Single-Serving Children

Single-Serving Friend: Fight Club has given this culture a few wonderful things. One of them is the phrase above. If you are not familiar with it, well you should see Fight Club, but before you do, you can click on the link and find out what it means -- if it's not obvious after reading this.

Sherry and I have lots of kids. Our four children, of course. Then the three who married into the family. And then several who have become our kids by long association (Hi, Tyler. More recently, hi, Patrick.)

Yet over the years, we also have collected a group of "Single-Serving" children, and we added four more this week. The Gustavus Choir performed at our church this past week, and we hosted four young women from the time the concert ended until we got them back to their tour group. Bergit, Darcy, Kirsten & Rebekah were added to that group. Delightful young adults have been brief guests at the Will home for years. We always enjoy the opportunity to get to know these energetic, optimistic people who are committed enough to something -- choir, service work, missions, whatever -- that they are living an itinerant existence for a few days or for a year.

For most of them, we never hear of them or from them again. A sad counter-example was the loss of Ben Larson in January. But we are always grateful to have been able to connect with these "kids" and be a family for them away from home, however briefly. Our four children benefited, I know, from being exposed to such committed people at intervals through their formative years. And Sherry and I just like being parents -- even if only for a night. We remember these "Single-Serving Children" on occasion, we think of them fondly, and we pray that they are all doing well.