sacred journeys

So Michelle, the kids, and I met the coolest guy today — Victor.

Michelle was looking for some fabric to cover our little kitchen pantry area, and we stumbled upon this little shop called Thousand Fabrics in an L.A. neighborhood called Atwater Village, close to where we live.

Victor, who came from Mexico some 35 years ago owns the place. It has basically floor to ceiling fabrics in no particular order, organization, coloring, etc. - it is crazy in there.
I love hearing people’s stories, and asked about how he got into this business, how many kids he has, what part of Mexico he came from, etc. (I thought it was ironic when he told me that his son now works for the border patrol)

Anyway, he told me about how a kind, older business owner hired him, and showed him ‘the ropes’ of how to run a fabric business, and so years & years later — how Victor was able to open up a shop of his own. We got into a fascinating dialogue on the lack of mentoring that goes on today with older people helping younger people learn and grow.

I noticed he had a hand-painted sign, with his personal credo over the door when you walked out…

Even though the fabric he has is great, his sign-making leaves a little to be desired. However, he said that he honestly pursues these things in his life. He does not always attain them he said — but he does pursue these things. And simply the pursuit of these things he said, would be an ‘excellent life’.

It caused me to think about what I am pursuing in my life, and especially what I am trying to instill into my family, and wondered if our children are ‘catching’ these things (as they say, more is ‘caught’ then ‘taught’)….Perseverance, character, wisdom, honesty, duty, patience, simplicity, etc.

That is our prayer for our children, and for ourselves.

Victor has been on my mind today, and I have been thinking about what defines greatness in a person. I really don’t know for sure, but I know what the world defines as great. Someone who is extremely wealthy, someone who plays professional sports, someone who is physically attractive, someone who is supremely talented in some pursuit. Yet, I thought - Victor is a great man because of what he has pursued, and is pursuing. Greater than most that I have met in my life.
God’s peace to you all.