When you make big plans to go on a Compassion sponsor trip, you expect to be able to meet and visit with the child you sponsor. This is, after all, the main reason that most people go on a trip like this in the first place. You want to see that the child you have been communicating with and investing in is a real person, receiving the benefits of the program you have trusted in.
But on this last trip, there was a very real possibility that I would not be able to see Felix again.
Now, if this had been my first Compassion trip, I most certainly would have been devastated!
But this was my second trip to Mexico with Compassion.
On my first trip, not only did I meet Felix, I met his mom, his big sister, his little brother, and I spent time in his home and at the project he attends. This was a really big deal!
I have to tell you though, the thought of not being able to see Felix on this second trip never crossed my mind until the middle of this last trip when our trip leader said they needed to talk with me the night before the child fun day.
We had plans, Kelsey and I. We were going to play with both boys on the child fun day. That was what we expected, that was what we had planned.
But the way this all played out was better than we expected, even with the unfortunate set of circumstances that surrounded the change of plans.
Very early on Friday morning of our last full day in Mexico, Kelsey and I, along with Gloria from Compassion Mexico, boarded a plane in Veracruz on our way to Mexico City for the day. While the rest of our group spent the day touring historical sites in Veracruz, we were on our way to spend the day with Felix. We really didn't even know all of the details when we boarded that early morning flight, the only thing I was sure of was that we were on our way to see Felix.
Our time with Felix was precious!
We shared a meal together.
He experienced an escalator for the first time.
We played together at a trampoline place.
We had frozen yogurt together.
We had time to ask questions, answer questions, and laugh together.
And I was able to give him a backpack full of gifts and a Bible with his name on it.
There are no words to explain how special this day was. God had a better plan and the day was much better than we expected.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts."
- Isaiah 55:8-9