Thursday's thoughts.....Christmas Eve 2012

I wish I could have taken a picture for the whole world to see. Except the only camera I had on me was in my head. So I took a mental snap shot of her face, praying that what I saw would stay with me forever.

It was the morning of Christmas Eve. I forgot to tell Odette on the Friday last that she didn't need to come to work today, wanting to gift her with the day off. So I waited on the patio for her to arrive, so that I could tell her to go back home and enjoy Christmas eve with her family.

Except, this morning when she arrived I noticed she didn't have her moto with her. 

I greeted her outside and asked where her moto was, and she told me that her husband dropped her off and took her bike for the day.

I was still in my pj's. My hair was in a ragged pony tail. I had my glasses on. I looked like I just rolled out of bed, because I did. I wasn't expecting to be going anywhere at 7am on Christmas eve. I had gotten up briefly just to tell Odette she could go home, and then I planned on crawling back to bed.

Except Odette couldn't go back home. She had no bike. If I was going to gift her with the day off I would have to drive her home so she could have it. But I had no idea where she lived, what part of town,  how long it would take to get there. It was one of those moments where I could feel like God was up to something. Like He had intentionally planned this morning to play out the way it was.

I just remember having this quiet rumbling in my spirit to go with it, to be flexible. The Lord encouraging me to be willing to be inconvenienced.

So I told Odette she had the day off, and asked if I could drive her home, ran back in the house real quick to ask Isaak the words in French for the directions I would need, and as I was heading back outside....Sydaleigh woke up and asked if she could come along to.

We quickly threw on some shoes, grabbed the gifts we had bought and wrapped up for Odette's kids, loaded everything in the car, I swallowed down the little bit of nerves that were rising up at the idea of having to navigate to her house in a language I barely speak....and we were off.

It turned out that she lived very close to our church, so driving her home turned out to be quite easy. On the drive there I wondered what to expect. Odette had brought some pictures with her to work one day to show me her husband and kids, her sister and parents, and some pictures of the kids she used to take care of. In the pictures of her family they were all in a nice home. I was very little compared to our western standard of living, but certainly nicer than the basic brick homes here. So I thought that perhaps she lived a bit more well off than most.

When I arrived at her home, it was clear that the house in the picture was not her own.

She got out of the car, much to the surprise of her husband and kids who came out when they heard us pull up. She explained to them who I was and we were greeted with the warmest of welcomes. Odette took the gifts we had brought and gave them to her kids, who smiled and thanked me. Their thanks welled up from the deepest level of sincerity and appreciation. You see, Burkinabé do not exchange gifts to each other on Christmas. For the few here who are Christian, they attend church service on Christmas. Christmas is about church. That's it. There are no gifts.

I had simply planned on giving the gifts to Odette to bring home with her today. I put them in a bag so she could drape them on her moto's handle bars. I had not expected to be present when she gave them to her boys. But I loved that moment the Lord unexpectantly gave us to see the delight they had in the simple joy of receiving but one gift. It was a sweet moment.

After we had stood outside for a few minutes Odette invited me into her house. She stood in the threshold, waving me in.....grinning from ear to ear. Despite the joy it was to be present when her boys received their gifts....I knew that's not why I was there this morning. The Lord called me there so that I might follow Odette over the threshold of her home....

When I stepped through the door I entered a very small living room. It held a small oven situated behind me with a bowl on top holding two green peppers. No refrigerator. There was a small television in front of me, turned on, with rabbit ears on top to pick up any signal available to receive the news. There was a plastic lawn chair. No other furniture. To my left was a pile of random stuff. I have no idea what it was but it took up the entire wall. To my right, Odette was turning on a small light and waving me into the only other room, their chambre, or bedroom. I stood in the doorway and looked at where her family sleeps each night. Her family of five, which consists of her husband and three sons, one of whom is 17, all sleep in that room together. Not in beds like I sleep on. But on the floor. With mosquito nets draped over their sleeping area.

There was no heat in the house. Her family was all wearing winter style jackets as in December the temperatures can dip into the 50's at night. The 50's is chilly no matter where you live. But it is even chillier when you are sleeping on a mat on the ground with no heat.

There was one thing, however; that I saw, that I will never forget, I pray no matter how long I live....and that was Odette's face as she gave me the tour of her home. This is where I wish I had a camera. I wish I had that picture of her to stick on my fridge to look at as a daily reminder. I wish I had that picture to show the world....

....because her face beamed with absolute pride. Pride! Oh the pride that I saw! It was oozing from her! She could not contain it! I had never seen her so happy!

And it was the pride that she had in her home and her life that cut me to the core.

Oh how many times since moving here have I been swept away in pity for the people that I see. How many times have I drove by their brick homes and pitied them because they have "so little".

How often do we think we have the right to try to change those who live differently than us?!?! Of course there are living conditions around the world that aren't even fit for rats. But I'm not talking about that right now. I'm referring to the times that we see something that is different, as opposed to a situation that desperately needs help, and we scratch our heads and wonder how in the world they could ever live like that? How do you not have a bathroom? You mean your bathroom is outside?! You have a pit latrine for a toilet?! You live in a hut made out of straw!?!? You sleep on the ground?! You eat with your hands?!

We look at people who live differently than us and judge their conditions thinking unrightly that they need to live like us in order to be truly happy.

Odette lives in a two bedroom brick home with her family of five. They sleep together on the floor in a home with no heat. There is no room for personal space. There is no den. There is no formal living room. Her living room is also her kitchen. Which is also her dining room. And her closet. She doesn't have a guest bedroom. There is no office with a desk for a computer that she does not own. There is no basement or playroom. There is no two car garage. There are no stainless steel appliances. She doesn't even own a refrigerator. She doesn't have bunk beds for her boys or 400 thread count sheets. They sleep on mats with worn out blankets.

But it is her home.

And she takes great pride in where she lives.

That is the place in which her family gathers. That is where she laughs. That is where she cooks. That is where she sits to watch her husband slowly build for them a new house right next store. A home that is but slightly bigger than what they have now. That is where she dreams. That is where she finds rest. That is where she does life.

That is her home. And she is happy.

And she stood before me with dignity. There was no inadequacy. There was not a hint of embarrassment. She was proud of her house and it was with great honor that I stood with her in it.

We are so quick to want to teach others a better way to live, a more western way of living...but it would do us well to let them teach us sometimes. To strip off our "know it all" mentality and recognize that we don't actually know it all just because we live in a 3000 sq. foot house with running water and A.C. There is a great deal that we can learn from people who live differently than us. And it is oh so humbling, the learning that I have had to do since moving here. The stripping away of my preconceived notions, accepting what I can not change, and recognizing what I have no right to try to change.

I am very grateful for following the Lord in obedience that day to be inconvenienced. It was a Christmas Eve that I won't soon forget. And I love that Sydaleigh was there too. I love that my girls are getting a front row seat to see the differences in culture. I walked away from Odette that morning having learned a great deal more. Aside from the joy of getting to walk with her for a moment in her world and way of living....it was thrilling to see that the little that it appeared she lived with, was actually busting at the seems...but with things better than "things". To be able to take great pride in a home with so little speaks volumes more of a person's character than being able to take pride and boast in a home with so much.

We are blessed. Of this I have no doubt. But Odette is equally blessed as well. Her home may be humble in it's appearance....but she is not blessed less than me because of it. In my opinion...she actually has a great deal more.