Mexico 2017 - The Building Begins

This time last month we were waking up to the last full day in the UK before we began our travelling to Mexico. That means it was our last day to pack and, in true Walters' style, it was the day we began to pack! What followed was an indescribable trip, but I'm going to give it a go.

Photo cred: KG

Being the last to arrive at the airport meant we got to say hello to everyone as soon as we arrived! Seeing KG, ET, JB and KB from last year's trip was brilliant, and we couldn't wait to camp and build with them again!

Photo cred: BW

A quick 10/11 hour flight later and we'd landed in LAX. When going through border security I got separated from the rest of my family by a member of staff, which could've proved tricky seeing as we were entering the country on the same piece of paper (landing forms). But I got through really speedy with no problems, made some new friends who were also going to Mexico, collected all 7 suitcases from the carousel and waited, and waited, and waited for the rest of the group. Fortunately I'd packed my Ukulele, so KG entertained us with some tunes. Eventually the lucky 15 (of which I was one), who'd been separated and sent to a shorter, faster queue, were reunited with the rest of the group who'd just spent the last 90 minutes standing in line.
With everyone together we ventured outside in search of our coach. Yellow Prius after yellow Prius sped past until eventually there was a gap in traffic big enough for us to make it across the road. Once we'd made it to our hotel in San Diego, it was about midnight US time and about 8am UK time - we'd not slept in 24 hours. We had dominoes pizza as a US midnight snack/UK breakfast and then headed straight to bed, in order to be ready for the early start to get to Mexico the next day.

Photo cred: BW

The sun was up and following our American-pancake-breakfast we were treated to views like above whilst we waited for the coach to turn up. Through the Mexican border, we were met with more waiting whilst the coach itself was being checked. 
The first drive through Tijuana was just as shocking as last year, but in a different way. I was shocked that I'd completely forgotten exactly what it was like. 'Houses' stacked upon 'houses'. So. Much. Poverty. Driving through was a feeling like no other, you have to be there to feel it.

Photo cred: BW

Some houses were built so close to the edge, they really looked like they might not stand the slightest gust of wind.

Photo cred: BW

We arrived at the Amor camp and it felt like we'd never left! The yellow circus tent still standing, the baños hadn't moved, and the mountains looked as magnificent as ever. Baños, for those of you that don't know, is the Spanish word for toilets. Only the toilets we got to experience were far from ordinary. No flushes, just a big ditch. And something happened that we didn't expect... Because the the ditch below the baños still had some room and therefore the baños hadn't been moved, we were weeing and pooing upon our own wee and poo from last year! Gross.

Photo cred: BW

Baños were best braved in pairs or groups - thanks to air vents, you could have a conversation with a friend to distract yourself from the buzzing flies and awful smell. Top tip: Poo-Pouri works in Mexican toilet ditches as well as it does in flushing toilets (as discovered by mum), perhaps even better as it covers up years of smell! Okay... tmi, moving on.
We'd set up camp, added a few extra tents to solve the tipee over-population issues, experienced our first lunch and our first dinner, come up with a team name and a team chant (which seemed to change every night), and we were just about ready for sleep. Night one. Humans vs Earwigs: 4-0.
Thanks to a cockerel with an underdeveloped 'cocka-doodle-doo' and a donkey that hadn't yet mastered the 'eeyore', the leaders were 'awake' and ready for their 6am meeting.

Photo cred: BW

The buses arrived promptly at 7am, ready for us to leave the site at half past. We loaded the buses with pack lunches, igloos (cold drinks containers), and humans that were ready to build some houses. Singing our way through Tijuana meant the journey from camp to build site felt really short.
Our first impressions of the site were really positive. There were no 25ft drops like last year, and we got the privilege to all build on one site, together. 80 people, 2 single houses, and one double house.
The building began. (Watch this space for part 2)
Thanks for reading, I promise loads more pictures in the next post!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

It's time to shine

Orbit Advert 2016

I was really uncertain whether to write and explore this blog post, let alone publish it. But in that indecisive moment I saw a chewing gum advert. "It's time to shine" boomed out from the TV. So, here I am. *I have no idea what chewing gum has to do with shining a light, though?*

Basically, this post is about my face. Read on. Over the past year, in particular the past 4 months, I've seen a real shift in my thought patterns towards my face. To give some context and explanation I'm going to use some examples. 2015: *wakes up for school*, *sees face in mirror*, *can't bare to look*, *covers it in make up*, *checks out face in mirror*, *thinks 'decent'*, *goes to school* Late 2015: *wakes up for school*, *too tired to look in mirror and put on face*, *goes to school*, *gets asked if I'm ill because I look really pale*, *wishes I put make up on*, *feels sad*

Image source: Google

Early 2016: *wakes up for work*, *sees face in mirror*, *thinks I'm doing the world a favour by covering up those bags under my eyes*, *puts make up on*, *feels like that was a lot of effort*, *envies the majority of the male species for not needing make up*, *goes to work* Late 2016: *wakes up for work*, *doesn't even look in mirror*, *goes to work*, *feels happy* Where did the shift happen?! Somewhere in 2016 I stopped seeing my face for all its flaws and started loving it for what it is. I've got a young face - granted I still get IDed for Strepsils, and they triple check my ID in Spoons, but when I'm 50 and looking 30 I'll be glad of it! At least I don't look old enough to get stopped in the streets to take surveys yet!

The point I'm really trying to get down to is that just a year ago I had so much dislike for my face and now I'm full of love for it! It's a fabulous feeling. From an artistic perspective I still love, love, love plastering my face in make-up and subtly contouring it into a different shape, adding eyeliner and finishing with lipstick until I reach Barbie status.

I absolutely love the 'imagination, life is your creation' line in Barbie's song. Life is all about imagining and creating! And something great about make up is the opportunity to imagine and create art on a real life face - it's art that moves and speaks.
I found very little freedom in forcing myself to wear make up every day, however. It became a time-consuming, mundane, unimaginative experience every morning. I was starting the day conforming to what I thought pleased others: a face with the least amount of flaws possible. But what I really owe the world is a happy face! A face that beams joy and light. At the moment I'm happiest without make up on when I'm out and about. I feel more myself and I'm without the added worry that an itchy eye will cause a smudged wing. I wish I knew the perfect formula for what shifted inside of me. I can only pinpoint it to an amazing God who created this face in the first place and an encouraging friend who speaks truth from her lips. She tells me I'm beautiful until I believe it, helps me to love myself when I'm not feeling it, and shows me I'm great when I don't see it. If you're fortunate enough to have one of these friends, hold on to him or her! Perhaps you are that friend to some people - keep going. If not, I'm telling you right now, yes you the one reading this, that you are beautiful in every single way! You were created by an almighty creator who doesn't make mistakes. You are amazing.  Read it until you believe it. It's true. You're so stunning. On Saturday night last week I went out to a party. With it being a party, we got dressed up, and I decided I was feeling creative. So I did my hair and make up. As soon as the make up was on, I wanted to take it off. I'd made the art, created something new, loved it, and then wanted my real face back. The face I had been wearing for the last 3 months was now hiding!  Upon returning from the party I was so happy to wash my face! It was one of the best feelings.

Saturday night's 'artwork'

Clean face, happy face

Please don't get me wrong here: if you wear make up and it's who you are then that's awesome! We love that about you too! If you don't wear make up and don't enjoy doing make up either and that's who you are, that's great! We love that about you too! See, we're all different. It turns out that wearing make-up isn't for me, in my life, right now. Contrary to what I thought it isn't even part of who I am. I'm much happier now that I've been encouraged to fall in love with my bare face. I think that's about it for now,  Amy xo

When Life's a Mess... Just Be

Let's get real here. The photo looks pretty because it's got fairy lights in it and I framed it well. The bed isn't made but looks comfortable and inviting. The shelves aren't organised but hide in the shadows. And my floor, well you can't see it in the picture, but you sure can't see it in real life either. There are clothes everywhere. A mess. But with the right lighting, The Perfect Light, it's a somewhat beautiful mess, wouldn't you agree?

When Life's a Mess... Just Be

Seriously, just be. Just be. Sit and be you. Stand and be you. Lie down and be you. Just be.

There's something so special about taking the time to slow down and just be you with God, Jesus, Daddy. This is where I choose to do just that (see above image). Mostly because it's really rather convenient to have my quiet place where I already go to rest every single night.

Life is a mess, always. Fact. Even when it seems perfect on every level, there is an underlying mess just waiting to be discovered. Those people you think have it all together? They don't have it sussed out. Life isn't about perfection, it's about embracing the mess.

Image Source: Google

A rainbow is one of the most beautiful things that God ever created! It's colourful, it's random, it's huge. It serves as a constant reminder that, because scientifically rainbows form when the sun hits the rain, when light shines through the rough times something beautiful is formed. 

You are God's project and your messy life is one of a kind. It's unique mess. It's beautiful mess. But His light makes a rainbow in your mess.

Acknowledging that we are made for messy lives and taking the time to sit and just be is so powerful. Every single being has access to an insanely awesome God. A wonderful counsellor! A prince! A miracle-worker! A creator! A father! A friend! An enjoyment so indescribable comes from being with Him. Like with, with. In a relationship with. A relationship that is never battered and bruised by sin and wrongdoing on our behalf. Thank you, Jesus!

'You raise me up so I can stand on mountains, You raise me up to walk on stormy seas, I am strong when I am on Your shoulders, You raise me up to more than I can be'

//Westlife//

Tonight I had my circle. A circle is a part of my church that is where relationship and personal support happens. Sundays can be so busy and daunting that having a group of people to grow with is so important! In other churches it might be called a cell group. If you're currently involved in a church, or similar organisation, but not an active member of a circle/cell group, I encourage you to be! It was tonight at circle that I was able to piece together some of the thoughts that formed this post.

Amy xo

Freedom in Forgiveness

For a blog that's named 'Freedom is a Beautiful Thing' my posts rarely have the word 'freedom' in the title. But I'm feeling a mini series might be starting here... Who knows? So it's thought that forgiveness expands life spans. That's not a bad deal, forgiving somebody and gaining a few years to your life. Only it's not that simple when we do it alone.  It's human nature to crave justice, heck that's why I started this blog in the first place! I was sick of the injustice of human trafficking going unnoticed. We crave justice. When somebody does something to us that requires forgiveness it most likely means that an injustice has occurred.  These feelings of passion towards an injustice can quickly turn into feelings of anger, dislike, hate. We can become irrational, forgetting about all of the moments before the injustice took place. The happier moments, the moments that person(s) had been there for us. We can feel not only that we've been hard done by and treated badly but also that we have lost a friend and gained a heap of betrayal.  It would be insane to expect that you forgive that person who lied to you, who stole from you, who abandoned you, right? Especially if they haven't asked for it. Why should they deserve being let off the hook? It's simple - because you have been let off the hook. When Jesus died on the cross He took all of your sins with Him. None of us are perfect! We have been forgiven and, therefore, we should forgive others. Forgiveness lifts a big weight from your shoulders, frees you to sleep well at night and keep the friends that you otherwise might have lost forever.  So the action of forgiveness is clearly a positive one. A longer life and a lighter load. But how do we get to the point where we have totally and honestly forgiven the person(s) who caused so much pain? Jesus. He's ace at the forgiving thing and He's there to give you a lot of help and guidance. It won't make it easy but it will stop the task from being impossible if you ask Him to lend a hand. "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those that sin against us" - speaking the words might be what helps you to truly forgive, down in your heart. For me, I have to ask, I have to get upset with God, and I have to get my strength from Him. He knows I'm upset (with Him) already so there's no harm in telling Him and then asking for help.  I speak from personal experience when I say that there is truly such freedom in forgiveness. The awkward encounters lessen, the anger dissolves, the loneliness dissappears, the hatred leaves, the anxiety stabilises, the joy increases, the love spreads. Sometimes the most rewarding thing about forgiveness is being able to help a friend who might otherwise have no one if you hadn't have stuck around and forgiven them for a mistake they made that hurt you.  Amy xo