July 15, 2011
an interns perspective
by Erin Randall
In the days after the storm I was spending a lot of my days volunteering with Riverwood. We went to several houses, and most of what we were doing was clearing out the fallen trees out of yards. One day I was out volunteering again with Tim Lien and Ryan Moore. This is the day they asked me to consider interning with Riverwood for the summer. We thought we were going to be hosting teams ASAP and they needed to hire interns to help out. So I agreed to work at the church for the summer.
Ever since the first days of work, our plans have been changing. We have gotten to build relationships with families in the community, people from Habitat for Humanity, and counselors from Mississippi. The counselors met with members of the community as well as with the interns. They have been a great blessing to us.
Our weeks were filled with learning, making new friends, excitement, frustration, and fatigue. There were many times when we thought we knew what we were doing, but in reality, we had no idea. This summer we have been humbled, and we have learned patience. Going through this with the interns and learning so much together has led to some of my closest friendships. But the most important thing that happened to me this summer, by far, was the growth in my relationship with God. There have been so many times, when I was impatient and frustrated, that I have just wanted to do things my way. But I can’t do that, and I have learned to better trust that His plan for me is far better than any plan I can come up with for myself. I’m not all the way there yet, and I know I’ll falter and want to control everything, but God will always bring me to my knees and remind me to trust in His plan.
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