"MY DIAMOND SHOES ARE TOO TIGHT"

This could potentially be one of the greatest phrases ever! One of my greatest friends, Dugan, overheard some people complaining about their experience in first class. As harmless as she meant it when she replied with the words "My diamond shoes are too tight", it felt like somebody punched me in the throat. Even though her words were not directed at me, i couldn't help but to apply them to my life.

The day before i left for my trip, my washing machine broke and flooded the house. Of course my first instinct is to think "woe is me; why me? This sucks". But when I was forced to think about it, i thought "at least i have a house; the only things ruined were replaceable; more than half the world doesn't own a washing machine, so at least I have one". When I looked at my life from that perspective--I started to enjoy my time in Honduras even more.

Our humanitarian efforts began by taking large amounts of clothes, shoes, books and accessories(provided by bethany) to a baby orphanage. When we arrived, the children were preparing to eat dinner. The head of the orphanage asked "ninos,,quieren comida o zapatos?" (children, do you want food or shoes?) They all screamed "zapatos"(shoes). They dumped the shoes out onto the dusty floor and all the kids anxiously dove for them. There is no feeling much greater than the feeling I had at that moment. I honestly believe that our greatness is not measured by what we possess, but by what we give.

We had a great time at a local nursing home in La Ceiba. We had a nice game of soccer going (or as they would call it--futbol). We taught an English lesson to some local children, did arts and crafts with 2 different villages, and bought food for a local family and dined with them. My favorite part of that dinner was learning that Mr. Chang rearranged the dishes on the table to cover the insect life. Kelly took an entire day to help a volunteer construction team build a much needed house for a village. Everyone in our small group jumped at the opportunity to strengthen another life. And even though we didn't do anything miraculous that will save the world, we took a step in the right direction--and that matters.