Confessions of a Now-Slightly-More-Experienced Girls' Worker

Emily here. You might have read a previous post titled "Confessions of a Rookie Girls' Worker." I wrote that more than a year ago. And thankfully, I can report that I'm still working with that same group of girls. I still have all my hair (and three new grays ones, which at 25, is disheartening) and so do the girls (which is a credit to Jesus, as many times, if it'd been up to me, I would have liked to jerk some of their hairs clean out).

Although I used to dread Wednesdays because LifeGroup was sure to entail some form of frustration, anger, or feelings of awkwardness, I actually look forward to them now. Why, you may ask? Because I found out my girls were human after all.

It started on my birthday last year, which happened to fall on a Wednesday, the night we meet. They took the opportunity to throw me a surprise party at church. They went all out: cake, cupcakes, cookies, balloons, decorations. (No plates or napkins or forks, but hey, you can't expect 14- and 15-year-olds to think of everything.) I nearly cried as I read a sweet card they'd written me, thanking me for meeting with them every week. Although I'd been planning up until that point to not continue leading the LifeGroup the next year, I knew then that I couldn't give up on them yet. That glimmer of hope for the women they could become made me want to stick with them until they graduate.

So when they became sophomores this year, they stopped running away from me as I tried to herd them to our meeting room. They actually hug me when they see me. They're still coming each week, even though many of them have their drivers' licenses. We've been doing great.

Then cancer hit.

I think most youth workers expect to deal with things like fender benders, breakups, acne, girl drama, and school woes when dealing with students. We don't really expect our students to face terminal illnesses. But one of my girls did.

Elisha's one of my favorites. (Shhh. Don't tell. I know I'm not supposed to have favorites. But I can't help it. She's attentive. She thinks about questions and answers them thoughtfully. She reads her Bible and actually knows where to find most of the books within it.) And she'd been sick a lot at the beginning of this year. She told me in early March that the doctors were worried that it might be leukemia. And the next day, they confirmed it. For weeks, there were constant text messages, trips to the hospital, and tears as our LifeGroup banded together. These girls had experienced a lot of pain and heartache from the deaths of four of their classmates in the past year, and I was worried what this would do to their relationships with God.

But Elisha led the charge. She wasn't backing down from her relationship with God, even though she didn't understand why cancer was now part of her life. She was constantly posting Scriptures as her Facebook status. Her friends papered her hospital room's walls with handmade signs, many of which featured Scripture. Her attitude has remained so positive despite the pain, hair loss, and diet restrictions.

As we've cried together and prayed together for Elisha (who has a very good prognosis at this point), I've watched these girls change. They're more mature. They're more honest. They're also more willing to listen and learn. And although we still have nights like last night, where I feel more like I'm herding cats than pouring insight and wisdom into growing young women, I can't wait to see what the next two years bring.

I'll keep you posted. :)