You Make Beautiful Things, Part 2

Girasoles & the Sea of Cortez

When you swim in the ocean off the beaches in Cabo San Lucas you’re actually swimming in the Sea of Cortez. Swimming in warm, teal colored water is life changing. I realize this sounds melodramatic, and maybe it is, but my experience *was* life changing. The waters were rough and beautiful, warm and frightening. They were and are everything that life is, captured in nature. The fullness of life, which contains all things beautiful and yet horrific in the water. And when you float and swim and duck under the waves you feel everything that quite possibly was meant to be felt.

My children loved everything about the beach. The water, the sun, the sand. Holy moments occurred when I watched them run on the wet sand, leaving their delicious little footprints behind. Footprints that would never be that exact size again. Each moment and each print to be cherished for the moment of time they were in, for only brief seconds for we quickly continued moving forward in time, never to return to that particular holy moment again.

All around
Hope is springing up from this old ground
Out of chaos life is being found in You

Three mornings out of our week we had breakfast at a delicious restaurant called Girasoles de la Hacienda. The restaurant overlooks the ocean, it’s a peaceful atmosphere and the food is delicious. But what made our mornings most beautiful were the people of Girasoles: Daniel, Norman, Francisco, Deisy, Araceli, to name a few. There was truly a connection between our family and these amazing people.

The Mexican people in general were some of the most beautiful and gracious people I have ever met in my life. They were kind and friendly, they smiled and they were accommodating in ways that Americans never even dream of. The Mexican people I met smile a lot and that’s refreshing. They make eye contact with you when you pass and they say “Hola!” and “Buenos Dias!” They are humble, genuine and encouraging. (”It doesn’t matter that it’s only ten o’clock in the morning, David, have some tequila, it’s your birthday!”)

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

In my cynicism I wondered a time or two if our treatment was purely based on what US dollar someone may receive from this American. However, in my limited experience with humanity, I’ve learned that there are connections that cannot be explained, and that it was more important for me to trust this particular instinct instead of allowing my cynicism to prevail.

In the movie “Before Sunrise” the character Celine describes God as not someone or something inside of us, but as existing in “this little space in between” us. She says: “If there’s any kind of magic in this world it must be in the attempt of understanding someone sharing something.” Our times with our friends at Girasoles were at the very least magical, but much more likely Divine.

You make me new, You are making me new
You make me new, You are making me new
You are making me new

The day before we left I spent some time contemplating how fortunate we had been to broaden our horizons and embrace a new and different culture. It occurred to me that our experience was only one of many to be had. Our world is so huge and yet our personal worlds are often so small. How many more geographies, cultures, languages, and, most importantly, people are there for us to experience on this great Earth? Countless, I presume. I hope that this is only the beginning of that type of journey for the W5

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

Like most things in my life I feel as if God ordained each moment of my trip for me. Not only the beautiful moments, but also the busy, the stressful, the sick, the tense, and of course as equally the intimate, the peaceful, the silent, the rest. My husband Dave shared at our Thanksgiving meal how grateful he is to be able to embrace the fullness of life which includes both the beautiful and the ugly, the happy and the sad. He likes to explain that without both sides of each and every coin our life as we know is probably not full. I like to think our time in Mexico embodied Dave’s theory completely. And for that I am eternally grateful.

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

PS As per the addition to my bucket list I downloaded an app for my iPhone called “Learn Spanish Quick”. Muy bueno!

(*) Lyrics “Beautiful Things” by Gungor. Watch their YouTube video below.

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