Best of Blogs #23

Journey (My Yellow Ball), originally posted 1/27/10.

One Halloween during my sophomore year of college, I helped with a Halloween alternative event at my church. There, I met a guy named Derek Buikema. We became friends. I also got a yellow bouncy ball that was left over from the prizes that night.

Derek and I were IMing one night when his friend seized the computer (unbeknownst to me, initially). After conversing with Derek's friend for a bit, we ended up hitting it off. So we started a sort of ambiguous in-between friends and dating kind of relationship.

And because of that relationship, when it came time to look for an internship, I looked in Brookfield, Wisconsin, home of Derek and his friend. And that's how I ended up at Elmbrook as an intern, and later as a children's ministry assistant. (Though my pseudo-relationship ended before my internship started.)

I took that little yellow ball with me to Elmbrook. It reminded me of how that one little act of serving at my church one night brought me to where God wanted me to serve for a season. And I wrote on the ball "he has brought me to this place."

While at Elmbrook, one small part of my job (and not a part I loved) was to host a conference at Elmbrook that Group ran all over the country. And thus began my connection to Group. And it's how I met Mikal, who was instrumental in helping me get even more plugged into Group.

My yellow ball sits on my desk at Group to this day, reminding me of how God can use the random little things in life to bring you to the places he wants you to be. I'm thankful that even through the heartache of a bad relationship and through doing a task I didn't like at my job, God brought about awesome opportunities for me.

And I'm only at the start of my journey!