One of the biggest things that drew me to Summer Internship was God calling me to a community of people dedicated to serving God. I was so eager to make new friends and learn to love like Jesus through serving with and for them. Coming into this experience I thought that the Lord wanted me to offer something to the students here, and while He does want me to lay my life down for my peers I’m beginning to understand it’s so much more.
On the first day of internship (yesterday), I found myself enjoying the company of my future classmates in varying settings, sometimes getting along great and sometimes working through disagreements. Through all of it, these people have been committed to one another.
My prayer was that I would learn to be attentive to my teams emotional and physical cues so that I could care for them. Instead, they served me. I came to a low point in the afternoon when the realization of homesickness hit me – and yes, I miss you all so dearly, but don’t worry because I have so much joy! Not from ‘getting over’ my feelings, but from having people who cared enough to work through them with me.
So many people I barely knew came by my side to attend to me, understand what I was going through, and promise to be here for me, continuing to walk in obedience to the Lord together. It was such a beautiful thing to have older girls who had been through the same thing come pray with me and just encourage me. God has been tearing down every lie the enemy has placed in my head that no one understands my struggles: God has given me an army to fight my battles with. I am well loved.
During the preparatory course for Internship, Professor Garner talked about how education is allowing someone else, someone greater than you, to serve you. Obedience to receiving a biblical education on Internship means being vulnerable. It means allowing others to love me. It means learning how to love them. And it means an outpouring of God’s love spilling out of our lives into those we will reach this summer.
During devotional we also learned that to love one another we have to be fueled through prayer, worship, and Bible study. I am so grateful that this morning my house started by singing hymns and calling on heaven together. I can’t wait to see how God strengthens my reliance on Him and my closeness with my sisters in Christ. He is so good and He has great plans!