I am so excited to share this post with you all! It is written by one of my dearest friends, former roommate, and one of the most passionate people I know. I asked her to write on mentorship, because it's something she does often and does well. I'm excited for you to read her wisdom and get to hear her heart on such an important topic. When I first sat down to write this, I thought about every time I’ve worked with students. I thought about the last 8 years of working youth camps (with the 9th coming up in a few days!). I thought about my first internship where I helped organize and run VBS. I thought about this last semester when I got to mentor an incredible group of middle school girls. I thought about leading drama at my home church for 4 years. I’ve worked with more kids than I could count, spending years teaching, mentoring, praying for, and struggling with each of them.
I’d love to say it was easy, but it wasn’t. It’s not easy to work with a kid who is trying to punch and bite you because she can’t have another juice box. It’s not easy to try to keep the attention of kids who like to scream when they’re bored. I’d love to say that, even though it wasn’t easy, at least seeing the fruit of the work was worth it. I’ve hugged kids after VBS only to never see them come back. I’ve had students that aged out of their programs never step back in church. I’ve prayed and wept for kids, never to see the fruition of the prayers. This sure doesn’t sound like I’m trying to explain to you why investing in the next generation is worth it, does it? It’s not easy, and you don’t always get the satisfaction of seeing the fruit. So why? Why are we supposed to add another thing to our list that is time consuming, difficult, and exhausting?
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I don’t wear a purity ring.
Growing up, all the good girls wore the rings. They showed them off, explained the repetitive meaning behind them, and talked about their vows to wait until marriage. Purity. I’ve sat through countless conversations, conferences, and sermons about standards. Purity. We treat it like an object, sometimes even like a spiritual being. We hold it in high regard. We say the word with an air of profoundness, acting as if we understand it. I became so obsessed with the status of being pure that I completely missed the message about the grace and mercy of Jesus. So when I made my share of mistakes, shame was an intimate companion. First, let’s establish some background:
I love non-instrumental music. I love instrumental music. I believe each are gifts and have a time and place. I am a musician. I write songs. I write worship songs. I have led worship. I have been in a worship band. I have gone to both mega churches and small churches. I have witnessed many different types of worship. I have Christian friends. I have non-Christian friends. Ok, on to the rest of what I want to say. |
AuthorI'm a college student with a passion to empower women, spread the love of Christ, and speak truth into the darkness. I also really like cats and Taylor Swift. Archives
October 2018
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