A Longing to Go Back

I am sitting here at my desk listening to my daughters scurry about the house and thinking of the kids in Nicaragua. I am wondering what they are doing right now, and thinking just how much I miss them. I am talking about all the kids there not just the ones that we were with at the house. I was looking at pictures today at work and showing them to my co-workers when it hit me, "their lives have not changed!" We go about our everyday lives and so do they. One of my fellow YMCA workers made a statement that drives home how we should see the kids and adults there. She said, "when we look at the pictures of how they live their everyday lives, we feel sorry for them, but we forget that they are happier than we are, even the ones from the dump with smiles on their faces!" That sort of puts things in perspective, I sometimes feel that we are the ones that are living in turmoil. I mean our lives are so cluttered and busy that we forget what it is like to just smile and laugh, so tonight I got down in the floor with my little one and just had a tickle war and we both just laughed until we hurt. I think that is what we are missing that the people of Nicaragua have, an unconditional happiness. They get in no hurry nor do they worry about things that they have no control over. We could really learn from them in we would just look at the worst situation that we see them in and look a their face; there is in most cases a huge smile. Here are some of those smiles...

As you can see smiles, smiles, and more smiles. So I guess the secret to living is to continually smile no matter what the situation.

I guess a smile could be translated as, "Always be joyful. Pray continually, and give thanks whatever happens. That is what God wants for you in Christ Jesus." Those are some GREAT WORDS from Paul in his first letter to the Thessalonians. 1st Thess. 5:16-17 (New Century Version)

Have a good night everyone!