Speaking of 9th graders... I was able to reunite with these girls, plus the rest of them last night for the new year!
We set some goals for 2012 both spiritual and non-spiritual. Some of which included doing the splits by december 2012, being nice to our parents, conquering a "full," (some of you gymnasts should be able to relate to this), getting better at Basketball, toning our hamstrings as well as spiritual goals, like being Authentic Christians, spending more time in prayer, going to God first with our problems and journaling more.
Our group goal is accountability. I started doing accountability with my own "d-group" in the 9th grade and it forever changed my walk with Lord. What seemed like a checklist each week soon turned into a lifestyle. I am so grateful for my own accountability partners and can only pray these girls experience the same kind of life change/friendships. Knowing that one day we are all going to be held accountible for our lives here on earth is soooo powerful. Why not start now. One of the girls shared Matthew 25:
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Getting to spend time with these girls each week is such a blessing. They remind me of the simple things in life, the difficult things in life, and the JOYS that come with both. I am looking forward to getting to spend this kind of time with my own sister, Anna John, this weekend!
Leah, I will never forget the D-Now at your house (in 9th grade, i think) where your mom told us that we were all "diamonds on a shelf". I still have the glittery paper "diamond" with my name on it that hung from the ceiling in your playroom that weekend. so glad anna john gets to experience this with you as her leader. so sweet. love you! -laura belk
ReplyDeleteLaura- you are so sweet! Ill never forget it either! I also still have my diamond. She is planning something very similar again! Love YOU so much!! Miss you.
Delete