Friday, June 14, 2013

Intern Intro: Heidi


         
  “Why aren’t you going on a mission trip somewhere overseas this summer if that’s something you’re passionate about?”
            This question, just weeks before summer break, really threw me for a loop.  As a college student studying to become a math teacher, open to teaching wherever God leads – be it overseas, inner-city, poverty, undesirable areas – all I could respond with was, “Well, I’ve got this internship in my hometown working with the community this summer with an organization I’ve been connected with for a while.”
            As I listened to friends talk about their plans to teach in India, serve in Peru, or work in Tanzania, I seriously questioned my choice to stay local this summer.  Didn’t I need experience in other countries?  Shouldn’t I have given more thought to other summer options overseas?  What was I actually passionate about?  Was I taking the easy way out by staying home?
            It wasn’t until our second day with Kingdom Causes during the opening prayer that my anxieties about making the best decision for my summer subsided.
            I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.  Job 42:2
            Throughout this past semester, God has proved himself to me over and over.  Each time I piled too much onto my plate, He provided a way out for me; 6 times assignments were ‘coincidentally’ postponed when I was overloaded with work, and as I almost daily posted Facebook status requesting prayers for tests that I had not studied enough for, results came in where the expected ‘C’ was actually an ‘A’ or one of the highest grades in the class.  Time and time again, God’s providence was made clear to me.  Yet even after a semester of miracles, I still questioned His plan for me.
I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.  Job 42:2
At our orientation multiple waves of chills affirmed that God had put me in the best place for me this summer.  The truths about His Kingdom and the excited young people around me inspired and renewed a passionate spirit within me.  When Terri asked us at the end of the training to think of one practical thing we could take away, I chuckled to myself. Throughout the morning as ideas raced through my mind, I had already written down around 10 applications for myself.  Many of these applications reaching further than this single summer internship.
            In one week God already proved His faithfulness to me by showing me that this summer is going to be a summer of learning and equipping for the future in many areas of my life, not just some resume-building internship to give me more ‘job-experience’.  I have already been blessed and inspired by the community of people this internship has placed me in.  God truly is good, and I am excited to create with kids in an art class, build relationships with the elderly at the Friendship Manor, and grow from whatever else God presents me with this summer.

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