Why do I get to be present with Samir as he wins Uno for the third time in a row when he slams a Draw Four on me, cackles, and shouts his victory in Arabic?

Why do I have the joy and privilege of doing a little celebration dance with Laura when she is so proud of her university marks?

Why do I get the honor of sitting at a tiny, seedy French dive bar as Laura and Munir play music for the audience of two that Becca and I create?

There is no reason.

There is no reason I should get to be the one who Abdi bear hugs and kisses on both cheeks in the metro station, because I made him laugh, and we love to laugh together even though we have no spoken words in common.

There is no reason I am privileged to pray with Innocent or cry with Insaf as she shares her greatest desire: to stay in France so her husband and son have a chance to be healthy and her daughter has a future and education.

Sacred Ordinary Moments

Why should I get to be present for these sacred, ordinary moments with people from all over the world? I'm not uniquely gifted. There is nothing unique other than a call from God and a desire to be present, and I think that's the point: being present.

What I do is what every Christian could do: be present, even though I often don't know what to say or how to help. I can show up for these beautiful and hard moments and be present. I will do that imperfectly because I'm human. But I see differently if I can take the focus off what I can do and put it onto being.

Being Present

Whether I'm laughing with my friends in our French classes when we try to make the French nasal sounds or we are admiring and trying to understand some artwork at La Piscine. Whether we are sharing in our sharing group, stretching to understand each other across different languages, or laughing together because laughter is a language that doesn't need translation, I see these people as people God has brought into our lives to be present with, to celebrate, suffer, laugh, and cry together in community.

In the end, that's why I walk with my displaced friends in Lille - we try our best to be present because that is what we have been called to, and the honor is all ours.