Hi all. Here’s how yesterday went:

In the morning we had a housing meeting with Megan, our ACL. I learned I CAN listen to “secular” music (whatever exactly that means) in the apartment as long as it’s in headphones and not out loud. I am content with this compromise. I still have a whole lot of thoughts churning in my head about how the spiritual benefit of a song is more dependent on the effect it has on the listener than the original intention of the song or performer. I can listen to a song about yearning for freedom, and although the songwriter may have written it more about travelling the world or something like that, I instinctively relate it to freedom in Christ. Clearly there are some songs with unbiblical messages, but there are also songs produced by the secular music industry (or by indie artists–how do you categorise those if they don’t make their ideological affiliation explicit?) that do have very biblically compatible themes, or are at least neutral. Even the neutral songs, when listened to by one used to seeing God’s hand in everything, can be very much something that brings one’s spirit into alignment with the way it was created to be. Let me say it this way: many of the “secular” songs on my playlists carry my emotions to good places, and make me feel more like the person I am meant to be. Whether or not they were written with the intention of communicating a biblical message or drawing the listener closer to God.

And that’s enough of that spiel for now.

In the afternoon all the interns played dodgeball. I was proud of myself– I threw the ball a few times, even if I never hit anyone.

After dinner we went to FCF for the service. Benjamin Nolot, the maker of the documentary Nefarious: Merchant of Souls about sexual exploitation in the world today (www.nefariousdocumentary.com), gave the message. He talked about “rebuking the oppressor” as God says to do in Isaiah 1:17.

Afterwards, intercession for justice broke out, let with prophetic singing by the worship team. I was crying in a way I haven’t for a long time, and in a way I never have before for this issue.

Then from 10:00 to midnight the FCF auditorium went into prayer room mode, more chill, everyone more or less doing their own thing with a worship team singing on stage, mostly spontaneously. It was a sweet time. 🙂

So, my Friday blog was incorrect– after a teaching on consecration in the afternoon, tonight is my first full six hours in the prayer room. It’s actually going to be two hours, then dinner, then six more. God’s already shown up in big ways for me– I can’t wait to see what he does when I place myself before him for that entire time!

I made it!! After staying a night with cousins in Colorado and a night with Erica (who was originally going to do OTI with me) in Kansas, I arrived at IHOP yesterday around 11:30 am. Some of my roommates helped me move in, and three hours later I was all organised and already feeling quite at home.

My apartment consists of four interns in a bedroom with our Assistant Core Leader in her own room right next to us. We have a nice big living room and a “functionally compact” kitchen. The five of us are part of a core group which consists of twelve girls between the ages of 20 and 22, plus a Core Leader and an Assistant Core Leader. The fourteen of us will be discussing what we’re learning together, serving together, and keeping each other accountable. And of course praying together. 🙂 Both of our leaders are in our age bracket as well, and both have done the internship before. I am so excited to get to know them more and I think they are going to be great leaders for our group.

My core group is so diverse! Most of us are from the States, but we also have girls from Germany, Canada, Scotland, and India. And there are several more internationals outside our group, too. We are already having fun cross-cultural experiences with them, and I love listening to their accents. One of my roommates is named Kaylan, so I’ve begun introducing myself as “Caitlyn with a T.” As it turns out, she did a DTS in Kona, Hawaii where she was with a friend of mine from my home church! It is such a small world here.

So far, my days have mostly consisted of orientation. I feel slightly on information overload, but hearing the various leaders talk about the heart behind various rules and procedures makes them much easier to assimilate. Some of the boundaries might be a struggle for me at first — for example I’m typing this in the cafe because internet isn’t allowed in the apartments, and the dress code is a tad stricter than what I normally hold myself to — but I am willing to willingly limit my freedom for the sake of others in these ways, and also for my own sake and Jesus’ sake. If this is what it takes to honour the leadership, my fellow interns, and ultimately God and my consecration before him, then that is what I’ll do. I knew this was going to be a pretty intense adventure in consecration and humility anyway. So hopefully I’ll be able to keep that attitude for the next six months.

With all of this orientation information, I’ve been thinking the past few days about how IHOP is putting into practice 1 Corinthians 14:40, which says that “all things should be done decently and in order.” The “all things” Paul was talking about were the focus of the rest of the passage– namely, spiritual gifts such as prophecy, tongues, healing, etc, as well as things like singing in the spirit. IHOP is fully active in all of these, but they have established models that set boundaries so that the human propensity to act out of the flesh and end up hindering others from encountering God might be contained. Many of the boundaries are also rooted in 1 Corinthians 10:23– “‘Everything is permissible,’ but not everything is beneficial…” (NIV) There is soooo much freedom here, but that freedom is allowed to become a blessing to all because of the boundaries that have been prayerfully set.

Tonight will be my first official time in the prayer room… sorta. Tonight we’re going to the Encounter God Service at Forerunner Christian Fellowship, which is basically the side of IHOP that looks slightly more like a traditional church. It starts at 6:00 pm with an hour and a half of worship, and then an hour of teaching, and then prayer room until midnight, although tonight the interns will only stay until 10:00. Friday night is the time when the Global Prayer Room (the normal 24/7 prayer room here) gets cleaned, so the live webstream at ihop.org temporarily switches over to the FCF prayer room. The GPR is closed to the public during that time, although a worship team does keep going on stage in order to “keep the fire on the altar.” Then tomorrow will be my first official six hour session in the prayer room, 6:00 pm to midnight. I popped in for a few minutes today, and I am sooo excited to do it for real tomorrow night.

I’m meeting some people for dinner in the cafeteria in a little bit, so I am going to sign off for tonight. I’ll try to blog often —  I’m sure I’ll have LOTS to say — but no guarantees with how the schedule will go.

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. 🙂