How it's going

 A few days ago my husband asked me a question that I haven't forgotten.  "What time in your life has been the happiest?" he asked.  

I thought it was a question I should have to think about, but the answer immediately invaded my mind.  

It is now.

This is the time when I've been the happiest. 

My husband said, "If you tell that to people, they probably won't believe you."

Why would I be happy now?  

I'm in one of the poorest countries in the world, surrounded by dust, dirt, and lizards.  I miss my family.  I'm lonely and far from friends.  I feel strange whenever I go out.  I'm entertaining more new experiences than I've even recounted on this blog.

What would I tell someone who asks me what attracted me to Mr. Millogo so much that I left everything and came to harsh, horrible Burkina? 

What would I tell someone who thinks that I'm missing out on a the "free" years of youth, of schooling and society?

What would I tell someone who is caught up in whirlwinds of doing this and that, always keeping busy and entertained?

I would tell them that keeping busy and entertained is a trap to prevent you from giving time where time is due.  

I would tell them that schooling and society blind youth, keeping them in darkness as to what really matters in life.

I would tell them that there is someone more powerful and attractive to me than even Mr. Millogo, that worked through him to bring me here.

That someone is God.

That Someone is why I am happy, and why I am confident that every moment that I call "now" will be the happiest in my life.  I say this because every "now" of my accomplished life I have come closer to God, and it is my heart's desire that every "now" for the rest of my life I will come closer and God will come closer to me.  And He said that He will give me my heart's desire!

 I won't try to pursue happiness, because that leads in the opposite direction.  Looking away from so-called happiness means denying comfort in culture, acceptance in society, and applause from church, family, educators, and friends.  What can be pursued that will lead to comfort and peace beyond happiness?

Pursue God.

"Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you."

I believe that this happiness can only come about by obeying all God's commands through the grace of Jesus Christ.

If I tell this to people and they do not understand, then let them not understand.

To even once refuse to conform to the pattern of the world is to step onto a path that will thoroughly strip away everything until the truth is clear.  To be honest, it used to feel like a curse to not know how to do anything.  But now I see it as a clean slate to work from.   I am a baby again; emotionally, physically, spiritually... 

People will talk about nonconformity and so on, and they will pretend that they are different.  But it is easy to see that they, too, are sucked into the same culture they grew up with, boxed into the same morals and traditions of their society, acting from the pressures of those with whom they are familiar.

There is only one way to avoid conforming to the world.  Finding that one way is the Light that lights my path, even in the darkness of the darkest valley.  That one way is Jesus! 

The problem is that most people stop there.  Okay, Jesus saved me!  

True.

But don't continue to crucify him.

Make your life be about running the race to obey God in truth and in spirit.

This takes immersion in all of His commands and intentions - this takes the planting of God's words in your heart.  This takes much prayer.

This takes realizing that the truth can only be found when we turn everything upside down from what the world teaches because we realize that the devil has already turned everything upside down from how God created it to be. 

 I know that you all like when I post pictures of material things. But I don't agree that that's all you need to hear about what's happening in my life and why it is important for you, too!