June 23, 2013 will always be known as one of the most memorable, fun, freeing, happiest days of 2013. It was a full moon that night, and I had the privilege of seeing this beautiful sight with beautiful people in the most beautiful place I have ever been to. Border Servant and a visiting border immersion group from Colorado took a trip to White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. It was probably the strongest natural high I have ever felt in my 22 years of life! White Sands is about 1.5 hours away from El Paso. We left here at around 5, and made it in the dinner time frame. Aside from White Sands itself, the road trip was also very much enjoyable and unforgettable!
I don't know about you, but I'm such a big fan of road trips. Especially when it's with a big, fun, amazing group. We all fit into the Colorado van and Rick drove us. Sitting on both sides of me were Erika and Justin, behind me was Erin, Felipe, and Lilly, and the girls from Colorado sat in the back. It was a great group of people to be traveling with! Pastor Rose Mary and her family drove separately in their car and met up with us there. Car rides are such a great bonding moment. Not to sound cheesy, but it's (mostly) true! Plus, with the Border Servant group, it is always a really fun time. We have thee most random conversations... I don't even... Over the course of 1.5 hrs, we all talked about the meaning of faith, great books, conjoined twins, horror movies, and our excitement to be at White Sands. During this time, Justin was also pulling my hair (because he is 7). I could not stop staring out the window and looking at the beauty. It is a different kind of beauty that I am use to due to the desert. However, my love and appreciation for the desert scene has grown significantly during this time in El Paso. I don't know how to explain it, but I'm always telling myself "This place is so beautiful" whenever we're out driving. I'm really trying to enjoy this time in the desert and the different view it brings.
When we reached White Sands, everyone just said in unison, "OH WOW!" or "THIS IS SO PRETTY!" or "OMG LOOK AT THOSE DUNES!" ...yeah, we're such newbies. Our excitement level is of a 5 yr old on Christmas Eve, but who can blame us? It was one of the coolest feelings to see nothing but white sand all around you, and dunes of various sizes. As we got further into White Sands, the driving path quickly became nothing but sand. Sand, blue sky, a gorgeous sunset, and picturesque clouds were the only thing in sight. A huge sense of peace came over me and I was instantly reaffirmed that this was going to be an amazing night-and it was all of those and much more! Sidenote: we saw a camel ride taking place. How great would that be to be on a camel in White Sands?
We found a place to park that was located in the Full Moon Activity section. It was already starting to become crowded, and those cool people wearing the vest and cones were directing traffic. As soon as we parked, we all hurried out of the van like kids. We instantly took off our sandals and felt the sand below us. It was so soft, smooth, and pretty. Erika and I decided to pitch in and carry the 5 gallon water cooler. Smart decision on our part. It was difficult carrying that thing up sand dunes. However, the whole time I was carrying the cooler I couldn't help but pay attention to how soft the sand was. It was the smoothest, softest, prettiest sand I had ever walked on and seen. We set the cooler down in our picnic spot, and, in unison, the whole group gave each other THE LOOK (you know, that look that you give your best friend when you have the same idea) and immediately ran, jumped, frolicked, skipped, etc around with merriment and a jump in our steps. We were just so happy and excited to be there! I don't even know how to explain. All around us people were happy, picnic'ing with their family and friends, taking pictures, jumping/sledding off sand dunes, and just having such a wonderful time. We definitely took pictures (all of which are on my facebook in some way) and were just loving life together! :) We each took turns sledding down the dunes. We then wanted to jump off dunes and then immediately attempted taking pictures. Let me tell you, jumping off a tall sand dune is one of the most liberating feelings in the world. Think about it. Below you there is just simple, harmless soft white sand. Above you there is the gorgeous sunset and picturesque sky. All around you are sand dunes as far as the eye can see. Last, but not least, on all sides of you there are your friends who you've been taking risks with the whole summer, and you all jump off a tall sand dune and take one more jump together. It was such a beautiful, memorable moment with my Border Servant friends.
After we had an intense and enjoyable time of jumping off the dunes, we all decided that it would be a good idea to eat dinner. We were so excited to be there that we had almost forgotten that we were starving, haha. We had a lovely picnic together. I looked all around me and couldn't help but think, "This is what it must feel like to just let go and really feel genuinely happy." The sun began to set, the band began to play more, and I sat, talked, ate, and just loved life right back at that moment. Justin, Lilly, and I sat in the sand and talked. Before we knew it, everyone all at once yelled in Spanish and English, "The moon!" Everyone where we were sitting turned around and ran over to look/take pictures of the moon. It was gorgeous! The moon almost looked bigger from White Sands, and I have no idea why I felt that way. It looked so distinct and brought a feeling of joy with its rising. Like a noob, we took pictures of the moon, and pictures of Justin pretending to eat the moon. Once the excitement of seeing the full moon had passed (it was awhile before it did pass, though), Lilly, Justin, and I went back to the picnic sight, enjoyed each other's company, and listened to the band. The band was pretty good! I never realized how much I love Hispanic/Latino/Mexican music before until that night. It's too catchy for its own good. The three of us decided to lay down on the sand, and it felt so right to do that. We were laying next to each other, and looking up at the stars. It was incredible how distinct the stars looked that night. They were so beautiful, chilling up there and bringing happy feelings with them. Justin turned to me and said in such a sincere tone, "The world is so beautiful." I couldn't help but answer him in the same sincere tone and say, "It really is." I stretched my arms out on all sides and just smiled. It was almost like a natural high came over me that hadn't been felt in a very long time. I don't believe I've ever felt as connected to the earth and my friends until that very moment. It was difficult for me to stop smiling. I was so happy, and very much at peace.
Justin and Lilly left to go dance (because there was a "dance floor" in front of the stage. I wanted to join them badly, but I also didn't want to move from where I was and how I was feeling at that given time. Once I decided to sit up, I marched on over and danced with them. Justin and I danced together for a couple songs. It was fun, and he is coordinated and needs to give himself more credit (if you are reading this, that is the truth). He kept saying "I don't know what I'm doing," but he really did. I felt so happy dancing again, especially since I hadn't done so in forever and a day, AND that it was under the stars and a full moon. Plus, there is something special about dancing with a friend. You never forget it. We went back to the group after dancing to a couple of the songs, just to make sure that they hadn't left us yet. They all said that they wanted to stay longer, luckily. It was difficult for me to navigate myself back to the group in the dark. You have to get freakishly close to peoples' faces and be all awkward when approaching them...and then innocently walk away. Golden moment. Lilly and I sat and talked about how much fun we had that night, and about life in general. I went back to see what Erin and Erika were up to. Not to my surprise, they were burying Justin. They had made excellent progress too because when I arrived the only things that remained uncovered were his big, bony hip and his pointy, bony shoulder (no offense, of course :)). We all talked about how we would forget about him, and how he also looked like a dead body that was discovered from below. He really did look dead. It was great.
We decided to head back to El Paso when the Full Moon activities ended. It was about midnight when we left. The car ride back was quite the adventure. We were all awake and chatty for the first 15 minutes, and then we were all suddenly asleep. I asked Justin if he would let me rest my head on his shoulder (his bony, pointy shoulder) and he agreed. As soon as my head hit his shoulder I was basically out. Towards the end of the drive, I woke up with my head leaning awkwardly back on the seat. It was a little painful, but I kept it there because I was very tired at that point. Rick slammed on the brakes, and my head just flung forward as fast as it could and just smacked right into Justin's shoulder. Like I said, it is a bony shoulder, and my head hurt so bad! Haha. Justin just turned around and laughed and then asked if I was ok. I had the slight fear that his shoulder had given me a concussion...but it's all good now! :P
When we arrived back at the church, I went to the bathroom to change into PJs, and sand came out of all sorts of places. Places where sand shouldn't be, let's just say that. It was humorous though :) I fell asleep with a smile on my face and excitement in me. I felt such a natural high inside me the whole night, and my spirit automatically lifts whenever I look at the pictures. Our trip to White Sands was definitely an adventure. An unforgettable, happy, joyful, peaceful, beautiful adventure. I'm so thankful to have had a night like that, and to have shared it with my Border Servant family. I love you guys! Our next trips are going to be amazing together.
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