When you give a girl a youth internship you give her something that she probably thinks will be way over her head, but God doesn't think so.
When you give a girl a youth internship you set her up for one of the most life-giving summers of her life, thus far.
She realizes that one of the deepest desires in her heart is to see young people begin to understand that their identity is only found in the one who called them to exist in the first place. Over the course of my many years being involved with the youth group, I had, of course, developed a heart for it, but it wasn't until this summer where I realized how much I enjoy just being around these kids and seeing them grow.
The Wednesday afternoon before I gave a message for the first time I got on the ground and I prayed over the chairs and the places where I knew kids would be sitting that night. My heart was to invite the Holy Spirit into the places where there might be walls up and where there is uncertainty about stepping into a relationship with God. I had never felt so moved in a moment of prayer. There were so many moments over the course of the summer where I felt so thankful to be apart of this, but I think one of the biggest things the Lord has taught me through this summer is that He is so intentional and He has such good plans. I'm beginning to realize that He delights in my excitement and He LOVES to be apart of every moment of my life. There is nothing too big for Him to handle, my fears and worries don't drive Him away, He is in the bigger picture and He never tells me to hurry up.
When you give a girl a youth internship you remind her what brings her heart the most joy, but what also breaks my heart. You give her the opportunity to see what it truly means to be a leader and how to lead from a place of courage.
You give her so many places to grow and to learn that the enemy will do everything in his will to tear her down, but because her Heavenly Father is so much bigger, those attempts to tear her down, fall to the ground.
One of the sweetest joys in my life is to be apart of this ministry because its something that is bigger than myself. One of the biggest hopes in my life is that I never go through my adult years without having some sort of foot in youth ministry. A piece of my heart will always be captivated by loving on young people, and I hope that never changes.
