for me. It has been weird being back in the states and realizing that,
as you go and get your daily coffee, people you love and your brothers
and sisters in Christ are in need of water. The water that it takes to
make my family’s morning coffee could keep thirst from one family down
there for a day. It amazes me to think about that.
Being there
taught me how urgent it is for my life and others’ that, in the vacuum I
fill in this life, I become small to make room for Christ to shine
through. If all I care about is getting my morning coffee then I miss
what’s happening all around me and I don’t leave God room to fill my
space. It’s crazy how easy it is to be “Merely Max” in a different
country and how hard it is here.
Angel, a boy that I met
there, taught me to always aim high. He lived in the colonia, in a
house made out of trash with holes in the tin roof. When he grew up he
wanted to be a construction engineer. He was always ready to listen,
even to my faltering, stumbling Spanish, and he always had something
kind to say. He definitely wasn’t going to let a lack of water make him
sad and loose focus on what’s important, but when I and my piers don’t
get coffee or other things we want we tend to loose sight of God and
fill our space with ourselves, not Him.
Being back here for a
few days now, every little kid I want to hug and every dog not touch.
It is still a fight not to say “hola” when I greet someone. It’s been
pretty weird getting the hang of life in the U.S. again. But then
again, I don’t want to live like I did two weeks ago. I want to live
like my mountain-community neighborhood is a Mexican colonia and every
little kid should be played with. Just as we didn’t let Mexican water
taint us with sickness, we can’t let everything culture aspect we drink
in here infect us with apathy. We have to continue to let Jesus fill
our space and act as a conduit of His love and mercy, no matter where we
are.
Thanks, AIM, for being a conduit of His love.
Max Murray
