. I couldn't say anything intelligent insightful. I couldn't even really crack a joke. I could barely communicate the simplest of ideas. I really just seemed to add extra chores (extra laundry to wash, extra coffee to make, extra time spent explaining the simplest of tasks) However, they seemed to genuinely enjoy my presence. In fact my mom in the campo told one of my leaders that she really liked me. This baffled me. How? What did I do? What did I say? How could they possibly know whether they liked me or not?

After a while I began to realize just how profound this is. Often times (especially in the United States) we define ourselves by what we have to offer. I'm good at basketball, I'm a great accountant, I'm smart, I'm funny...etc to the point where if someone doesn't "have something to offer" they are next to useless. We forget that people are people and therefore important, simply because they are. I think Max Lucado said it best when in one of his books he wrote, "You are valuable because you exist. Not because of what you do or what you have done, but simply because you are."

It is clear to see how the mentality of needing to "offer something" to feel of use has wreaked havoc throughout the globe. I see it far to often in my own life. I get depressed and discouraged when I feel that I do not measure up. I wonder what the world would look like we allowed ourselves to just be comfortable with "being." Also, if we allowed others to do the same, we valued them simply for the fact that they "are."

I was important to my family in the DR because I was there...and that is it. Talk about humbling.

Mi Familia (Left to Right Mom, Dad, Sarah, Me, Eddy)