Reflections of an Intern
Written by Jack Coombs
Wow, what a year!
I can’t say I would ever have put money on it ending like this (not that I advocate gambling, even if it is my last week as an intern) at the beginning of the year. Despite not having the conclusion to the year that I expected God has taught me new things in every season of my time as an intern. Here are a few reflections on what I have learnt this year.
Spiritual Routines Are More Than a Tick Box
Perhaps for some of you it didn’t take an intern programme to realise this, but going into the year I thought I was doing alright, purely because my daily spiritual routines existed. However, once a month I’ve met with other interns and young people across the city for ‘The Apprentice Track’ where we swiftly began to explore different spiritual disciplines and implement them into our daily lives. Once a week we would then have a meal to discuss these over and be accountable with one another (with the legends that are Mike and Alison).
We didn’t simply ask each other if we were managing to keep up with the practices. Instead we asked each other far more important questions. How are they impacting our day to day life? How do we see our relationship with Jesus growing through them? These questions were not always easy to answer as I realised that I didn’t always naturally reflect on this on a day to day basis. Through this however I began to understand why they are important and noticing the difference it made to my days. If this is isn’t something that you regularly think about, perhaps make it your own habit to take 5-10 minutes at the end of each day to think about this (or even better, discuss it when you meet with your core group!).
Leading is Not Always Succeeding
Coming in as a new intern it and be given some new areas of responsibility, it was easy to think “well time to smash this out the park”. However as the year’s gone on, I’ve learnt that this isn’t always the best mind-set to take when first thinking about a task at hand. Would it produce the best result? Usually. Will it prove your capabilities? Certainly. But does it produce the most growth? Well… maybe not so much.
It’s far more constructive to think about how this can be an opportunity for learning. Not just for yourself but for others aswell. It might be easier to do it yourself, but it’s better to look beyond the task at the hand to the far bigger aim as a leader in raising others up as leaders. It won’t be as polished and it might mean much more hassle but it will also mean much more growth.
(Disclaimer: heavily inspired by Karl Martin’s ‘lead’ that we read during intern lunch.)
God is Bigger than a Global Pandemic
The end of March was a bizarre time. Student work was in full flow. I felt like Gandalf battling with the fellowship through the Mines of Moria. But then… BALROG. As COVID-19 hit and I saw the students packing their bags and leaving to go home on Instagram, I finally understood what is was like to be Gandalf, gripping the edge of the bridge of Khazad-dûm and watching the Fellowship leave. However, as you well know, this was not the end for Gandalf and neither was it the end of my internship.
Out of the flames themselves, Zoom stepped out and offered a hand (I will restrain myself from a Sam and Frodo reference here). Although it was at times a strained relationship (quite literally; it gave me eye strain on more than one occasion), it allowed us to carry on as usual. Since then, we had the first online Alpha where I saw so many students inviting friends along from all over the country. I’ve also seen our Student Community on Wednesday grow and bond together, perhaps more so than before lockdown. Overall it has taught me a lot about my expectations about what God can do in my life.
What a year it’s been!