Transition Time

Spring of 2012 started with the intention of transitioning leadership at St. Joseph’s. I didn’t really know at first what exactly it was going to mean to transition. Obviously it meant that Matt was going to do less and I was going to do more as far as this particular ministry went. I was going to be handed more and more parts of St. Joseph’s, as Matt created more and more parts of CCFM.
The first thing that came was the attendance log. Something about this little task has always been of weight to me. I think it’s because organization is not my forte and keeping track of each individual student is something hyper-organizational. But, this has helped me grow in something I lacked, and also made me so much more aware of all our individual students. Prior to looking at the roster for attendance every week, I basically concentrated on getting to know the girls in my small group, and maybe 5-10 additional youth.  Every time I logged the attendance, I would match a face to the name, and it really helped me to interact with a lot more of the kids when they came for their weekly formation session. 
After this was the rundown of opening up. It was Matt’s responsibly to setup the building for youth sessions. Before one Sunday session, he walked me through all the steps to prepare the space: push the cart over from the other building, unlock the doors, set out the sign in sheets, turn on the gym lights, turn on the 4 different air condition units, unlock the closets, unlock the kitchen, unlock the pantry, unlock the ice closet, open serving line door, unlock the ice closet, put the balls in the gym. Lots to do, lots of unlocking. There was a ring of umpteen keys for the whole slew of doors. For the first few months, it usually it took me at least 3 tries to get the right key for the right lock. But eventually, I got the hang of them, and everything else too.   
I started to open and close the nights as well, being the one up front who was making all the announcements and fielding the questions and running the show. This was new too. I’m more of a “work in the background where nobody pays attention, but save the day multiple times without anybody knowing”. That was me and my comfort zone. Matt was up front and I was in the back. I would spot problems and fix them, settle and manage things and be a sounding board for Matt. But those days were dwindling in number, which was a good thing. Again, I was at ease there, and I needed to continue to grow. There’s a famous quote: “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” I know that was true for me. I began to love being up in front of the youth. It allowed me to engage with them and bond with them in a way that I hadn’t anticipated. I loved talking to them and sharing with them and leading the flow of thoughts and conversation. God was revealing an ability to me, to be able to get up in front of the group and lead them closer to Him. It was a transition full of growth, and exactly where I needed to be.
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