There are few tasks in life that require more commitment than building and maintaining relationships. A certain vulnerability is required, for, to truly be connected to someone or something else you must lose a bit of yourself in the process. Now and again there are frustrations that make us question the need to engage with others. Yet in the end, the life received from being connected surpasses the brief moments of doubt encountered. I am blessed to watch this process play itself out year after year as I watch my wife, Cami, advise the student council at Oregon City High School. As each new school year begins Cami reconnects with returning students while also embarking on new journeys with incoming freshman. It would be easy to dismiss the student council as just another class for just another grade, but that would be a mistake. What has developed within this group is a sense of family; A family that some students have never known before. How do I know that this class means more to the students than a mere résumé builder? I know because every now and then she invites me along to events like senior night.
A couple weeks ago all of the seniors from her class gathered together to celebrate the end of the school year. They played silly games, ate great food and laughed…there was lots of laughing. But the most intense part of the evening was listening to each student share their heart for the family that had been created. The tears were real and the stories were phenomenal.
The student’s futures are varied. Some will stay close to home, some will leave home behind. Some will continue to study, some will begin their careers. But whatever they do and wherever they go, they will undoubtedly think back on their student council family from time to time and they will realize they are blessed.
A couple weeks ago all of the seniors from her class gathered together to celebrate the end of the school year. They played silly games, ate great food and laughed…there was lots of laughing. But the most intense part of the evening was listening to each student share their heart for the family that had been created. The tears were real and the stories were phenomenal.
The student’s futures are varied. Some will stay close to home, some will leave home behind. Some will continue to study, some will begin their careers. But whatever they do and wherever they go, they will undoubtedly think back on their student council family from time to time and they will realize they are blessed.
Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
~Harold R. McAlindon
~Harold R. McAlindon
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