Buses here are so considerate they always have room for one more

what is personal space?

thats right so full the doors can't shut and still the driver goes on

You  know the more I think of it traffic isn't so bad whether in the car or in the market. I think

it actually helps me from the inevitable navel gazing as I like to call it. Just think about it we are people that can stand in the middle of a crowd and yet feel all alone. We need to have people around us whether we like it or not. Otherwise we think our problems are the biggest, our hurts are the deepest our past is the worst. And so if we are able to drive from A-B with out running into anyone or with out having to wait behind 100 people we can actually believe the lie in our head that above all else we are the most burden in the world. How do we get to such a place ? I won't be able to help others lift up their burdens and bandage their  hurts if I am in a place to never see them. 

I can't believe this but ....I am thankful for the crazy amounts of traffic and people here. It helps me to daily encounter people, to see their faces and look into their eyes. So many of them look like they are struggling. Now this gets worse as we leave the City of Mexico. But something I want to never forgot is that even if they have a regular paying job and live in a apartment or in a shed in the middle of the forest  in San Pablito their biggest deficiency is HOPE. They like we need hope and need to be reminded that the current circumstances we all live in right now will pass away. For some of us sooner then later. But is there HOPE after this life. Is the suffering of this life what it is all about, the things we have lost, the things we have gained. For how long will they matter? Will they matter in eternity when I am with my Lord and Saviour. Will it matter to so many others that have never heard the message of hope and are eternally lost in a even worse conditions then they endured here on EARTH. I have hope and I need to love like a person who has been given the free gift of hope. will I live a life of presenting this HOPE if I am navel gazing? I need to choose to live in the bigger victories of this life and share it in action and word. Lets not just survive this life by existing lets offer hope to all the people around us, lets be willing to stretch out our hands and say I am willing to pull you up if you fall. Life is messy lets not tell ourselves  that our neighbours home is cleaner, her scale says a smaller number, her childhood had more roses. Lets be honest life can be difficult, actually life IS difficult but the point is we aren't here alone to do it alone we have each other , we have HOPE and we have so many words of encouragements and inspiration all around us and in the Bible. Read it, drink it in, and then let it flow from you and share the hope that lives with in you. To hurt is to be human, to care and reach out is to be made in the image of God.

So...... how can we be a people that are not afraid to get out there into to trafficy parts of our worlds? Yes I know trafficy is not a word. What decisions can you make to not be a navel gazer? I am not saying life doesn't hurt because it does and I am sorry so many people have to walk through such awful circumstance. My thoughts are we are all broken. Some of our broken parts are hidden deep down where others do not see them. But we are all broken. We can be people that share our hurts and comforts others that are hurting and then remind ourselves and them of the HOPE that we have with in us and the reality of eternity is much much different and greater from anything we have ever dreamed or experienced.

I want to leave you with a passage from  the book of Matthew.

5 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them.

The Beatitudes

He said:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The little girl on the right is Davida. Her mom died a long time ago, she has sad eyes and lives in a shed a hours walk away from a village we visit in Sam Pablito and I am glad we can share our hope and our life with her. How blessed are we?

Lets get out there and find some traffic to be apart of. There are so many that are waiting to hear the message of our HOPE. Lets merge.