by Sarah 'Hanson' Kennedy, former Children's Ministries intern

As I sit here today looking back over the last four years I find myself chuckling. If there is one thing I’ve learned in my time at Fuller, it is to never tell God what you will not be doing in life!

Four years ago, I told God: “I’ll go to seminary, BUT, I am never going to do youth ministry, I do not want to preach, and when it comes to the man I’ll marry, well I am definitely not interested in being with someone who is also in the ministry field. Got that, God?”

I sit here smiling at the wedding ring now on my finger, placed there this past March by Charles Kennedy, a man who desires to be a full-time youth minister.

On my to-do list this week is to plan youth group and prep a talk for our Sunday morning youth gathering. I recently received a phone call asking me to be a regular guest preacher at a local church without a pastor, and I am acquiring my income by working as a teaching assistant in both the youth ministry and preaching departments at Fuller. Yes, never tell God never!

Chuck has one more year at Fuller, and we don’t really know what is next. We do know that we are both passionate about helping integrate teenagers into the intergenerational body of Christ. We are planning to pursue jobs that would allow us to work together doing both youth and family ministry in local congregations, helping churches come to see themselves as a large family that desperately needs each age group in order to fully function. And, we are trying to not tell God “never” as we discern our next steps!