It allll comes full circle. Most good stories do, and this is one of those. Last week, I got the opportunity to go recruit at my alma mater–the University of Oklahoma. The first thing I learned? I love recruiting. I love that I get to hear people’s stories and hearts. I love that I get to challenge and encourage. I love that I get to share the gospel. I love to travel and see college campuses. I love meeting and greeting and being busy. I just really love all of it. But as I stood in the student union at OU, I couldn’t help but remember.
I remembered when I was in college attending my usual Tuesday night ministry and this really cool video played. The video was a bunch of college kids hanging out and doing fun and crazy things with kids. I remember sitting in my chair thinking, That looks really fun! I went to talk to these people, who were Pine Cove people recruiting college summer staffers at OU. What’s Pine Cove? Where is it, I wonder? I’ve never heard of it. Oh, there’s a Tyler, TX? I approached the booth knowing absolutely nothing about Pine Cove because I had never heard of it before. I met Dutch and Dodgeballa and impulsively signed up for an interview the next day. That was in the fall of 2005.
As I stood in the student union last week on the “other side,” what struck me was how at the time, 7 years ago, I had absolutely no idea how huge that “impulsive decision” would be for my life. Little did I know that I would get hired at Pine Cove and spend the next four summers having the time of my life. Little did I know that this would be the place where I would gain my Biblical foundation and solidify my identity in Christ. Little did I know that my life would be absolutely transformed through Pine Cove and that it would affect everything for the rest of my life. And what I didn’t know then is that I would learn how to truly serve because He first served us. And that nothing matters outside of the Gospel. And little did I know, that I would take my first full-time job at this ministry that has meant so much to me.
As I look back and reflect on “college Jenny” and how she just applied on a whim, I am so thankful for the Lord’s leading in my life. He knew. One of my favorite verses is John 13:7, which says:
Jesus replied, ‘You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’I love this verse because it is so applicable to every calling that the Lord places in our lives. A lot of times, we don’t get it. We don’t understand the pain, or the fear, or the unknowns of something. But He tells us, “later you will understand.” I wasn’t aware at the time that I was choosing to walk through a door that would impact the rest of my life, who I am, and who I am yet to be. But God did. He knew. And I am thankful. So, last week I stood in the student union with my flashbacks and was thankful. Then I interviewed lots of Sooners and smiled realizing that they too, could be standing before a door that would profoundly impact the rest of their life.
