On Ne Sait Jamais

My favorite quote since high school has been from Le Petit Prince: “On ne sait jamais” which translates to “one never knows.”  I try to remember this throughout my hectic and overly scheduled life, allowing life to take me wherever it may because truly one never knows.

We talk a lot about expectations leading up to and during this trip. Especially for those of us who have participated in past trips, it is easy to have expectations for each day. It has been a goal of mine for this trip to expect less and let the trip take me wherever it may. 

Unfortunately, with expectations come disappointments both large and small. Today we visited My Father’s House, and there are a few children there that I was looking forward to seeing that we were not able to see as they had left for school by the time we arrived.

Something one does not expect to see while riding the bus through the streets in Jamaica is your friend standing on the corner holding her baby. Our team had the lovely surprise today of Michael and Carla joining us for a few days with their happy, loving, and gentle one year old baby, Joseph.

When our expectations are shattered and we allow ourselves instead to welcome in surprises, lessons learned flood in easily.  Adding Joseph to our team today changed the dynamic in a way nothing and nobody else could. We were able to see the “kids” we normally hug, coddle and care for turn that idea around as they met Joseph.  Some of the boys who are normally rough or focused on hard work took the time to stop and talk with Joseph in a hushed voice.  The girls at Dare to Care were able to show their natural caring maternal side that they have developed living with their special extended family. And maybe most unexpected was the typical tough trouble-making boys that slowed down for a moment to pick Joseph up, say hello or even sit quietly and read with him.

As we head into the rest of the week in Jamaica we all hope to continue to let expectations fall away. And when we all go back to our regular days we can remind ourselves that one never knows.

Jordan (5th year)