People from Around the World....and Vacation

It's hard to believe for me that I've just spent an entire 1 1/2 weeks in Mexico. First, let me start by saying that the Mayan Riviera has to be the most beautiful place in the world - and I've been to many beautiful places. I've been to a ton of Hawaiian and Caribbean Islands and would still label this the most beautiful place I've ever been. The place I stayed was perfect for a princess like me (and I really mean princess - there is no camping in my life for a very good reason - I'm a princess from way back). There was white sand beach; perfectly blue green Caribbean Sea; very cute Latino men waiting on me hand and foot....what more could I ask for? I didn't even need to speak their language for them to understand my needs at the very moment they were asking me if everything was all right. I'm perfectly convinced that God created this magical place for me. While I was on vacation though I re-read a book that I would label one of my favorites. I love reading the Bible and have several favorites books from there, but after the Bible, my favorite book is The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Album. Every time I read this book, even though I know the ending, I cry. The story creatively told is about a man who dies on his birthday saving the life of a child. When he wakes up in Heaven, he meets 5 people that were important to his life in one way or another. These five people are in a place in Heaven that they wanted to be - whether it be a place that they remembered loving or a time in their life that they were happy. The lessons they teach him are incredible and practical. The first person he meets in heaven is a person they call the Blue Man. He was blue in his life from a reaction to medication. His life lesson from Eddie (the main character) is that there are no random acts when you meet people. All lives are connected somehow - that you no more can separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind. It seems so unreal that this could be true, but as I was on vacation and listened to the people I met, I realized how true that was. My God is the creator of all life. There are no accidents with God including the people that come into our lives. We cannot separate ourselves from the ones that intersect ours - they become part of the fabric we call our lives. Sometimes that is a good thing and I'm happy about that thought. Sometimes, that is a very difficult thing for me to wrestle with. There are some people that have intersected my life that I wish never had; and then there are some that have intersected my life that I can't believe are part of my life -they are amazing, wonderful, loving people and I couldn't be who I am without them....and oh yeah, there are some (need I say more than hot Latin men bringing me slushy drinks) that I just thank God that he is the creator of such magnificence and I do mean magnificence.....Ok, back to my point.....the one I'm really trying to make here. I love to go to new places around the world and meet new people. While on vacation, I met people from all different places - Paris, Argentina, Paraguay, Canada, Australia, Spain. Although we come from so many different cultures and places, our lives intersected from April 7th, 2008 through April 15th, 2008 in Tulum, Mexico. Our lives intersected and in some instances friendships formed. In the end, the marvel that I came away with is that there are people all over the world, but one thing in common - My God created them and our lives intersected. I wondered, as I left Mexico (sadly, I might add), if I made a difference in the fabric of their lives - a difference for God. I love vacations - so much time to think about the deep things of God - on a white sand beach, near a rushing waterfall, with the sounds of the waves hitting the sand, and the birds singing...This is how I pictured heaven....and I know it will be so much more beautiful than this.....hard to believe.