One Amazing Evening

Last night my high school girls small group resumed our monthly trip down to Having the Courage to Change. What is it, you might ask? Having the Courage to Change is an arm of City Ministries here in Cincinnati. It is a place of refuge for women who are either just getting out of jail or who are looking for a way to turn an addiction around. It is a faith based organization where the women are there to confront their lives, the choices they have made and gain hope in a future.

What we have found in partnering with this organization is that the women who go through this program are truly amazing. My heart is blessed every time I walk through the door of New Beginnings (which is what they call the first residence of the program). My faith is strengthened as I hear story upon story of God redeeming lives and women walking in new faith. And tears are brought to my eyes as I watch my girls, who come from great affluence and opportunity, have conversations with women from different backgrounds, learning and growing together.

Last night was special. We ate a meal together, which by the way, was amazing (Ms. Elizabeth sure can cook)!! And then we carved pumpkins! It was so fun to see our girls teaming up with theirs to make the best pumpkin creation. What was even more fun was to hear some of the women from the ministry talk about how they had never done that before!! When I heard someone say it, I thought 'you must be kidding?' Pumpkin carving was something I have done since childhood. In fact, I can't remember a Halloween without pumpkin carving. Yet, this was a first for a few of these women. What a blessing it was to be there for that!

I don't have too much more to say about the evening. But I will say this...when we step out of our comfort zones, we end up finding so much substance that can grow us. I know for some of our girls, this was a big step out of their "zone". But I also know that their hearts grew last night. And they were excited. And the first thing they asked was, "when are we going back?" You see, when we connect with people on a heart level, and love each other like Jesus, we find that the walls that society puts up between us are easily knocked down.