“You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.”
-Miriam Adeney
As many of you know, I have spent the last three months living and ministering in an orphanage in Mexicali, Mexico. And those three months can arguably be called the best three months of my life. In these past three months I have learned more about faith, friendship, joy, life, and the love of our Father than I have in a really long time. However, last Friday, I returned back to the States for the first time in three months, and returned home to Nebraska Saturday night. And although I am glad to be back in America to see all of my friends and family, and to start getting ready for my next adventure, not being in Mexico is really hard. I miss the culture, I miss the people, I miss the mountains, and I profoundly miss the children at the orphanage. Each one of them has a special gift that I know they are going to use to change the world.
I wish I could tell you all everything about Mexico; tell you every experience that I had. I wish I could put into words the beauty of the spirits of those kids, write down the details of each of their sassy and sweet personalities. You see, each one of those kids are a precious creation of our God, who are so dearly loved by him. Each one of those children are so special in his sight, and deserve so much more in life than they have been given. But somehow, they all find ways to laugh, and to love, and to be kids. And they all found a way to wiggle themselves into my heart. In the span of those three months, I had grown to fiercely love each one of them, to be their biggest fan, and to be one of their best friends. I learned what it’s like to be a mother to seventeen children who have never had a real stable parental figure in their life before they came to this orphanage.
And I loved every single second of it. Okay, maybe not every second. (Disciplining is hard!) But I completely, thoroughly, and wholly enjoyed my life in Mexico. Because life is always more fulfilling and more complete when you are fully immersed into it. Life is always better when you are pursuing the will of the Lord in each and every day. Life is more satisfying when you stop worrying about what the world thinks of you, and you just do something that you know you were meant to do. That you know is your Kingdom calling in life. Life in Mexico was sweet, and so so good to me.
Honestly, I don’t have very many words to describe my time in Mexico. But I can truthfully say that I am not the same person I was when I left. I learned a lot about myself in Mexico. I’m different. I’m changed. There’s a time in every person’s life when they realize who they really are, and who God made them to be. The time when they learn to be content with the gifts and personality that they have been given. I just happened to have that time while in Mexico. I realized that I was made the way I was for a reason, that God didn’t make a mistake when he was hand-crafting me. And I learned to be content in that.
Before Mexico, I thought I was already “grown up.” I thought that I had already matured a lot. And I wasn’t wrong, but I wasn’t totally right. I just grew up a lot while in Mexico. I mean, I was basically a mom for three months. It’s hard to go from being responsible for seventeen little lives, to only being responsible for your own. I don’t think I’m ever going to shake my “mom” instinct ever again. But I think that’s okay, and I think that that’s good. I’m just glad that Shaina could put up with me and my nagginess for three months. If that’s not true friendship, then I don’t know what is.
So, Mexico is a special place, characterized by the joy of its people, and the beauty of its landscapes. Mexico is full of good food, great people, crazy drivers, and the Spirit of a Living God who is alive and at work in the lives and hearts of the people living there. I am humbled and in awe that I got to be a part of the work that the Lord is doing there. I will never forget my time in Mexico, and I will forever hold the country, and those children in my heart. Thank you, Mexico, for giving me so much. I am just glad I could give you a little something in return.
Con Mucho Amor,
Katie Rhodes
Want to know how YOU can help send me to three other countries to spend three months in each one? Just click HERE to support me on my World Race Gap Year trip! Thank you so much for your support!
