Ingrained In My Soul

One of the best things I've ever done for myself and my faith was to start working with the student ministry at Christ Church. I'm at the beginning of my 3rd year of volunteering with them. And I love it. I, with my amazing friend Caitlin, lead the senior girls. Every week it's a new adventure.

Sometimes it's hard. Hard because my 31 year old self still remembers what it's like to be a teenage girl navigating through life and faith. Hard because there are questions I sometimes don't know the answers to. Hard because although I can remember being a teenager, I wasn't a teenager living in a social media world which only adds to the pressure of being a girl and keeping your beliefs and morals intact.

But mostly it's rewarding. It's rewarding seeing the girls love Jesus with their whole hearts. It's rewarding when they answer a question and I realize how grounded their faith is. It's rewarding when I see them reach out to each other in ways you do when only complete trust is there. It's rewarding watching them be completely themselves and you know they feel like they're in a "safe place" when they're with you.

I'm always looking to improve the ways we lead the group. Looking for ways to be more vulnerable with the girls so they in turn will be more vulnerable with us. I'm always hunting for new ideas to equip them for life outside of our group. I want to challenge them and prepare them as much as possible for next year when I won't see them once a week. I know most of them will go away to school and our goal has always been for them to leave us with a love for Jesus that can get them through life, because life is hard.

This year I started something new. Every week after our fearless leader Robb finishes the lesson we break into small groups. He gives us questions to go over. But before we start in with the questions Caitlin and I hand everyone a blank note card and some markers. We then give them a verse to write down. I read it slowly, they write it out, then because we're girls we, of course, decorate the note card to make it cute. They decorate while we go through the lesson questions. Then at the end they take the verse home with them.

Caitlin and I tell them that we want them to put it up somewhere. Somewhere they'll see it every day. Somewhere they'll read it every day. Car, bedroom door, bathroom mirror, etc. Our hope is that these verses became ingrained in their souls. That at times of good and times of bad they will remember that God is in control. At times of light and dark they will remember that God loves them. That their soul will always be able to find peace even in unrest because these verses will shape their outlook and complement their faith.

The funny thing that has happened though is that every week while the girls write out the verse, I write it out also. Then every Wednesday night when I get home I grab some tape and climb up on my bathroom sink (short people problems) and place the newest verse up around my bathroom mirror where I'll see it everyday. And every day while I brush my teeth and wash my face I read the verses. Suddenly those are the verses that are getting me through crabby moments at work. Those are the verses that are getting me through feeling discouraged about my dating life. Those verses are the verses that I read over and over on Sunday evening while praying for friends whose hearts are breaking with grief right now. Those verses that I hoped would become ingrained in the girls souls are the verses that are becoming ingrained in mine.

My bathroom mirror

Isn't it funny how God works? My goal was to encourage the girls and get as much scripture as possible to permeate their hearts but in turn it's done the same for me.

Signed: #christchurchgirlslovinggod