preparing for graduation -- opening the window of reflections

We are asked to submit a reflection to be placed in 2009 Honduras scrap book. Here is mine.

One of the greatest benefits of going on a mission trip is that it takes us out of our familiar surroundings, which allows us the opportunity to see life, as we live it in the US, in better perspective.

There were ten girls in one room, four girls in another and the male chaperons where sleeping in a storage room attached to the kitchen. When I walked into the bathroom I thought to my self wasn’t there a mirror on this wall last year? As I closed the bathroom door I saw the 5×7 inch mirror in a handmade frame hanging on a hook. It was something you would find in a souvenir shop. “There is the mirror,” I said to myself, “this should prove interesting.”The mirror was taken out of the bathroom and moved from bunk bed to bunk bed as the ladies put on make- up or did their hair. I knew it wasn’t going to be long before it was broken, as I eyed it on the frame of the bed on the top bunk one morning. Sure enough in the hustle of the girls going in and out of the dorm the mirror hit the floor and shattered into a million tiny pieces.

The young lady whose bed it was on felt badly. But accidents happen and it was an accident. I thought to myself, “if we go into town, I will see if we can’t get a mirror for the wall in the bathroom. Who ever heard of a bathroom without a mirror?” which got me to thinking.

Were there mirrors in the boys dormitories or bathrooms? As I began to look around it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen any mirrors anywhere, here. There were glass windows but that was about it. What would life we like if we didn’t have any mirrors? When I woke up in the morning I found myself asking the ladies, “how does my hair look today? Do I need to wet it down?” They would respond, and based on their answer I would prepare for my day. It never occurred to me that they wouldn’t be totally honest or have my best interest at heart. They were the ones who had to look at me all day. I didn’t know what I looked like.

How many times had I left my house feeling like I didn’t look good because my hair needed cut, or the bags under my eyes, or because my outfit wasn’t quite right? I had brought those bad moods from a bad hair day on myself. The mirror in my bathroom at home had an enormous influence in my attitude and self-confidence, and I had let it.

During our trip, we heard of the death of Michael Jackson. His songs played on the radio and I heard “the Man in the Mirror.” The words came to life in a new and more meaningful way.