Kindred Spirits

I am in Chicago at a Young Life training to prep for my summer assignment where I will spend a month working at one of our camps: Castaway. There's almost 20 of us here meeting together, all from the midwest, all on Young Life staff. I know a lot of them, but certainly not everyone. We've only been here a few hours, but I've already laughed till I cried at least 3 times. Young Life staff is a unique job and a unique call. It's a great job, but really, really challenging at times. So when you put a bunch of YL staff in a room together, there an unspoken understanding. We are kindred spirits. We may not all know each other officially, but we know each other better than some of our friends outside of the YL world will ever know us. And part of that knowing is knowing how to make each other laugh. The comfort and ease in relationships is almost instantaneous. I found myself telling stories and divulging embarrassing tales to strangers. For example I shared in front of the entire group that one of the couples who owned our house years ago grew marijuana in the basement with plant lights. It's a long story. Don't ask how it came up; I swear it was relevant.

We are accumulating inside jokes by the minute. If this kind of camaraderie has developed after one night together, I can't imagine what our month together at Castaway will be like. My June assignment is part of my farewell tour from YL staff and I think I'm going to go out to the sound of lots and lots of laughter.