Church

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; BUTTT I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

I wrapped up the semester last week, roadtripped home with my dad, and pulled into Memphis yesterday afternoon. Everything is so green, sunny, and familiar. I've been seeing all the facebook posts from people who just finished their freshman year at Pepperdine, feeling like the world is OVER, that they will NEVER see their friends again (for a year maybe), grieving the loss of their first ever taste of college and independence and Malibu and suite mates and sorority sisters and taco tuesdays and very real encounters with God and personal growth and "real life." It's kinda rough to go home after that kind of goodness. I remember getting home last spring and giving a verrry unconvincing "yes" when people would ask me if I was glad to be back. This time around it's a little easier to be less dramatic. Largely because at this point in my life I at least TRY to take things in stride/as they come. Anyway, most of the time in Memphis on breaks I feel like I'm coming back to haunt my old high school life, but coming back to Memphis feels way more natural this time. Of course I was super dramatic/emotional about friends returning from overseas, other friends graduating and leaving Pepperdine, etc. for pretty much the whole month of April (super "dramatic/emotional" is obv an exaggeration... but still). But the last week I was there really felt peaceful and resolved and as unsettling as possible (by the grace of God), and in the end it was like, ok, it is what it is. And here I am.

I'll miss this:


But I also love this:


In November I got a call from the youth minister at the church I grew up at (highland church of christ). He offered me an internship with the youth group (HYG) for this summer. I was sitting in a study room in Payson library with Kaitlyn and Mimi at the time so I had to be quiet, but I have probably NEVER been so excited about an opportunity! Wait, an INTERN!??? Am I old enough to do that? I think of all the youth group interns who have ever been a part of my life since I started the youth group in 2002. More than 20 college students who have taken a summer to 100% focus on the youth group kids and literally make those summers the best months of my life. Getting offered to BE one of them was super flattering and exciting, because all of the interns I can remember are some of the coolest people I have ever known. Of course, the school year went on and kind of occupied my attention, a lot, but now that I am back home with nothing else to think about, I am so excited for this amazing opportunity to invest in the lives of teenagers (since I myself am only a teenager for 15 more days... sooo grown up... not), expend ALL my energy on loving and serving people, and most importantly, learning about MINISTRY.

At Pepperdine, the word LEADERSHIP is thrown around a LOT. While I consider myself a leader, even as class president, my friends and I continually joked about “What even is leadership!?” That might have been what got me thinking about “MINISTRY.” Wait, what? Ministry? Me? I mess up all the time… I don’t know anything about anything… I doubt God… I try to do things myself… I judge people… I complain… I insist on being the best… I worry… I gossip… I give myself credit for the things I do. What could I ever say to this group of teenagers who socially and spiritually “got it goin on.” But a few months of thinking, and praying about it, a LOT, as well as some epically God-sent mentors and friends in my life, I grew so much more at peace and confident about this being my place to be and grow and love and serve during this season of my life. And now that it’s soon and real, I am SERIOUSLY so excited!!! What a great feeling to know that you are where God wants you to be, using your strengths and stretching your weaknesses into more strengths.


Last night I went to HYG's wednesday night worship. Several things:
1. Those kids love their youth group so much. There was so much energy in the room.
2. They listen. As soon as I got home my newsfeed on facebook was filled with kids quoting the sermon.
3. They are obvio teenagers and laugh at things the word “but” in between the two phrases in John 10:10, when the speaker says, “There’s a BIG BUT, and you’re going to like it.”

:) Seriously so much fun. Highland just moved into to the new building that has been in progress for the past 2.5ish years. I never thought that 7 years ago when the church first spoke of moving to a new building, that it would be happening now and that I would get to have such a fun part of the youth group’s first summer there. We as a church definitely learned over the past few years that a church is not a building, but I think we’ve also learned that a building is a really helpful tool for ministry. Also, I’ve at least a little bit gotten over the whole anti-institutional kick that I feel like everyone (at least everyone I kinda know) goes through, and I seriously love church.

No where else feels more like home.

Praying that God will do big big things this summer and that I wouldn’t let fear get in the way of letting him speak through me in whatever way he chooses.


Lessons learned:

1. It's hard not to be sad about good things ending, but
2. Life goes on and
3. God is there.
4. And when God doesn’t want people to leave your life permanently, he won’t let them
5. And He knows what he's doing
6. And it is beyond me to understand it, but
7. Life goes on and
8. God is there.