Mike: Let it go and give it to the Lord!

2009 was an incredible year and was marked with a number of firsts for me personally. One of those firsts was a trip to El Carrizo. The lessons learned in this small, remote, hot and dusty village would become a key to the days and months that followed. Entering the year, my wife and I “had our lives planned”. Our son had married – and we gained a wonderful daughter-in-law. Wedding plans and a wedding in August – and now our family had grown to six with the addition of a super son-in-law. Everything was going great. Then in October of 2009 our world, as we knew it, changed with an unexpected career move to Atlanta for me and my wife. It also meant leaving children behind in North Carolina – and what (at the time) seemed to be real problems. During this course change, the lessons I learned in El Carrizo kept being played in my head… ‘Let it go and give it to the Lord!’ All the faces from El Carrizo flooded my mind. They were the faces of Jesus to me…Senior Paulino; Francisco; Leibi Roxanna; Reinaldo; Jose; Pastor Mejia…too many to name. Back in 2009, one of Pastor Mejia’s sermons was on James 2: 14-26. This passage being read in that place – this very special place, gave me a different perspective on the lesson contained in the verses. So for me, coming back to El Carrizo is more than a homecoming. It is a time of renewal and a time to remember what is really important. Yes, I thought things were ‘planned’ for our time after children. However we were shown how plans made by man, can change in an instant. Letting it go and giving it to God is the only answer. Life is good and being here this week and seeing the faces of Senior Paulino, Francisco, Leibi Roxanna; Pastor Mejia; Jose and all the others reminds me how they are and will ALWAYS be a part of me and who I am. As for now, I only have one more day, on this trip, that I can say ‘hasta manana’. -- Mike