chrysalis

Our middle school and high school students have an opportunity to be involved in small group Bible studies on Wednesday evenings. The high school groups are led by adults (teachers, RAs, etc) and the middle school groups are led by high school seniors. In addition to leading small groups, the seniors also plan the evening's events for Chrysalis. They are divided into teams and take turns planning one Wednesday a month - games, music, and the teaching time. Originally I planned to lead a freshman girls small group, but then I realized that I wasn't quite ready for that time committment, and I got a really strong conviction to focus on my current students. Then Brandon, the middle school chaplain, approached me about working with a team of seniors not as a small group leader, but as a "sponsor" of sorts helping them plan the Chrysalis evenings. It would require little to no planning on my part - I just need to meet at 6 for dinner (free - bonus!), spend time with my girls planning their evening and praying, and then Chrysalis would start at 7:30. I wouldn't even be required to stay for Chrysalis if I had things like grading or lesson prep to do. So, after praying about it I told Brandon to count me in.

This week, I met my team of girls. At first I was really intimidated by the seniors, but now that I've spent a little time with them I am super excited to get to know them and serve them this year. I am also glad to have such intelligent, beautiful, Godly young women investing directly into my students this year.

Because it was the first week, I stayed to see how an evening of Chrysalis unfolds. The students played a game like speed pictionary - they ran to the middle of the room, picked up a word, ran back to their team and drew it. After a certain number of words had been drawn, they were done. Then they had to write a story using all their words and draw a picture to go with it. I got to judge the entries and awarded a prize.

Following games, some of the seniors led worship and Brandon gave a brief message to the kids. Overall it was an eventful evening, and I'm so excited for what's going to happen this year in Chrysalis!