“Mrs. Meg, we are all traumatized already.”
That was part of the greeting I received when I walked into a cottage for late-night Bible study with teenage girls. I was wearing my fanciest slippers, my most comfortable sweatpants-turned-pajama pants, and some kind of graphic tee. Classic comfort—and I was ready to dig into scripture with some of my favorite humans.
And they lost it at my pajama look. Their facial expressions said it all: What is she even wearing?
We all laughed and went back and forth with jokes before settling in for a wonderful night of studying scripture together.
A Phrase That Stayed With Me
On my ride home, my eyes welled with tears as I recalled that simple phrase: We are all traumatized already.
It’s a big, heavy, sad sentence.
At first glance, it can feel just that: sad and heavy. But as I reflected more deeply, I realized my tears weren’t just from sadness. They came from a sense of wonder and amazement at the strength of these incredible teenagers. They can name the hard things they’ve faced, and yet they keep moving forward.
The Gift of Doing Life Together
In my role, I’m lucky to walk through all of life’s ups and downs with kids and staff alike. As we do life together, we grow together too. It’s both breathtakingly beautiful and incredibly hard.
Every day, we find ourselves navigating through things that are painful and things that are sacred, all at once.
Learning to Sit in the Hard
Before I really understood my role at Crossnore, I couldn’t put into words the power that comes from sitting in hard silences or having honest conversations with our kids and colleagues. These moments help us work together to build resilience in the face of adversity.
Three years later, I can’t not see it. I deeply value the ways we walk hand in hand through our toughest challenges, together finding hope and healing.
Hope in the Work
There is so much beauty in the work we do, whether it’s cross-departmental meetings or community partnership planning sessions. We gather to dream, plan, and pray for the best and brightest futures for our kids.
It’s awe-inspiring. And it reminds me why I do what I do.
Doing Life Together
There’s no denying the hard truth: all of our kids have faced really difficult things.
But there’s also no denying the incredible resilience they show—when we slow down and walk through the trauma together.
Life shouldn’t always be hard for anyone. And life isn’t always easy for everyone.
But together, we can face the twists and turns and rediscover the treasure it is to truly do life together.
