"BUT, IS IT A GOOD LIFE??"

How would you feel if this was your kitchen?  

This is what you cook on. 
This is what you cook with.
What are the first words you think of when you see this???   "what is that??"  "nice campground".

Years ago when Mike and Jen went back to the US for a visit someone came to Jen after they were sharing about our lives here and asked her this question, "But, is it a good life?"  This question has stuck with me for all these years.  Shortly after I heard this question I was able to go on a trip... it is one of my TOP 10 adventures of my life, so far.  I had a friend that took me to visit some of her friends living in remote lands around here, ie.. desert.   They live where there is a water supply and are nomadic people.  I will never forget how we got up early in the morning and drove for a couple hours, then just suddenly took our SUV off road and started driving in which seemed like to me an aimless direction.  Then, out of NOWHERE we found people... they were scurrying away to hide.  A couple children recognized the car and they ALL came out running towards us.  It was an amazing sight!  We got out of the car and we were surrounded by women and children giving us hugs and kisses.  I love the memory of being completely taken with these little ones.    The older women were so precious and you could tell they had been in the sun their whole lives.  THey were all weathered and their skin was all prune-like.  They wore gold on their ears, necks and wrists, but their clothes were thread barren.   They were all smiles.  It had been a long time since my friend had seen them and they needed to catch up.   They took us to their mats and sat us down.  They served us Arabic bread, dates and coffee, their staples, what they lived on.  An older woman took some dates and smooshed them between their fingers and placed it on bread to serve it to us.  Then they told stories of who had gotten married, who had died, how they started their children in school for the first time EVER that fall. Then they mentioned how in the fall they caught chicken pox.  The camp never had experienced this common childhood illness before and it terrified them.  They had no idea what it was.  It was at that moment that I realized what a *bubble* they live in.  Even though it is out in the middle of nowhere and they live in conditions that I wouldn't even camp in, they were not exposed to things you  or I normally are, because they have never left their environment, until now and that was only via their children.  People didn't really come visit them and share the common cold from the outside.  This was fascinating to me.  
It was then I started to ask the question about this life that was playing out in front of me.  "But, is this a good life?" 
I was overwhelmed as I sat there wondering why I was born with a roof over my head and this little child, I was holding, was born out here in the wilderness.  I tried to picture myself having a baby out here and wondering how I would protect it or keep it clean.  I tried imaging how I would sleep out here day in and day out, trying to picture every little bug that could possibly exist out there as I lay on the ground.  All the way home I pondered all that I saw.... tasted... smelled...asking the question, "Is this a good life??"   
These people seemed happy, content, they seemed to experience all of what relationships bring us in life, they experienced death and new life being born into this tribe.  So, it begs the question," what makes a good life"???  "Who determines what a good life is"? 
HMMM... We all have one life and we are all given it to live to the fullest.  I believe the women, young men and children I saw there that day were all enjoying life,  some more than others, but they were living the life the best they knew how.  The thing I loved about observing their life, compared to mine, it did not seem to be entangled with the cares of everyday life.  But, I am almost sure it had it's own own entanglements.  It was then that I realized I will never fully understand how God scattered his creation and placed them in this place or that, for this particular time and for this particular purpose.  I did understand a little more what that person was asking Jen years ago...here I was asking the same question,"But, God is it a good life"?  I do believe he answered me that day.  I know that this time with these people, that He created, was a significant turning point in my perspective and changed my thinking forever as to how I view the world.  He continues to change that perspective, and I am grateful for that.  There were many more things that happened that day... this by far was the most significant lesson I learned. 

One last bit... when Hannah and I got home that night we got horribly sick... we were sick for three days!  I found it kind of ironic that we entered their world and caught a bug.  That was probably the only time when I was sick that I was happy all at the same time. I It was a small price to pay for such a rich experience. 

HANNAH WITH A 100 YEAR OLD DOWRY ON HER NECK










HANNAH WITH SAFFRON ON HER FACE A TRADITIONAL BEDU BEAUTY TRICK