First post

As I was trying to come up with a first post for the blog I thought of John's sermon a few weeks ago that talked about hiding our gifts (or glory). John used the analogy of hiding Halloween candy so long that it would go stale. While in and of itself that isn't a bad thing, but when your brothers and sisters were asking for "just one piece" and you have consistently been saying "no" what a waste of some really good candy. Don't you think? Well at least I did.

I feel like this trip really helps us to recognize how much we hide our gifts and pushed me to reach under the bed to pull out my stash of Halloween candy. I'm confronting the same thing this year. The people in Mexico are so giving and it rubs off on you when you are there. I walked away from last year thinking that I was going to be a better Dad and a better citizen of the world (I speak like that to myself all the time!) But life kinda got in the way and the next thing you know I find myself hiding my gifts. I thought I'd be better as I was more experienced this year, but I still feel like I want to hide it all away. Geesh! So going into this year's trip I'm excited to see the folks in Mexico again and to learn from them. Learn about what it means to really be generous, and sharing even if you think your bag of candy is almost empty.

Well that is the story for the first blog entry.
-t