BAM. That is how I feel right now. I just called the IHOP business office and paid the remaining $4500 for my internship in July. I did just wipe out nearly half my bank account, but that’s okay, because I have a few more paychecks coming before I’m done with the OE season at camp. And it definitely feels so good to be all paid up and confirmed.

July is coming up so fast… as RIDICULOUSLY EXCITED as I am, I will also be very sad to leave camp. This place has been home for the past five months, and on and off for the past two years. I’m being less careful with my budget than I should, but I don’t want to miss a single chance to hang out with these wonderful people. Sunday night church followed by hanging out at a restaurant has become the highlight of my week.

It’s too early to say goodbye yet, though. I have five weeks (possibly four) left, and I intend to soak up every minute of them. A lot can still happen in five weeks.

Two posts in one day? Whaaat?!

I promised you about four hours ago that I would be completely unable to do anything besides obsess over IHOP today. I was right. I have spent most of my afternoon/evening reading the blog of a girl who was a One Thing intern in 2006. The posts are old, so I’m sure some things have changed, but I feel like I just lived her journey with her a little bit. She wrote several times a week, with tons of details about her schedule, her life, her friends, and what God was showing her. I almost cried at her graduation post.

Creepy, I know. It’s like she became my own personal novel.

Anyway, I really liked her description of the eager young interns coming in soon after her internship was over, so I thought I’d share it:

Today is the next group’s turn. The July ’06 Onething Interns have started arriving and moving in. Many come voluntarily, holding their heart up to G-d with all their dreams, fears, and prayers. Others come reluctantly, holding onto sins but still secretly hoping they will change. All of them, every single one, will be transformed this next half-year. 41 girls, 18 guys. Six months. 18 hours of teaching, 30 hours in the prayer room, and all three services. Enforced community, to embrace or to try to reject. Meals together in the cafeteria, hugs in the hallway and the bathroom, moving as an organism to class and the prayer room. They signed up for G-d, but they’ve been tricked — they get G-d and they have to deal with each other. Once they accept that, accept the schedule, and say to G-d, “Here I am, as I am. Enjoy me!” — they will be in for the journey of a lifetime.

That will be me in approximately 89 days!!

Yesterday I emailed Niki, who has been my contact regarding my OTI admissions process, asking when I could expect to hear back about my acceptance. Today I woke up to find this in my inbox:

So sweet deal, I’m officially in!! Apparently, this still isn’t the “official” acceptance email from the admissions office yet, but Niki was kind enough to expedite the process for me. 😉

Things I know now that I didn’t before:

• The internship starts on Thursday, July 12, 2012, not July 5 as I previously thought. Check in is between 10:00 am and 1:00 pm on that day.
• Graduation is December 17 and that is the day I will be moving out.
• I will be living at  the Herrnhut Apartment complex just around the corner from the IHOP prayer room.
• The dorms do have kitchens!
• Guests may not stay in intern housing, but there are plenty of local hotels IHOP has connections with.
• The NKJV Bible is the preferred version, but not required.
• “We endeavor to create a sanctified living area for the interns; therefore movies and secular music are not permitted in the dorms.”

(^^Yeah… this one… I’m either gonna need a major heart change or a long talk to sort this out with the IHOP powers that be. I have large feelings about the whole idea of labeling media as “Christian” or “secular”… I wasn’t a theater arts major at a liberalish Christian college for nothing. BUT even there, there are way more important issues at stake, such as humility, unity, and submission to authority… so one way or another it’ll be fine.)

In any case, I am extremely excited and it’s pretty much worthless to ask me to think about anything else today.

God is faithful.

It’s been five weeks since IHOP told me they’d be contacting me for an interview “within 3 weeks.” Well, I finally had that interview yesterday. I had a 20 minute chat with Niki over the phone answering questions like “why do you want to come to IHOP,” “what is your relationship with your family like,” and “have you ever been on drugs.” It was fun, it was easy, and it only confirmed to me that this is absolutely where I’m supposed to be.

I’m expecting an email soonish to confirm my acceptance, but “soonish” could easily mean “within the next three months.” Ah well. From the moment I decided to go, there’s never been a question in my mind that I would. The email is just a formality. 😉

Also, my friend Erica who was planning to go with me will no longer be able to come. She still believes that she’s meant to come, but right now God is telling her “wait.” I will miss her, but I know God has big plans for her in this season, even if those plans won’t bring us to OTI together. Her home is on my way, though, so I’ll definitely drop in to see her. 🙂

Wednesday, January 4, 2012, 1:19 am:

Finally done with my OTI (One Thing Internship) application! All the pieces are in order and I plan to mail it tomorrow!!

…and by tomorrow I mean later today, once the sun is actually up. Good night/morning!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012, 3:27 pm:

Application. MAILED. Kansas City, here I come!

Several years ago, I began dreaming of attending IHOP’s One Thing internship in Kansas City, Missouri. IHOP (International House of Prayer) is structured around a 24/7 model of prayer and worship, and this internship is all about spending a focused six month period of one’s life intensely dedicated to intimacy with Jesus. God had clearly marked me as a worshiper and a Mary of Bethany, and there was nothing I wanted more than to waste my life in his presence.

I originally hoped to take this leap in late 2012 sometime, but God had other plans. Earlier this year I met the lovely Erica on Facebook, and we were drawn together by our mutual love of Jesus, Ted Dekker, writing, Jump5… and IHOP. We both wanted to do the internship and began planning to come together in summer 2013. Well, circumstances in her life began pushing her towards an earlier internship, and so together we decided to up our goal by an entire year, and do the summer 2012 session instead. It will be a financial crunch for both of us and a huge faith booster. We can’t wait to see what God has in store. 🙂

If all goes to plan, we will be moving to Kansas City on July 5, 2012, and staying through December 18. Tuition is $4,900, and though we both have decent jobs, we will definitely be praying for a financial miracle to pull us through to the finish line. God is good, though, and he always finishes what he starts. I am so much looking forward to discovering where this journey will take me. It will be an adventure of faith and of grace, and ultimately, of love.

“One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.”
Psalm 27:4