20-Something

Last January I Arrived in Guadalajara, Mexico — a lively, bustling city of four million inhabitants where city buses scream down the streets and mariachi music floats through the night air. Where silence is precious.

EVERY DAY, IN LITTLE WAYS, I try to make the world a better place by loving others. Awhile back, as I was going about my normal day-to-day activities at work, I began feeling guilty that my life was as good as it was.

WHEN I THINK TO DIFFERENT STAGES of my life, I usually think about the books I was reading at the time. I've loved reading since the day I picked up Charlotte's Web at the age of eight.

EVERYWHERE WE LOOK we hear about models: car models, business models, glamour models, role models, They're prototypes, representatives, concepts, and, in some cases, our heroes. Take the men and women whom magazines often feature.

I REMEMBER BEING SO EXCITED TO GO TO CHURCH on Sunday mornings. Believe it or not, it was more fun to go to church than to the movies! That excitement we kids felt about Sunday School—me, my brother, and the other Sunday School kids—is one of my most vivid memories of growing up in Nigeria.

LAST SUMMER AFTER AN EVENING with friends, I couldn't help but reflect on the time when the joy and comfort of companionship seemed hopelessly missing from my life. I realized I needed to stop searching for what I thought a perfect and complete life would be and instead embrace the good already present in my life.

I Haven't Always Found It Easy To learn that I don't have to use human will to make my life turn out right. However, especially in the last few years, I've discovered that God's will is always good and dependable, whereas human will a lot of times takes me in the wrong direction.

MY GOOD FRIEND RUSTY AND I LEFT OUR campsite at 4:45 in the inky blackness of the early morning and began our 4,000–foot climb to reach one of the most challenging and coveted summits in Colorado—14,156–foot Maroon Peak. After several hours of difficult climbing, we arrived at the 12,800 foot ridge.

O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. —Psalms 106:1 Sarah Andrews In May I graduated from college, so this past year I've really been grateful for a clear sense of divine direction.

Earlier this spring, I heard about a Spiritual Activist Summit in Los Angeles for young people from ages 12-30. Since I live close by in Burbank, I figured I'd go, but honestly, I didn't expect to get much from it.