Lucky Them

"Lucky them." At (Re)Orientation, that phrase was used to describe a MHGS family. The student was preparing for her internship. She, along with her husband and kids, would have to leave their church community in order for her to do her internship at a new church. "Lucky them" was used because they got to experience the heartache of their calling.

Many students have left a community to come to MHGS. Our family experienced the (mis)fortune of leaving community in order to come to Seattle. That continues to be heart wrenching. We miss those relationships terribly. But, after two years we are finally stepping into community here. We have been invited to dinner so many times in the last couple of months. We have been lucky to enter heartache with those we've come to know here.

And, then there is the Lucky Me of my internship. I have heard so many hard, tragic stories. I don't want to just show up at internship and hope someone comes to my office. I have been intentional since the first day of being in community with them. I stepped out my comfort zone and go to the cafeteria with them instead of eating a sack lunch alone in my office. I go to community group with them. I greet them at the beginning of the day and throughout the day with a handshake and a "glad to see you." I walk through the building and talk to the guys. When I graduate I want to be in community with people. I don't just want an office and see people once a week. I want to do life with people.

In return for doing my internship this way, I hear the tragic stories. It has been hard to leave those stories behind. I bring them home and suffer with them. Many students and professors have said that I need to care for myself and learn to leave them at my internship site. Yes, but. But, being in community causes me to carry stories with me, and carrying those stories is part of being human. Lucky me! And I mean that with all my heart. There is no place I would rather be doing my internship. I love the people that I am suffering with.