Last night I had the opportunity to be the speaker at Basics. (Quick reminder, Basics was the ministry that I volunteered with during my time at Taylor.) Not only was I the speaker but I had the opportunity to present the story of Saul/Paul in the light of not being ashamed to share the gospel. In the moments before I went up to speak I was talking with one of my professors and the Basics director, Joy. Joy pointed out that if I had been asked to teach when I was a student I would have said no. Not only would I have said not but I'm pretty sure I would have had a minor heart attack. Hence, I am celebrating growth of the past year and a half since graduation.
One thing that I had absolutely hated a year ago was teaching. However, a year later I love it. I love being able to be up front sharing stories from God's Word in a way that kids will be engaged from start to finish. Last night I witnessed 6th grader boys sitting on the edge of their seats waiting to hear the end of the story. When usually this group is rowdy and hard to keep the attention of. Not only do I enjoy sharing the stories with kids but I actually enjoy being on the stage teaching and speaking. A year ago when speaking my voice would be shaky, my hands would be sweaty, I would have been glued to my notes and the podium. Yesterday, was different. Yesterday, I utilized the stage. I moved around. My voice got quiet and got loud. I had my notes on stage sitting on the podium for security purposes but I didn't touch them once. So Flatirons. I think that thanks is due. Thank you for helping me discover this love to teach. Thanks for helping me discover my voice, my confidence. Thanks. The opportunity to have seen the growth first hand would not have happened last night if I hadn't volunteered to speak at Basics. It's quite an experience to be able to teach in front of a former professor without them having to grade you. It's even better when they come up to you afterwards and say that it was fun to watch me teach. Even though I didn't have any fire.
To make things even better I got to surprise two of my own Basics girls last night while they were at church for youth group. I loved being able to see the young ladies that they are growing into. It's crazy to think of how much they have grown and changed since I first met them at 3rd graders. Now they are big 8th graders and were talking about how they are getting driving permits in a year...
