I’ve been in Louisville for my internship for about three weeks now and, let me tell you, it’s nothing that I thought it would be.
I didn’t imagine that the windy roads would mostly be one-way streets and the intersections would be in six different directions. I didn’t expect to be painting for most of my first week in the office. I didn’t expect to grow so close to my 12 other housemates as fast as I did. Or that people here love to stand around and just talk.
I didn’t expect to be blown away everyday by how God is perfectly orchestrating this summer and my life. And I definitely did not expect to fall in love with this city and have my heart broken for its people so fast.
[pullquote type=”left”]And I definitely did not expect to fall in love with this city and have my heart broken for its people so fast.[/pullquote] I realized this last point my first Sunday serving at the local church when I was helping with the upper elementary Sunday school class. That morning we were discussing how God’s blessings are unstoppable.The lead teacher started the lesson by asking the kids to name something that was unstoppable. They started out answering that tornados, hurricanes, and turning off the TV were all unstoppable things, but then their answers turned in a way I never expected.
Some said that bullies were unstoppable. One boy said that fires were unstoppable after his apartment caught on fire. Others answered that robbers with guns were unstoppable. And some answered that kidnappers were sometimes unstoppable and shared their experiences of running away from them.
For the rest of the lesson all I could focus on was trying not to cry and to get out of the state of shock that I was in. My heart broke that morning because I realized that while all of these events are uncommon for the adults and kids I know back home and for myself, these events are normal and everyday life for the adults and kids in this city.
[pullquote type=”right”]My heart broke that morning because I realized…these events are normal and everyday life for the adults and kids in this city.[/pullquote] Accepting that this is everyday life here has been hard because I want to take it all away and I know I can’t do that. But I do know I can pray for them, learn about their lives and their city, and help them and love them in any way I possibly can while I am here.Will you also pray for the people of Louisville?
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