Well into the summer, I had two pretty consistent groups of friends, the other interns and the Crosspoint peeps. I felt like I was thriving and I really got to experience both Nissan and Nashville. My work team did some team building activities and I also got more familiar with coding when I was in the office. On the weekends I went to Cheekwood, ate at Hattie B’s, and had coffee at the Frothy Monkey. I also GOT TO SEE SO MANY AMAZING ARTISTS AT THE CMA FEST which was phenomenal and all I had to pay for was parking.
Also, as I spent more time with people, trust developed and I got to know them really well. We had conversations about faith and why we did or didn’t believe certain things. I was able to share the gospel in ways it hadn’t been communicated to some people before. This really taught me the idea of earning the right to be heard and the importance of showing up and supporting the people placed around you. And it just got sweeter from there.
During one of the last weeks of the summer, we had the Intern Summit. This is where all the interns get together to mingle and hear from executives. One of the executive told a story that really stuck with me. She was talking about her son and said that when he was younger, he was developing words and language very slowly. She took him to all sorts of doctors to get tested and the doctors determined that nothing could be done. But, there was also an intern in the room. She politely turned to the intern, and asked his opinion. He suggested trying occupational therapy. After a while of going to an occupational therapust, her son was developmentally on track with other kids his age. And I was almost in tears. The main point of the story was that interns have impact but the main takeaway that I heard was that Occupational Therapy matters. That was a God wink if I’ve ever witnessed one.
I should also note that we started at 8am and were done by 9 both nights. This made my commute super super awful so, luckily, my new friend Jenna let me stay with her in town. We watched the bachelor and ate peaches from the famous peach truck. It was lovely and we got along so well. I was beginning to find it ironic how I was becoming close friends with people I would have to soon leave. Moreover, that same weekend I saw another intern friend at Crosspoint! My worlds were colliding and it was so sweet. Somehow we had missed each other previous weeks but the timing was the Lord’s entirely! We got Mexican food after church and talked about faith, community, and school. We got to encourage each other and it was just what I needed.
The summer soon came to an end and I was sad to go. I genuinely loved the city (I will return, no doubt) and I am very grateful for my Nashville people. The whole journey was not easy, at times it was very difficult. I spent some Friday nights alone, got bored at work, struggled to find community that was not centered around bar culture, saw 47229465 too many bachelorette parties, and missed my people back home. But, it was also so so good. The Lord taught me a lot and showed up when I needed Him most. He provided so much to make it all possible, used books and podcasts to speak truth over me in the long car rides, taught me that in my loneliness He is enough, and placed people around me to pour into me so that I could turn around and pour into others. It was truly one of the best summers and my heart aches when I think about it. In a very good way.
If you want to hear more about it, lets grab coffee!
bearclaw! 