This summer, my daughter and I went on a youth mission trip to Freeport, Grand Bahama through my friend’s church.  As my dear friend (pictured to the right of me above) explained, “it is like going to an island and passing through a really poor area on the way to the resort, only this is where the bus stops and we get out.”

I thought it would be so very good for my daughter.  And it was. Her face got more beautiful everyday as she took care of the children in the village.  She did work in some houses but it was the children she was drawn too.  She held them, played with them and above all, listened to them.

But I needed this trip too, more than I knew.   I needed to completely disconnect from my life in order to reconnect to everything that mattered to me.  There was no cell, no internet, no TV and  no social media.  That week I reconnected with the quiet.  Each morning I woke up early with a cup of coffee and walked down to the beach, where I ran, wrote and sometimes just sat.

I helped build houses.  And in doing so built bridges.  I learned to depend on people I did not know.  And I learned that my heart has more space than I imagined.  I am so grateful.

ps.  We went as part of Karazim Ministries in Freeport, Grand Bahama, who are doing amazing work serving people in need.