my unwanted acquaintance, part 8

There are many things that helped me finally come out of my depression.

* Jesus. My Savior. He saved me when he died on the cross for my sins. But it didn't stop there. He still saves today.

* My family. They were a huge source of support, encouragement, and comfort during my struggle.

* Dr. B, my amazing Christian counselor. Dr. B is an old family friend. He has been in bible study with my parents forever and I grew up with his son. When he found out what I was going through, he began meeting with me weekly. I shared everything with him, no holds barred. More about him in a sec.

* My community of friends. The more I decided to tell people, the more I felt surrounded by love. I had friends always checking in on me, making food for me, taking me out to go on walks or go to the movies, I had tons of friends praying for me. I even had friends who would bring a magazine and hang out in my room until I fell asleep on the hard nights. It blew me away. I am so blessed.

* The medicine my doctor gave me. Was it helping balance all the chemicals in my brain? I would like to think so. It took awhile to kick in, but I felt more stable once it did.

* Time. Hour by hour. Day by day. Week by week. Month by month. Time helps heal.

So once I started feeling myself slowly coming out of my depression, I started working with Dr. B about the future. I truly had no idea what I was going to do with my life. It was scary. But we took our time. He had me talk about all the things I loved. What was I passionate about? He gave me "homework" to work on and then bring back to him.

He also had me take all these tests: personality tests, Myers-Briggs test, job skills, spiritual gifts tests, etc. After weeks of taking tests, he put them all into this computer program. He gave me my results. My top 2 jobs (that would work with my skills, interests, and gifts) were #2 Camp Ministry and #1 Church Ministry.

That was a bit shocking. I mean I love camp and love church. I've gone to both my whole life. But I've NEVER thought of working at a camp or church as a job full-time. But hey, I've got nothing to lose, right? I should check it out.

This is where I see the Lord working things out. As I was telling my friend about looking for a camp or church internship, he said his camp (the one I grew up going to) was looking to hire an intern for a year at their high school camp. At first, I cringed. Eww, high schoolers? They're so old. I was so used to little kids. High schoolers intimidated me. But I figured I should apply and see if I enjoyed working with that age group. Again, what have I got to lose?

I applied for the internship and got it. I had NO idea what I was doing. Luckily, I had two amazing bosses who knew my situation and were very kind and understanding. And guess what? I ended up LOVING high schoolers. Who knew? I spent 8 months going to church youth groups, hanging out with the kids, telling them about our high school summer camps. On the weekends, I would help host the youth groups that camp to our camp.

And then summer came.

Since it was a high school camp, all summer staff was college-aged (19-25 years old). And it was then that I realized...college students were even cooler than high schoolers. (At least for me. I can't speak for everyone.) Being the intern, I got to be a support system for the college-aged staff over the summer. I loved spending time with them, praying for them, and hearing about their lives.

Toward the end of the summer, a guy named Charlie was our speaker for a week. We were in our Sunday afternoon meeting, before the high school campers arrived. Charlie introduced himself and shared how excited he was to be that week's speaker. And then he said the words I will never forget:

"I work at a church about 15 minutes away from here. I oversee the high school and college groups. And we are looking to hire someone to run the college group starting in early September. So...if any of you are looking for a job after the summer ends, come talk to me."

heart...stops...beating...