By the summer of 2008 (after my Jr year
in college), I began asking the question: “what will my life
look like after college?”
I was committed to living for Christ
and not just wealth. But I didn’t want to work in a
traditional ministry.
I had a huge passion for evangelism (which I
knew was from God), but I also had this huge passion for economics
(which has to be from God right?). Then there was this feeling I might be called to serve God in government. If only I could some how merge
these things together…
One day that summer, my dad sent me a link
to the John
Jay Institute of Faith Society and Law. As I
quickly browsed the website, it’s mission seemed to exactly match my
passions.
Our
Vision
The
John Jay Institute
envisages leaders of American public life to be men and women of
virtue, wisdom, and justice.
Our
Mission
The
mission of the John
Jay Institute
is to prepare Christians for principled leadership in public life.
The
Need
The
need is for epoch-making leaders in public life – men and women of
principle who are grounded in the Holy Scriptures and formed by the
Christian moral and intellectual tradition.
I immediately began telling people I
was going to do this. With one caveat, they only accept 12 people a
semester. But I remember a sense of confidence that God would make
it happen.
However, at the end of that summer I
felt God leading me to go overseas on a missions trip for a year.
When I finally found the right one (the World Race), it meant I wouldn’t be able to
apply for the John Jay for another 2 years!
While I continued to tell others about
my intentions to apply for the program, over time erode my
confidence eroded in the John Jay as the direction for my future. And
acceptance began to feel extremely unlikely.
Now flash forward to February when I
moved to GA. I started working on Kingdom
Dreams and loved it. It was exciting, it was
business, it was challenging…all of a sudden I wasn’t sure if I
really wanted to go to the John Jay. And I was now convinced there was no way I would get accepted. Applying
would just be a waste of time.
However, I could not let go of my dream
so easily.
I finished the application in time, but
still resigned to rejection. My vocabulary had completely
changed. I began to protect myself when friends would ask me about
it, saying,
“Yeah I applied, but I won’t get
in. I’d rather be here anyway.”
Now let’s move to April 1. I am on a
trip to NYC with the AIM’s marketing team. I get a phone call.
Phone
– “Hi this is Sara from the John Jay Institute. We
received you application…we thank you for taking the time to
apply…(waiting for the “but”), and we would like to extend an
invitation to the program to you.”
Me – “Umm…Excuse me?”
Sara – (Taken aback and a
little confused by my response) “….We…would like to offer
you a spot in the Fall class at the John Jay Institute.
Me –
“…Is this an April
fool’s day joke?”
Sara
– “What? No…we
wouldn’t do something like that. But I guess this is a bad day to
make these calls.” starts laughing
Yep, just like that. God overcame my doubt and faithlessness.
Love park in Philadelphia
My purpose in
sharing all of this, is to stoke this question in you…
Do you have a
dream that you are slowly giving up on? As time and circumstances
put your dream on hold, are you forgetting the life and excitement
when God gave you that dream?
Think
back to those times when God lit a fire in your heart. Have
you begun to give up on the dream that God put inside of you?
It happened to me, but thankfully He is faithful.
I am moving to Philadelphia in August. Ready to take on the next
challenge before me. Ready to live out the dream God put inside of
me.
What dream has God put inside of you??
