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Well, this year started off quite well, in my humble (yet always accurate) opinion. I got to go to Mexico again. That's right, six days of living in cramped space, sleeping in sleeping bags, getting assaulted by hyper children all day, and absolutely no showering. I miss it already.

The glorious journey began on January 2, and we were privileged enough to stay until January 7. This was an especially fun trip, because I finally got to go with some of my friends who had never been down there before. I also got to hang out with a bunch of my old friends who I hadn't really spent any time with since last June. I guess going to college out of state can have that effect.

At any rate, it was already dark when we got there. After going over the basics, such as the affectionately named "burrito rule" (don't ask), we all hit the sack. Literally, I guess, since everyone had sleeping bags.

There honestly was never a dull moment while we were down there. When we weren't busy cooking, cleaning, tearing down a fence, putting up a new fence, welding the trampoline back together, watching the kids, jumping over fires, or things like that, we were usually hanging out. The group I usually stayed with was better than I could possibly have asked for. There was one of my old high school friends, who, like me, now endures the disgrace of being a freshman all over again. There was of course his sister, who also happens to be one of my closest friends. There never really seems to be a dull moment around her, but I managed to talk her into fire jumping anyway. She did a great job, but she didn't jump over it covered in tar and gasoline, so she hasn't quite reached my level of recklessness and stupidity. My sister (who I don't live with and don't happen to be related to) came along as well. Aside from trying to kill one of the chaperones with a broken glass bottle, she was pretty fun to be around, too. She does still have some rage issues to work out, I guess. Still, despite her murderous ways, she's my sister, and I wouldn't trade her for the world.

We all managed to have plenty of tacos while we were there. You don't know how depressing it is to be full until you have had some of their tacos. They are heaven in a corn tortilla. Or flour, if you prefer. But I'm a corn guy, myself.

It was a fun trip on so many levels. We got to help out the kids at the orphanage, we had some of the best food on the planet, and I got to hang out with people who mean more to me than they'll ever know. But most of all, it made me rethink my life, a life that I once promised to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And I haven't been living to serve Him. I haven't been acting like someone who is grateful for the sacrifice He made for me. And I want that to change. So many things happened on that trip, things I hope I never forget. But most important of all, I relearned the most important lesson of all. When everything is said and done, only what I do in service of God matters. There's nothing wrong with goofing around every once in a while, but I can't let that be the focus of my life. I'm a Christian, and it's about time I started acting like it.

It's about time my life truly mattered. I'm not going to be perfect. I'll never come close to perfection. But it's still a goal I should strive for, and to do that, I need to make God my top priority. Once I do that, there will be time enough for all the things that don't really matter very much.

Or something like that.