30til30: day 11, purdue nav ladies, sarah, michelle and amanda

i have 30 days until i celebrate my 30th year of life. i thought i would share with you 30 people, events and situations that have shaped my life and who i want to be. it has been very challenging to come up with 30…i hope it inspires you as it has me. this part of the list is in no particular order.

day 11: purdue nav ladies, sarah, michelle and amanda

when i was at purdue, i got to spend a lot of intentional time with three of the student women: sarah, michelle and amanda. i led bible studies with each of them and got to watch as God grew them in leadership and Christ-likeness. our relationships were one of the highlights of my time at purdue.

as a result of our friendships, i grew a lot as well. i’d never led an investigative bible study before. one semester, michelle invited several of her friends to come discover who Jesus was, particularly as he related with women, and to bring their questions about Christianity. it was so fun to see michelle’s boldness – and the time with the women served to sharpen me, as well, as i relate with and reach out to those who do not believe in Jesus Christ.

amanda and i connected and grew together as we walked through a lot of difficult stuff with her relationship with her boyfriend-now-husband. i had been where she was and could relate to her pain. we also had a lot of fun together as we led a bible study for upper class -women. i have lots of fun memories from that group – and their crazy antics.

i met weekly with sarah for an entire year and we also led a bible study together. when we first started meeting, sarah didn’t think she could lead a bible study. as we studied together and as we memorized verses together, it was so neat to watch the word of God transform her. as michael and i moved at the end of the school year, sarah was planning to lead another bible study in the fall…and train a younger woman to do the same.

the way i mentor, the way i lead is different because i got to spend time with these women. they are a huge part of the memories i treasure when i think about purdue.