Falcon Dam

July 4th brought sunshine and fun to the members of Children's Haven International. For my first 4th out of the U.S. I didn't stray too far from my native soil. Falcon Dam bridges the border between Mexico and the states, so although I wasn't technically home, this lake created by the dam is the closest I've felt to MN thus far. After a great day of fun in the sun, with a grilled lunch for all of the children, staff, and volunteers, we packed up and thought that we were all headed back to RIN. A right at the exit of Falcon park would keep us in Mexico and take us back to Reynosa, we took a left. We were smuggling dozens of Mexican children into the United States! Not exactly... but we did go and spend a few minutes at the actual border between these two countries, and the kids were ECSTATIC. At first they couldn't comprehend what we were saying, that they were going to the U.S. This idea is so taboo that they continued to clarify as we were headed toward the border. As a United States citizen, with my magical passport that is rarely, if ever, questioned in any country, it was extremely humbling to remember how blessed we are to be from a country that so many people trust. I hope that you all had a blessed Independence Day weekend, full of all that makes America great and I hope that we all remember how lucky we are that we were born North of the Rio Grande. Being a citizen of the U.S. is a gift, and if we all realized that and used that gift to care for those less fortunate than ourselves, we would all live in a better world.

The children had an awesome 4th of July. We weren't celebrating American independence, but I was celebrating all that makes the United States of America great, while sharing it with our neighbors to the south.

Dios les bendiga los Estados Unidos de America y los Estados Unidos Mexicanos.
God Bless the United States of America and the United States of Mexico.

And may we remember that we are all citizens of one world, God's world, God's children.