On Finding a Routine

Routine is elusive in the RUF intern lifetime. You may have a few consistencies: large group once a week, small groups that meet regularly, or other such activities. But for the most part, your schedule depends upon the schedules of the 20-450 individuals that might make up your RUF community. This means flexibility, fluidity, and thinking on your feet.

As someone who loves to plan, organize, and schedule every detail of my life, this has been a tricky adjustment for me. It means that when no one can show up to my small group that I scheduled on Tuesday nights at my house, it might mean that moving the small group to a different time and place is the best and only alternative, even if you'd rather continue to meet on Tuesday nights at your house.

It means that every day's schedule is different than the day before, which makes it essential that you write down every appointment you make or you'll never remember them all and possibly overbook a single time slot.

It means that sometimes your perfectly scheduled day can rapidly fall apart the moment you get a text from a student who needs to cancel that day's one-on-one just an hour before you're supposed to meet.

For me, this new adventure of never knowing exactly what my day will look like is one that is challenging to my personality but gets me excited and keeps me engaged. Yesterday I hung out at the library for a few hours and texted students that I was there and had four students come by to hang out, study, chat, and offer to buy me orange juice for my sore throat (sweetest part of my day).

Sometimes it means getting home later than a regular work day would require, which causes your roommate who is not a believer to ask what exactly it is that you do and leads to a conversation about your ministry and the Gospel.

So yeah, if you're looking for a routine, the internship is not the way to go. But wow, my job is awesome.