Adorable Mayan kids

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about my passion for the people of the Yucatan Peninsula. Well, today while I was looking for a picture to go with a post I was going to do, I came across this one and it brought back such great memories I decided to post this instead.

In May of 2004, Trent and I went to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and on this particular day we were just cruising around in the rental car, going exploring (which is our favorite thing to do). We saw a bunch of people gathered around at the beach, so we decided to stop and see what was going on. It was a fishing contest and it was full of locals, I think we were about the only white people there and we definitely stuck out like a sore thumb! The Mayan people were so kind to us and they liked us being there. They tried to include us in conversation, (which was hard because at the time I didn't know any Spanish at all) and they wanted to show us their fish they caught.

I noticed these CUTE kids swimming, laughing and playing in the water, so I went over to take their picture and play with them a little bit. I have no idea what their names are, but just look at them - they are SO beautiful. I remembered that in my purse I had brought some little tiny toys to give to kids that I came in contact with (a BIG deal to them, since they don't have hardly any toys at all), so I had Trent hold the camera, dug in the bottom of my purse, and fished out little plastic frogs and tiny cross rings to give them. They loved them, but there soon became a little problem. I didn't anticipate all of the other kids on the beach noticing this white lady passing out treats from her purse. They mobbed me! At first they were all reaching at me and kind of going crazy, but somehow I got them to form a line and I passed out every little toy in my purse. When I didn't have any toys left, all I had was Altoids, so I passed those out and they were happy with the Altoids - the poor kids!

It was an amazing day that God blessed me with and I just wanted to share the memory with you. Everywhere you go, open your eyes and be aware of all the divine appointments that God may have for you. You never know what kind of blessing he might have if you pay attention!