Mondays are for Memories

Side note: I'm totally slacking here. I've just been so busy being wife/mommy/homemaker/etc... And I actually feel like I'm doing a pretty good job! Chandler Rae is on the move and is INTO EVERYTHING! I can't take my eyes off of the girl for even a second and we've been really trying to be active so we've been spending a lot of time at the park or outside. Amazingly, I've been keeping up with the house work too and for once, I don't feel like it's swallowing me whole! What's more... I actually joined a bible study (yes, that's right folks, I'm doing something for myself)! Even crazier... I've been reading! Do you even know who I am anymore!?! There just hasn't been enough hours in the day for blogging around here, but at the request of one of my fellow SAHMs I'm trying to work it back into the schedule! This is for you girl!

With that being said... Mondays are for memories and today I'm remembering a day when I once served like crazy for the youth at Journey.

Long story short... I didn't grow up in church, but I started attending (and I use the term attending loosely) my freshman year of high school. It wasn't until my Junior year though that I was 100% sold out for God and his plan for my life. I didn't know much about the Bible, but I knew I wanted to be a part of a story bigger than myself and I wasn't looking back! After high school, I got right into serving in elementary and middle school at church and once I entered into my sophomore year of college I started serving the high school youth.

My time as a "high school sponsor" (aka small group leader and someone for the kids to count on and trust) helped mold me into the person I am today. God grew me and used me in ways I never imagined He could. Some of my favorite times came in a tiny little room in the children's wing of our church with a room full of girls sitting in tiny chairs at a little table with Bibles in hand and hearts open. The memories made and talks had will always be in my heart. I will admit, the job was not always easy! I was stretched, challenged, and sometimes exhausted after long nights in group discussing questions about God and life that I sometimes couldn't answer. I was sometimes emotionally drained after road trips and conferences or dealing with the "drama" that can happen in a youth group, I was sometimes disappointed in decisions made and consequences that followed, but I wouldn't trade a second of the time spent with my girls.

It's crazy now to see the journey's they've all taken and are still on. A few are married and a couple, now moms. Some are in college or pursuing their dreams while others are struggling through life still searching for their calling. Some of the girls I'm still close with, when we talk, it's as if we talk everyday. Others I see on facebook and share comments here and there with. More of them than I'd like, I don't see or talk to at all and that makes me sad. One of them is no longer with us and I'm still in shock over her death. I still love and miss her and wish so badly I could tell her how proud of her I was. Some of my girls are still as in love with their Savior as they were years ago and others have walked away or taken a different path in life. Regardless of where they are now or what they're doing now there will always be a place in my heart just for them.

While these days I'm wife, mommy, and homemaker and unable to serve as a sponsor, I still feel I'm a role model to the girls currently in our high school youth group. I'm not able to have late night convos, or lead bible studies or attend most trips, but I feel that I'm showing them how to be a Proverbs 31 woman (or at least how to try). One day my schedule will open up again and I'll be free to lead and serve  and while I miss it so much I know that I'm serving my husband and my children by being the best wife and mommy I can be and I can't get this time with them back!

I'm learning everyday to embrace the season of life I'm in and today I remembered how sweet one season was.

Happy Monday Everyone!

I will hopefully return for more blogging soon. :) Love you, Jill!