I have been traveling to Honduras to help with medical missions for four years now. Every time I go I discover something new about myself, in addition to plenty of new things about the world around me. This last trip was no different. I was looking forward to seeing a few new out of the way towns, in addition to the familiar ones. In order to get to our main base we had to drive up the beach for several hours, ford a few rivers, and finally take a boat across the last river that is too large to drive through.

The trip progressed with little trouble. One truck got stuck in the sand, but was freed in about an hour, and we continued on our way. It had been beautiful and sunny all morning, and most of the afternoon. As we pulled into the last village before our final river crossing the clouds started to move in. In California, where I happen to be from, rain clouds usually take some time to actually produce rain. Honduran rain clouds move on a much speedier schedule. We frantically unloaded the trucks into some long boats for the trip across the river, and then the rain came. It fell in thick sheets soaking everyone and everything. I heard our fearless leader yell “If you want to stay dry get in the boat!” So in the boat I hopped without thinking about how silly that was. There were four of us huddled under tarps that were more hole than tarp. The rain came from all directions, and for the first time since I'd stepped off the plane I got goose bumps.

We were all bemoaning our fate when we heard the voice of our interpreter over the sound of rain. We peeked out over the edge of the tarp to see her, sitting queen like at the bow of the boat. This is when we noticed how breathtakingly beautiful the river is during a downpour. I later realized that much of life is spent frantically running for cover, and while doing this I totally miss the beauty going on around me. Going to Honduras on a yearly basis reminds me why I want to do what I want to do, and that we can all be part of the greater beautiful picture.