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Recently I have questioned a belief I have held close to me for my entire life. I have had a spirit of adventure and a drive for journey for as long as I can remember, but these beautiful foreign places seemed no more than a vacation every few years. I never felt that it was possible for me to lead a life outside of the state of Mississippi. I had grown quite accepting of the idea that I would live and die in the Magnolia state, not by choice but by circumstance. This fall, I got the opportunity to travel the Caribbean. This journey landed me in blue waters with tides crashing into the Honduran mountains, it brought me the sweet fragrance of homemade tamales in the streets of Cozumel and finally I found myself in the Belizean jungle floating through exuberant, arching caves. In that water, I fell in love. As I was having dinner with the local Creole people in a beautiful hut overlooking the mountainous terrain of Belmopan, Belize, I realized that this life was possible. I knew then I would do anything to achieve this way of living. I felt God’s handiwork in my life as I looked at the tiny houses and dusty roads where people stood selling pineapple. It all became so real, these estranged people felt like home to me. The tour guide sat next to me and he told me “ I have all I need here. It is beautiful and I can ride my bike anywhere! Belize is home!”. That sentence touched my heart, this simple way of life is something all Americans can learn from. We wish for such great things when this guy was just grateful to be able to ride his bike. He wouldn’t trade my house, my car, or my life for his beautiful country. This love he felt for simplicity is something I yearn for.
I no longer feel this exotic life is unreachable, I now truly know that all things are possible with God. I felt God in the farthermost place I have ever been from home. I saw him in the beautiful tan faces of natives and I felt his joy in the sun that poured over me. I met with God in Belize. Ever changing as they may be, he told me of his plans. I don't know where i'm going, all I know is I AM going. I tried fitting his plans into a Mississippi shaped box when he is the one who created the world. when you stop trying to place God into an America-shaped box,a poor man's box,a white box or a black box just because we feel that is all we can achieve by circumstance, you will find your horizon broadening. I am a child of the one who made the world, my earthly circumstance cannot begin to affect the God of the universe. I will find adventure in the palms of his hands, I met with God in Belize.