Is it beautiful if you don't make it?

Every Sunday we have an evening service where all the interns and camp directors come together and have a time of sharing about our weeks and worship and a speaker. During the sharing/testimony time this Sunday, one of the Assistant Directors (AD) who has grown up in Camden and in the Urban Promise program shared. He said that he knows the reality of these kids. And he knows the reality is that most of these kids won't make it. Some of them will, but most of them will end up in jail or on the streets or with drug addictions or in some other way fall short of the dreams that he has for them. This AD shared about how much love he has for these kids and how much it hurts him to know that so many of them will not grow up to be all that they can be and to be one of the success stories that all of us Urban Promise staff pray for so diligently.

The AD was so broken sharing about these kids. He brought up our shirts that say "life is a beautiful struggle" on them. He asserted the thought that life is a beautiful struggle if you make it, if you get through the struggles and come out on top. He then posed the question: is it still beautiful if you don't make it?

Ms. Pam, the lovely wife of Bruce, the president of Urban Promise, got up in front of the group and shared her response to the AD's broken question. She believes that yes, the struggle is still beautiful even when you don't make it. Ms. Pam reminded all of us that we all struggle. And that the struggle is part of the beauty.

This AD and Ms. Pam got me thinking. We all have struggles. Our lives are never even close to perfect. The interns and other staff have been faced with a lot of struggles this week. But there has been beauty in the struggle. Relationships have deepened in my house because we've been able to support each other in struggle. Struggle allows people to relate to one another. You find yourself in another person when you can see the hurt in their eyes and know that you have looked in the mirror and seen that same raw pain staring back at you. The beauty is in the fight, in the struggle. The beauty is in letting that struggle allow you to reach out to another person. The beauty is joining hands with those around you.

This AD is absolutely correct, not all of these kids will make it. They will all struggle. But their lives are beautiful. When they make it, there is much rejoicing and when they don't, there is much sadness, but in all circumstances, there is beauty and there is a lesson to be learned.