the fruit of Jesus.

my heart is overflowing right now!

a few months ago, God gave kendall, molly & i the dream to start a girls bible study in the east side neighborhood where we all minister/live in order to reach out to the girls there. when the three of us came together and found that we had all been given the same vision, we got really excited and started praying over what it would look like! 

at the time, we thought we were supposed to be focusing on middle school & high school girls in the neighborhood but kept open hearts towards whoever God would bring to us.

one night in may, the three of us got together to talk and pray over molly's home where the study would be held. we prayed that it would become a place of rest & refuge to girls and that as soon as they walked through the doors, they would feel the abundant love of Jesus. that it would be a place where the truth was spoken and where seeds were planted. that God would use the relationships built there to show the girls purpose & direction outside of the chaos of their home lives. 

we planned to have our first study a few weeks later and got busy calling up several girls we already knew who lived in the neighborhood.

that first week, 4 girls came. the second week, when kendall was picking up some of the girls, there were 4 other girls standing on the sidewalk asking if they could come too! after asking their parents and receiving 'yes' as an answer, kendall made two trips and brought them along as well! the girls were excitedly telling the new girls what bible study was like and how much they liked it! 

then tonight, at our fourth bible study together, there were 19 girls there! NINETEEN!! that is Jesus at work y'all!

when God first put it on my heart to serve alongside molly & kendall to help start this group, i had a vision in my mind of molly's small living room & dining room overflowing with young girls... and when i walked into her home tonight, i saw that vision come to life! i am overwhelmed that God has seen fit to entrust us with these young girls hearts for  90 minutes each week. 

oh and you know how i said that we thought we were supposed to focus on middle school & high school girls? the girls God has brought us so far range from 6 yrs old to 12 yrs old. and though we'd still love to see the older girls come, i think He's been showing us how the truth of His word needs to be planted at even younger ages. that their young hearts are already aching for love, affirmation & purpose and at this point in their lives, their hearts are still a little soft towards the truth.

we're taking turns preparing a lesson each week and pray that God lays on our hearts exactly what the girls need to hear!

it's so exciting (and sometimes humorous) to hear their thoughts & answers in response to questions we ask them about the lesson & see growth happening.

tonight's favorite >> kendall: "so what do we say to Jesus's invitation [to salvation]"

girl: "yes"

kendall: "yes what?"

girl: "...yes sir?"

please join us in praying for:

>> softness of hearts

>> clarity & simplicity in sharing God's word each week

>> wisdom as the group grows... especially if older girls begin coming. that God would continue to go before us, preparing the way.

>> consistency in attendance (for the girls sake! they have very little consistency in their lives!)

>> unity within the group of girls. that drama wouldn't even be an issue

>> solid relationships 

here's a peek at our time together!

Johannah brought a fabulous ice breaker game that involved m&m's!

a chain symbolizing how when we put our strengths together, we can go farther and have an even greater impact for the Kingdom!

regardless of the rain, we still had fun with sparklers for the 4th of July!