This summer I am working as a youth intern for a church in Austin. Anytime I talk to people about my job they always ask, “So, what do you do?” I’m guessing the role of “youth intern” is perhaps too vague, and I’ll admit that at times it’s even vague for me. And I’m the one in the role.
So what do I do?
Youth group is a place for students ranging from middle school all the way through high school to gather together, read the Bible, pray, discuss age related topics, and fellowship with one another through games and singing. I remember when I was in youth group during my middle and high school years. I was young, had a lot of growing up to do, and endless energy to expend. Coming every week to youth group was the highlight of my week. God started small. He used a simple conversation with a friend, the encouragement from a small group leader, or even the random, wild games we would play at the beginning of every youth night. One time we had a food challenge called the Happy Shake. Two people competed to drink the their shake the fastest. The catch was the shake itself. A large glass filled with a happy meal blended with soda. It was within my first few weeks of being a part of the youth group that I got to witness this challenge. And in a weird way, being a part of something so gross yet thrilling as that challenge, made me connect with the group around me and I stuck around until I graduated high school. That community shaped who I am today. I love them dearly. This summer, I get to be a part of another youth group. I have decided to step into the lives of middle and high school children with the hope that God will turn my ordinary moments with the students into extraordinary moments of growth, fun, and encouragement.
Okay, but what do I do? Like on a daily basis?
So this is the harder reality that I have been coming to realize as I settle into my new job. A lot of the details are up to me. I see the end goal, aka serving God and His people, but it takes baby steps to get to that reality. And I don’t like baby steps.
It was day two on the job. I was sitting at the kitchen table in my host home. (I am living with a sweet woman from the church who has graciously opened her home to me for the summer.) My pen rolled back and forth between my fingers as I struggled to figure out what plans to make for the day. All I knew was that I didn’t want to stay home. I wanted some action. I wanted something to do. I wanted to jump forward too fast. I wanted to know all the youth already. But that requires baby steps. The kind of steps that are so small and easy that thinking about them discourages me from doing them at all. It’s that moment, when you realize, First, I have to find a gym near me. Next, buy a membership. Then, consistently carve out time to workout. Finally, actually go to the gym and train properly. Those steps are required for an end goal to be met. There is no getting around them. However, they can be avoided.
And that is what I am used to doing. Or at least what I was in the habit of doing up until I moved out here this summer. I was in the habit of avoiding baby steps like the plague and then sitting around describing to people all of my “goals.” I’ve had many brainstorming parties where ideas flow and dreams take flight. Unknowns are no longer scary. Tomorrow is bright. And those conversations are some of my favorites. Yet, they haven’t been providing me with the strength to take the baby steps. I still end up avoiding them and consequently putting my “end goals” on hold.
Okay, so now is when I really describe to you what I do as a youth intern, in baby step form.
Baby Step #1 I wake up and I pray. I ask God to save me from myself. “Lord, thank you for today. Thank you for the sun that shines regardless of how I feel. Use me, Lord, I am gladly yours, but help me to partner with you rather than get in the way by pursuing my own ambitions. I am hopeful for this summer and I see so much potential and light in these youth.”
Baby Step #2 I make myself a healthy breakfast and read. And then I head out either to church, meetings, or the gym, depending on the day.
Baby Step #3 I say yes to small things, like co-leading a game the first night of youth group where I’m standing in front of lots of blank faces, waiting for direction, unnamed up to this point because it’s day one on the job.
Baby Step #4 I laugh with the youth. I compete with the youth. I share more about myself with the youth. And with every smile, conversation, and experience, I begin to form relationship with the youth.
Baby Step #5 I slowly begin to meet new people. The faces and names still blur together, but I feel more a part of the church family.
Baby Step #6 I give out my number to the youth. And I say yes to driving them around and doing things that feel like, “Maybe I’m too old to do this.” But I am never too old to get ice cream and walk around Target. No one is ever too old to do that.
Baby Step #7 I share hard parts about my life and how God has been glorified in them. If not for His mercy, I would not be here. I’d be a person with no purpose for today, no sight for tomorrow, and certainly no hope for eternity.
Baby Step #8 …Everyday there are more baby steps. And I take them as they come. Every end goal has to have smaller goals or steps that lead to it. That’s just the way it works.
Overall, I attend meetings, serve at Church and at youth group, do service projects, plan fun summer events, and hangout one-on-one with the youth. It is honestly super exciting to be a part of! I have already seen God stir my heart to draw nearer to Him and I am hopeful that He is doing the same for the youth I get to work with.
“I’m a youth intern.”
“So, what do you do?”
“Umm…I take baby steps.”
Just a reminder that most of the time we don’t accomplish the B I G things we want to do because the baby steps are so small we don’t value them and in turn don’t take them. Take them. Take the small next step. Don’t think too hard. Don’t let the size of your step discredit the fact that you need to take it. Be encouraged:) One of my personal end goals is writing a poetry book. My baby step is simply compiling all the poems I have written into one file. An even smaller baby step is creating the file and transferring just one poem. Sounds small but I haven’t done it. It’s been a little over a year now that I have been saying I need to do it. So let’s do it together, let’s take a baby step.
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
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