Living Up to Herself

I've talked several times on here about the amazing program we're part of called Lads to Leaders. It allows my children to learn and grow in their abilities so they can serve the church when they're older.
My husband and I have also been blessed to help coach other kids as they went through the program ... back before our kids were old enough. Now, some of those "children" are helping with the program and coaching my kids. How amazing is that?
Another amazing thing, though, is to see those "children," now grown, doing exactly what they trained to do all those years growing up. They're serving in the church. They're stepping up and filling rolls. And it's awesome.

Today, I'm going to talk mostly about my friend Kaylee. She's the best. About to graduate college. Helping run a weekly devotional with some of her friends. And she led singing for our ladies' day a few years ago. And for the session I was the speaker in at ladies' retreat two years ago. She was a little nervous about it, but she did great.
This year, our retreat planner was looking for more speakers and some of our regulars are unable to do it. i caught Kaylee and mentioned it to her. "Okay," she replied. I let it go and figured we'd discuss it more down the road.
Later, we were together with the retreat planner and Kaylee agreed that she could be one of the speakers. I mentioned how proud I am of her. She said, "Yeah, when you first mentioned it, I was thinking about it and nervous, unsure. Then, I thought about all those kids I'm leading in the Lads to Leaders program. How can I encourage them to step outside their comfort zones and try all these new things if I'm not willing to do it myself?"
I wish I had been more like her at the age of twenty. Don't get me wrong. I was stepping up and leading classes and devos back then, even without having gone through a program like Lads. But her faith, her logic, her attitude about it all--she's amazing.
I look forward to watching her continue to grow. And to having her join us as a speaker in November. And to seeing how she incorporates all that into continuing to help shape and mold our children too.
It's exactly how God wanted the church to work. The older teaching the younger. But it's fun to be on both sides and see it work.
Have you ever stepped outside your comfort zone and tried something new because you knew you were a role model for others?