Where it all starts...

I have decided to start a blog basically to speak my mind. By no means am I a writer, or think I am one, therefore, please don't criticize my lack of good writing and grammar :).

Today, as I was thinking of starting this blog, I was thinking of what it means to be truly happy. I always find myself wondering if happiness means the same to you as it does to me and as I think of people in my life, I come to realize that happiness has different faces, but for the most part we all get happy about the same things.

I want happiness that comes from being a follower in Christ, a good friend, a good wife, a good daughter and sister, a good in-law, simply a good person. When I think of the happiest moments in my life, I get this feeling in my stomach that I cannot control. It's the kind of feeling that eases you, yet makes you get jittery all at the same time.....simply unexplainable.

I also think back to the hapiness that filled the people in Africa, the type of happiness that comes from having faith in Christ and believing in the good of the world, eventhough you seldom experience it. Happiness that comes from seeing a child glow because you gave them a gummy bear, happiness from realizing that an iphone can hold hundreds of songs you enjoy (or seeing an iphone for the first time), happiness that comes from eating meat instead of Nzima, happiness because you see your friend learn a verse from the bible, happiness from getting a job that pays $20 a month; happiness we all take for granted. I had never experienced that type of happiness in my life; simple happiness.

I have to say, the happiest moments of my life are simply simple. I can remember these moments as if they were happening now, like, the way I looked into Anthony's watery eyes when we said our "I, do's," or the sound of the African drums, or the feeling I got when I saw the most important woman in my life after 18 years, or the way my eyes watered watching family celebrate the birth of a child, or the laughter that filled the room when catching up with friends, or the reconciliation of a friendship I thought was lost forever, or the taste of the best darn philly cheese steak in the world, or the buzzer going off in your ear because you said one the taboo words, or the sound oof people praying around you, for you, or the day I got to make green eggs and ham for my students....even the days when there is utter silence and I find peace in my heart.

Those are the moments I treasure and those are the days that keep me going. My happiness is not defined by a big house, a nice car, and a lot of money, it's simply made up of simplicity.