Youth Ministry....

I had the raddest (is that a word??) kid in my small group this year.

Her name is tessa...and she's just unbelievable. I was privileged enough to have her in my group all year and watch God just do a number on her life.

this was her baptism...which was SO FUN. My whole 17 girl small group was there cheering her on and just totally affirmed how much I value small groups.
We are putting short testimonies of students on our weekend bulletin this week and here's what she wrote!

Before I accepted Jesus into my life I was using drugs and I hated everyone. My days consisted of getting into trouble, going home, and getting kicked out of my house. I felt that God was taking everything that was good in my life away from me. While the high school services were doing the scarred series I would leave each night crying and my small group leader, Allison, came and talked to me about how Jesus Christ understood how I was feeling and that he would love me no matter what I did. After she left, I thought about how I wanted to change my life for the better and I accepted Jesus Christ into my life. Ever since then I've seen how much better I handle situations and how I feel towards people. Now I know that people love me and finally I love myslef.

This makes my heart so happy.
I love God more for calling me to this crazy responsibility of pouring into the lives of students.
I'm so thankful i GET to do this!