I was recently reading through the blog of a very good friend of mine who is currently in India doing ministry through art. She had posted this verse, from John 6 about the boy who offers up his scraps of fish and bread to Jesus to feed the five thousand, which really embedded itself deep within my heart.

Lately, my mind has been pulling me in a million directions all at once. As I think of the various roles and responsibilities the Lord has asked of me for this season of my life, I am left wondering how will I ever accomplish all of this? Or even more so, how will I be able to do all of these things well?

However, through this passage, I am reminded that like the young boy in John 6, I too am called to give Jesus the fragments of my life so that He may transform it into something life-giving and multiply it. It is not my perfection that He seeks, but a teachable, willing heart. So here I am. Here are my 4 years of college education, here are my naive ideas about what it takes to be a leader in ministry, here is my faith that is fueled by a strong community, here is my seemingly insufficient knowledge of truth, here is my desire to love others well, here is my love for exploring the beauty of creation, here are my experiences in building intimate relationships, here are my entitlements to certain freedoms, here are my fears about the future and failures from the past, here is my value for creativity, here are the things I find comfort in, here is my heart for the world…

What do you have to give?

Lauren Slavik, first year intern.