Meet my new roommate, Brooke. She’s from upstate New York near Syracuse, which boasts of being the snowiest city in the US. Last year, she interned on campus in Boston, serving with Cru at MIT and Harvard. While most interns moved in on the 5th, Brooke and I, along with another second year intern Alex, arrived August 1st to help get the internship ready.
Being with her through her transition in Orlando reminded me so much of myself last year: uprooted, transplanted far from home, weeble-wobbly, and trying to navigate new roads, cultures, and people. I’m thankful for a little more stability and familiarity, and just how much God has provided for me here in Orlando. Seeing her experience Orlando and processing with her was a reminder of the hard things that God has brought me through last fall. This verse comes to mind:
“Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
who comforts us in all our affliction,
so that we may be able to comfort
those who are in any affliction,
with the comfort with which we
ourselves are comforted by God.”
– 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
I’m also grateful that we get to be housemates this year! We share a lot of things in common, and have established routines together, like working out in the morning, evening worship jams, and quiet times to work and recharge as introverts. I’m very excited for our year together and the adventures God has in store for us :)
To the Year Ahead
On the 5th, we opened up our apartment for interns to check in. This usually happens in the apartment complex clubhouse, which is currently closed because of Covid. Things are quite different this year, and Ann and Tony John have worked overtime to make sure everything runs smoothly.
Check-in looks very different!
Plants and Zoom Meeting
Instead of dinners together and a retreat by the beach, we met over Zoom. More than half of the interns had to self-isolate per Cru’s policy, so we got pretty creative doing bonding activities over Zoom and Google Meet. There was something happening every night, and that was exciting.
Thankfully, the self-isolation policy changed a week after interns arrived. Cru employees traveling to red zones (places with highest risk) no longer have to self-isolate, because you're more exposed anyway. I guess that's one good thing that's come out of Florida having a lot of Covid cases haha.
But anyway. I'm really excited for the ways God will be working in our community this year. Everyone is very intentional. I don't know if it's everyone's maturity, or a skill we all picked up during quarantine, or just being starved for human interaction, but we are all so intentional about being with one another and getting to know each other. God once again reminded me how much I doubt and how little I trust Him in new things. But He is always good. We got our first picture together last night! Shhh, don't tell Cru that we had sixteen people (the maximum is 15...).
First Group Picture!
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