One More MTI Lesson

One of the best things about MTI was that the fifteen kids in our group were learning the same helpful concepts and tools as the adults.  A wonderful example of this is this pair of ducks we (and they) were introduced to early in our stay.

Yay Duck and Yuck Duck were always together, and we learned that this is also true in our lives.  (Hint: “pair of ducks” = paradox)

On our first weekend, an eight-year-old was sick and had to stay home with his mom while his dad took his siblings on a hike.  He had been missing his mom, and made this comment to her:  “It’s Yay Duck and Yuck Duck.  I’m sick (Yuck Duck) but I get to spend the day with you (Yay Duck).”

How wonderful to learn at such a young age that life is full of paradoxes: joy and sorrow, illness and comfort, love and loss.

We’ve been in Costa Rica for almost seven weeks.  I don’t have Yay Duck and Yuck Duck here with me, but I think about them frequently.

• Four hours of Spanish daily plus homework is hard (Yuck Duck) but what a joy when I see progress (Yay Duck).
• Most of my family and friends are far away (Yuck Duck), but I have loved ones all over the world (Yay Duck).

I believe this lesson is more than seeing the positive side of things.  With God’s help, I want to fearlessly embrace both Yay Duck and Yuck Duck.  Adventures involve fear and uncertainty, loving deeply will bring pain and loss, and (until heaven) our moments of greatest joy will always be at least a little bittersweet.