That's Good

The guest house that we are staying in is right next to the Camara’s house. Joseph has three kids ages five to nine. These kids speak French and Bambara and are rapidly picking up English. Papu, the seven year old, loves to walk around and say “that’s good” whenever he sees someone doing something he likes. It reminds me of when God made the world, looked at it and called it good. I wonder what he was thinking when he looked at what he made. He must have looked ahead through all of time and seen not just the beauty, the smiles, the joy; but all the hurt, the ugliness, the sin, and still he called all of it good. I’ve been focusing on the good this week and what good means.

I’ve had some hard conversations, cried some hard tears. But they were good. I made apple pie and thought of my grandma and the times that we spent together making pies. It’s my favorite memory of her that I have. It was hard, but it was good. I really missed my friends and family this week, but through it all my God is good. In my time with God I’ve felt close and far from Him at the same time. The closer I get to Him, the more I see how good He is and the more my own sins are magnified. There’s nothing in life that I can do on my own. My love, my patience, my joy—none of them are sufficient without Him. I can’t do anything on my own. I can’t even see the good without Him.

So even though good and hard are often hand in hand, I’m glad. Because it’s the hard that makes the good so good.

Tomorrow we leave for camp for a week. We’re going to experience life in the great outdoors of the Sahara Desert. The camp is for high school to college aged students and is completely in French. We are going to go to the bathroom outside, shower outside, and eat outside. Time to go native. It should be a “good” experience. I’m sure that God has a lot to teach me.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters… Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule… So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him… God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.” Genesis 1