This weekend, I went camping at a place called Salt Creek in Washington State. Every night, I would curl up in my sleeping bag smelling like a bonfire and hear the sound of the waves crashing behind the tent. One of the young people who I was camping with has a very negative attitude. I really enjoyed being around him because despite our polar opposite attitudes we actually got along very well! A lot of times, the unexpectedness of people and whatever it is that makes them different than your personality has a lesson to teach us. His attitude, taught me to be more positive and as he would complain sometimes I'd laugh and comment about how much he cracked me up which a brought a smile to his face. My second realization, is how much I love to be around people. I never expected Washington State to become like a new home for me. Minnesota will always be my home, but Washington has become a place my soul hungers to learn as well as flourishes to come alive. Both places have had deep impacts on my life, but its crucial that we all have that place where our souls can flourish and grow within the diversity around us. The simplicity of diversity is realizing the difference of those around us whether that's my own family back in Minnesota, or the hippie to my left in this coffee shop. It's realizing that we don't have to be complicated and over think in order to reach a common ground with the people who God puts in our life. For me, when it comes to diversity the common ground is realizing how simple it is. Ask God how to reach out to the people who are different from you in whatever simple way you can. I simply need to engage in the story God has placed me in right now, stories will flow out of the life I choose to live.
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