Almost thirty-seven years ago (I can't believe it's been that long...), I met a group of people in Provo, Utah...four men and one woman. We lived together, in a manner of speaking, for ten weeks. In those ten weeks we learned how to communicate in basic terms in a different language, we learned about a different culture, and we prepared to travel halfway around the world to live in a different country.
I had no idea what experiences I'd have in the upcoming two years, nor could I possibly imagine the impact those people would continue to have on my life.
We've all gone our separate ways, we all married, had children, moved across the country and across the state.
One even moved back to Denmark.
It's a temporary move, but a move just the same. And because we live in a world of technological marvels, we can correspond with him and his wife and they continue the work we stopped doing decades ago.
Am I jealous of him?
To be honest, when I heard he and his wife were going back, it surprised me more than anything. When we served there were several couples in the mission, but they were old! We can't go back--we're not that old, yet. Apparently, we are.
I was happy for my friends, happy for the experiences they were going to have, happy they had prepared in advance to be able to go during this time of their lives. But, it wasn't until I saw a Facebook post from my friends about a Christmas concert that took place yesterday, that I was jealous.
Christmas in Denmark is special, magical, wonderful. You add all the good things of the holiday, then throw in decorations in a setting straight out of a fairy tale. And the Danes know how to celebrate the holiday. The food, the celebrations...it all adds up to an amazing experience. Seeing my friend's post brought it all back to me and I wished I could be there.
My friends have all gone on to have families, careers, good times, tough times. Jealousy is such a difficult emotion to overcome. It's easy to fall into its trap. There have been times I've wished for experiences my friends have had. I try not to let jealousy overcome me or change my outlook on life. Negative thoughts like that can do so much damage.
But, there's another side of the equation. Being jealous means there was a time when I experienced those events first-hand. It means I was there and felt and saw the things they're feeling and going to see. I'm grateful for my friendships for the past almost thirty-seven years. I'm grateful that my friends can once again enjoy another Danish Christmas. And I'm happy to be a little jealous of them, because they're doing the Lord's work.
God jul, til i allesammen, især de i min missionær sprogeskol gruppe.
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