Since I have been here, one girl in particular has stuck out to me. I have tried to intentionally spend time with her and her family and what I have seen is amazing. When we first started going to eat lunch at her school, she ignored us but everyday inched closer and closer to our table. Next thing I knew, she was signing up for our afterschool program. We had the privilege of taking her to church with us. I sat next to her and I could tell that something was churning up inside of her the whole time that the pastor spoke about Paul and how he had to put his past behind him. When the pastor gave the invitation, she started to cry. It was almost like seeing everything she was holding in spill out in the form of tears. At lunch after church, I got to share some of my story with her and she shared some of hers with me. We were so similar; I knew that God had brought our lives together for a purpose.

A few weeks later, we were driving home from the afterschool program and she asked "do I have to do certain things to be able to be a Christian?" I shared with her about salvation as a gift and that all she needed to do was to pray and ask Jesus to come into her life and that it was not the words of the prayer that save her but the heart behind them. I told her to keep asking questions and to really think about this so that she would not be doing it just because she thought had to do it to be accepted by us.

The next week I was again taking kids home and she asked me "how do I pray?" I am so excited to see her growing so much in this new faith and I am encouraged that she is asking questions about the things that are unfamiliar to her.

This is what I dreamed about when I thought about what a life in ministry to teenagers would be like. I live for these one on one moments, these question and answer sessions. I want this girl and all of the other kids that I serve to know that I am there to walk with them in this new life, even when it gets hard. Pray for more moments like this, they are the moments that make me excited to get out of bed every morning.

Amy Leggett- Office Manager