Blood:Water is currently seeking interns for the spring semester. The deadline to apply is December 1. Click here to apply. And check out this guest blog from our current intern, Joey.
In my first year of high school, I was the starting quarterback for the freshman football team. Don’t be too impressed, we only defeated one opponent, and I averaged more picks than quarters in the game. My older brother was the stud; a varsity, all-league quarterback who I aspired to be just like. Alas, my dreams of becoming his successor came to a halt after we lost our last game of the season in the final minutes. I returned home and immediately rushed to my room. I didn’t want to see any of my brothers because I was so embarrassed. As I collapsed on my bed, I reached over for my iPod and placed on repeat the only song that could somehow get me through those seemingly hopeless nights and get me out of bed the next morning—“Sunny Days” by Jars of Clay.
Little did I know that less than eight years later, I would get the opportunity to go on a retreat called Dig Deeper with Blood:Water and meet the entire band. On the final night of the retreat, Charlie Lowell was telling all of the guests that Jars was going to play an acoustic set, and they were taking song requests. I timidly walked over and asked if they would play “Sunny Days,” and he smiled and said, “yes.” That evening was very special. As they began to play the song, I was instantly taken back to those long, sleepless nights laying on my bed and looking hopelessly at the ceiling with dried up tears on my face. In the midst of those memories, I suddenly became aware of where I was. I was in the Smoky Mountains with a band that I have admired for so long, and they were playing this song for me. I thought to myself with a smile, “if only Joey then could see Joey now.”
I love how redemptive God is especially in the little things. He nudges us when we have forgotten the sorrows of our youth and says, “Remember that time when you thought I had abandoned you? I was there all along! I love you so much that I would orchestrate this for you. I heard every one of your prayers when you asked why things weren’t going as you had planned.” I left Dig Deeper renewed, with feelings of exuberance, and even now I am blown away that I am interning for an organization that was co-founded by the men of Jars of Clay. Something special happens when you realize that God cares about the small details from your past because if He cares about the small, how much more is He invested in the purpose of your life?
