The End of the Beginning

This is the end of my story so far. Once I changed my major to Human Development and Family Studies and knowing that God was calling me to seminary, God called me to start a middle school Bible study in my hometown. Last summer I led a Bible study with my cousins, one was starting high school and one had just finished her first year, and three of their friends. We met at my house once a week and we went through a book called The Way I’m Wired. It was an amazing study and by the end of the summer we were thinking we should invite anyone and everyone! I had in mind all school year I’d probably come home and do a citywide high school Bible study and by the end of my second semester I had every intention to. After my mission trip to Port St. Joe, I started meeting with my sweet new friends Courtney and Emily I met on the trip. We studied Jonah for about the month we had left before summer. We were praying about summer plans and all that God had in store for us. They were praying about camps, all my friends were praying about camps, and I started thinking what I was praying about wasn’t so big anymore. But I kept truckin’ and while praying for my high school Bible study, I began realizing how much middle schoolers go through. I started remembering all that I went through in middle school. My sweet little sister is starting middle school next week and thinking about that three months ago scared the daylights out of me! I talked to a sweet friend of mine, Marla Crow, whose daughter had been going through a pretty tough first year of middle school. All year both her mom and I had been pouring into her all the confidence and love that we could find (more her mom than me, I was blessed just to be there.) I could tell just how much she had grown and how much more confident she had become. She didn’t care if the mean girls were her friends anymore! She just decided she was going to be nice to everyone and those who were nice to her could be and those who were mean could just be mean. I am so proud of her! So when God brought the thought to me, I immediately called that sweet friend and after talking to her I began working!! I could not imagine my summer going any better. There were doors I thought were perfect, golden knobbed doors that I was ready to bust through and God shut them in my face. I was disappointed and didn’t really know where my summer was going. How was a once a week Bible study going to fill my summer when my friends were all going to Texas and Colorado for the whole summer?! Don’t get me wrong I was excited about Bible study, I just thought it couldn’t be much. Let me tell you I have never been so full in my life! I texted Mrs. Virginia a picture the week we had 35 girls and the quote of the summer was born.. “You’ve started your own youth group!” The conversation I will never forget is this “Amy, I know you want to be in nursing but do you think maybe ministry is where God could be calling you?” I said no and kept on moving.. just like I said to my grandparents millions of times when church searching and they suggested Frazer. God laughs at me daily. Of course God brought that conversation to my mind every day and every minute for many weeks and finally I started praying. And then more and more people started asking. I started praying more and really tried to keep my head focused. I realized I couldn’t leave my middle school for Auburn, not yet. So maybe I could stay here a little longer take some ministry classes?! So I applied to Huntingdon on July 15. A week later on July 23, I was accepted, enrolled, and registered for orientation which was two days later. Wednesday, the day after I was accepted, I was coveting all the Child Life Specialists and I was studying the page just like always knowing I was going to get more behind than I already was. That’s when I found it. That’s when God whispered in my ear.. “A chaplain at Children’s Hospital.” A night with Rochelle Frazier (oh just wait till I tell you about her) and a day at orientation and that’s what started this blog. I’ve never felt more excited, more nervous, more exactly where I was supposed to be. I was completely overwhelmed with joy, excitement, and perfection. Thursday sold it to me and that’s the day I’ll mark in the books that I finally accepted my call to ministry. I am so excited to be on this journey with Him and I am so blessed that my middle school girls are the ones He used to get me here! So thats who I want to thank last, all of my beautiful middle school girls. For being so precious and making my summer so amazing!! I cannot wait to start the school year with you guys and continue to watch God work in and through all of your lives! I love all of you so much and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but right here!

Xo Amy