Time Flies...

It's crazy how fast two years just flies by. Before I knew it (or was even prepared for it) the little seventh graders that were in my C-Group two years ago are now graduated and going into High School. I'm sure that they would say that they are totally excited and have been ready for a while now- like they have told me so many times before... but I am not ready for them to go just yet.

In ministry, so far I have learned that it is the little things that make a big impact on my girl’s lives and the lives of other students in our ministry. It's the postcard that they get in the middle of the week saying that I'm thinking about them that makes their week and not the huge production that we put on during the weekends (even though those are awesome and totally fun). I think that the more personal ministry can be made, the more of a real ministry it really is and the more lives you touch that way. Like, remembering names of students and asking them about their pet that had to get shots that week, that kind of thing...

It's crazy to me because I felt like 2 years was not nearly enough time to make an impact in these girls lives and help prepare them for the next 4 years of their life, that is bound to be full of drama and lots of messy situations. Yet, as hard as it is for me to come to terms with it, I think that they really are ready. What's wild about them being so prepared is that I felt like half of the time (maybe more than that) I felt like they didn't want to even be at c-group because I constantly felt like I was saying things like, "stop texting your boyfriend", "put your phone away", "stop talking", "come back in the room, we're not finished yet" and, "How many of you does it take to go to the bathroom?"....

BUT....

It made me rethink all of that when I got to be in the baptism with one of my girls when she decided to make a public decision to follow Christ. And when I saw them get their diplomas, and when they told me that they love me and that they don't know what they are going to do without me since I am not moving up to High School with them.

Those are the moments that make everything worth it. Those are the times that make me stand in awe of God and see how he can transform anyone from any situation using the most unlikely person (be it a friend for life made in c-group or another girl's mom who became everyone’s mom... or me- I never thought I would end up in ministry). And those are the times when I feel so small compared to Him because I know that he is capable of doing anything. I am so blessed to be where I am.

People say that working in Jr. High is hard because you get attached to the students and then they are gone in 2 years. And, I'm not going to lie there were definitely some tears at our last c-group meeting and at their graduations. But, I think that working in Jr. High we are the lucky ones. We get to form relationships with the students and make them solid over two years, and then we get them for four more years. Maybe they aren't in the same ministry, but that doesn't matter. The fact is they still come to us and share what is going on in their lives... and that is why I am lucky to be working with Jr. High.