It started with a girl named Jennifer.

I was a senior in high school, and while I’d loved Jesus my entire life, I felt stuck. I was working through burn-out from years of people-pleasing, overachieving, and the low self-esteem that came with a relentless pursuit of finding my worth through my own efforts. Looking back, I believe the deeper reason that season of my life was so difficult was because I lacked a spiritual purpose. Enter: Jennifer.

One day, a parent asked if I could drive her friend’s daughter to youth group each week. She was in 8th grade, and she came from an unchurched background. I felt nervous at first, but over the next several weeks, as Jennifer and I got to know each other, I found myself caring more and more about her spiritual wellbeing. I ended up inviting her to lunch, and over breadsticks at Olive Garden, we opened up the Bible and read one of the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Jennifer’s eyes were wide the entire time - no one had ever walked her through the story of Christ before. A few weeks later, Jennifer came to faith in Jesus. I’ll remember that day for the rest of my life.

After that, Jennifer had an important question: what now? There was so much about the Christian life she didn’t understand, and she was hungry to know God better. I found a Bible study for new believers that walked through some basics of the Bible and Christian doctrine, and we met regularly to talk through those before I left for college.

As a freshman at Wheaton, it was a no-brainer to jump into ministry with junior high girls at my church. That love for discipleship and leading small groups only grew, and by the time I was ready to face my own “what now?” question after graduation, I believed God had called me into vocational ministry. I attended Dallas Theological Seminary and graduated in 2011 with a Master of Arts in Christian Education, with an emphasis in Youth Ministry.

The last fifteen years of my life have been spent working with teenagers in some way, shape, or form: on staff at my home church in Irving, working as a volunteer, and most recently, working with Young Life in Coppell. Over the spring and summer, God opened doors for me to do more one-on-one mentoring, which has always been my greatest joy and passion. My husband and I started to sense God leading me to turn this passion into my vocation. This is when, by God’s grace, the vision for Pursuit Mentoring became a reality.

As I walk through this new door and begin raising support to disciple girls vocationally, I am amazed at the path God led me on throughout the course my life. I’ve found this to be true since high school: my passion for Jesus grows most as I talk about him with others. I love to see God use my past struggles in high school and college for good as I walk with girls today through their own battles, and most of all, I love showing girls that a deeply fulfilling relationship with Jesus is not only possible, but worth chasing after with all their hearts. God has been abundantly faithful to me in the pursuit of His purposes, and it’s an honor to come alongside young women and cheer them on as they do the same.