“The Lord puts desires on our heart for a reason.” That’s what my roommate said to me in a late-night conversation in our dorm room at Lancaster Bible College (LBC). I remember the rest of the night (and that week) thinking back to what she said. What were the desires God has placed on my heart? Have they been fulfilled yet?
As I thought about this, I thought back to my spring semester of my junior year of college. During that time, I signed up to take my internship requirement and wanted to pursue one in marketing. Having previous connections with Joy El, through the 4.12 Leadership Training Program and summer staff, I proposed an internship to the Advancement Dept at Joy El. I was first asked to draft social media posts and mailing inserts. During this time, the advancement department was in transition. Affirming my interest in the creative side of marketing, they decided to ask me to complete a bigger task.
It was around late April or early May that my supervisor at the time stepped into my office. After going over my weekly update, she proceeded to ask me a question: “We haven’t started on retreat postcards yet for 2024-25. Would you like to tackle this as the intern, or should we consult someone outside of Joy El?”
I felt something inside of me light up and say, “go for it”, which led to me saying yes without thinking twice. Over the next couple of months, I designed eight postcards, one for each retreat. At first when I looked at this project, as excited as I was, I thought Lord, why did they ask me? What have I gotten myself into. I don’t feel like my work is anything extraordinary. Are you sure about this?
As weeks passed after the final drafts were sent to the printer, summer camp came and went. I remember in the middle of August one morning hearing lots of commotion from the Welcome Center lobby. I came out of my office out of curiosity, and saw the retreat postcards, 36,000 of them being delivered. I remember the excitement that radiated off of the Executive Assistant, Chief Advancement Officer, and I as box after box came in. It hit me right then and there as to why God gave me this opportunity.
Before my time at LBC, God had put a desire on my heart to create. I have seen this through my passion of serving on the 4.12 LTP media team and through some of my STEAM classes I took in high school. God has also given me a desire to serve others and share His truth through what I create. As I’ve been on my academic journey, He has continued to grow these desires and has given me opportunities to fulfill them through my time as an intern. He has continued to give more blessings from it that I never expected as He has given me the opportunity to continue serving Him with what I create through my new role at Joy El: Creative Marketing Coordinator.
