Even though Worthy 2013, our first annual retreat, is a mere 12 days away (I can't believe it! So much to do and so little time...), I find it necessary (and right) to share with you how it all began. Just a forewarning, I like to write adding tidbits in parentheses (as you have noticed above), so be prepared for some of them!
It all started in April 2012 when I began reading the book How To Find Your Soulmate Without Losing Your Soul by Jason and Crystalina Evert. The book focused on purity, chastity, and modesty - a topic I was pretty familiar with considering I have been practicing abstinence since 2007 - however, the book presented me with ideas that radically changed my idea of what it looks like to live a truly pure life. More important to the story of Worthy is the prompting of God that began while reading this book, which was "There are girls who don't know these things, and they need to." This resounded in my heart in a very profound way, and as someone who thoroughly enjoys ministry (up to this point I had been involved in youth ministry for five years, helping plan 8 retreats and actively participating and leading in my youth group), I toyed with the idea of planning a retreat based on the book's content. After watching Sex + Money: a National Search for Human Worth, in which I learned that two big components contributing to why girls oftentimes enter into human trafficking is because of low self-esteem or an absent father figure (both of which I struggled with), the idea of a retreat for young women was cemented into my heart. Thus, Worthy was born.
After that, I started planning the retreat - first meeting with Joan MacAteer and Lexi, deciding on the number and theme of talk topics, and beginning the very foreign process (to me) of recruiting leaders. It was and still is a very interesting experience to essentially sell your heart to people, and pray that it is God's will that the passion of your heart is also the passion of theirs. To date I have been extremely blessed with five other women (Moriah, Bianca, Emily, Ellie, and Jill) who have passionately served alongside me preparing for Worthy 2013. Recently the Worthy leadership team has expanded to include four interns (Ashley, April, Sarah, and Kateryna), who will begin working with us after Worthy 2013 to plan our Leadership Summit scheduled for the end of August. It truly is a wonder how God has grown and molded Worthy, and I am constantly in awe that He has blessed my life with this vision.
I could go on and on, but I'll save it for the next post :)
God bless!