Perfection.

This past week, I had another incredible trip to Mexico. I worked with one of the most interesting groups I have ever had and also got the opportunity to train a new Amor intern, Mary. Training Mary was exciting and interesting because of the preexisting relationship we have. Mary was part of the same family camp that initially introduced me to Amor. She and I participated in one trip together and last year she was part of a trip that I led as a field specialist. After being part of the same group, we have stayed in touch occasionally. When I initially sent out support letters, she was one of the people on my list. Even cooler, she was one the the people who responded. Interestingly enough, this means that I, a full-timer with Amor, am training Mary, an intern, while she is financially supporting me. Weird. And Awesome. In addition, when Mary began considering an internship with Amor, she used me as a resource to find out more about the job. I was able to share with her a lot of the highs and lows of being a field specialist and I hope this helped prepare her for her time with Amor.

Training Mary was an extremely humbling experience. She did her job as if she had been at it for a very long period, rather than a first timer. She was exceedingly encouraging to everyone around her, stayed on top of the project, and built relationships with group members and the family for which we were building. Working with her throughout the week was awesome, but there is one moment in particular that I will not forget anytime soon. As we sat around the campfire one evening, everyone had the opportunity to share something they had experienced during the week. Mary chose to share that throughout the week she had moments where everything just felt things were "perfect." Despite the brokenness around her, she was able to see fleeting times of perfection. I have to believe these moments came at many different times and in many different manners. She probably saw this perfection in the way that group members worked together to build the home. I'm sure she also saw it in the way that the group related with the Mexican family. I'm sure she saw it in the determined but humbled eyes of the builders and in the grateful, hopeful eyes of the family receiving the home. Finally, I'm sure she saw it in the beautiful, blooming mountains that surrounded her as she drove back to camp each day. I am confident that these moments of perfection abounded throughout her week in the above instances and many more.

The reason I can hazard to guess what exactly drove Mary to this joy, revelation and sneak peak into perfection is that I have felt these moments as well. To be honest, the proliferation of these events in my life since I move to San Diego and started work in Mexico is staggering. It has become commonplace for me to be moved to tears by the sheer joy that I feel as I look around me. Seeing life come together in front of you, serving others and being near God can do that to a person, I suppose. I am so thankful to Mary for succintly describing such a simple but difficult to identify feeling. Later, I got to discuss her observation with her. I encouraged her to try to hold on and remember as many of these times as possible, but I was also able to offer her a little bit of reassurance. The fact is, even if you can't hold onto every one of these moments the way you would like, they happen frequently. It's even gotten to the point now where I see many of these "perfections" when I am back home simply living my life. This weekend was full of them as I spent time with friends and even saw one of my best friends perform with a brand new band. I got outside, rode my bikes and played volleyball. The moments of perfection have continued throughout yesterday and today. This is a profound blessing and I will try to store up as many of these memories as I can.

Adelante!

-Clint