It'd be a crime to never talk about something about that has been such a huge part of my life all these years. Anthem. I don't even really know where to begin sorting out my thoughts. Anthem has been the best place for me. I have made some of the most irreplaceable friendships there and I am convinced that I would not be the same person that I am if it weren't for anthem. Does that scare you? It should.
High school has been incredibly difficult for me. Freshman and sophomore year especially, I had friends, but I felt like I was just going through the motions. I didn't feel very close to many people. That has changed this year, as I have the best group of friends at school who I wouldn't trade for anything. However, at anthem, this was never the case. Right when I came to the first anthem of freshman year, it just felt right. I knew I belonged there and that has never changed, as I am now at the end of my junior year. Anthem is nothing like a school environment. Everyone has a place, and everyone knows they have a place at anthem. I have never felt judged by anyone there. They're my kind of people, I have met people there who are equally as weird as I am so that is how I knew that it was my place. Anthem is the place where you can walk through the doors just as you are and there is going to be so many people who genuinely care about you as a person. It's so much more than a youth group. Not to mention I was put with the most incredible group of girls to walk through these years with. Alexa, Taylor, Melissa, Jessica, Alli, Parlee and of course my leaders Jacqueline & Bethany. I don't know where I'd be without these girls. I have the most genuine and real friendships with them and we all just love and support each other like crazy. They allow me to be my awkward, goofy self but they also don't judge me for how easily I cry. True friends right there. The majority of us go to different schools but it's so amazing how we just pick up where we left off each week. They are my best friends. I could not begin to put into words how much they mean to me. Along with the girls in my lifegroup I have also made friendships with other wonderful people. I'm thankful for each and every person I have become close with or come into contact with during my time at anthem.Anthem is now done until September so I truly don't know what I am going to do with my sundays now. Homework I guess? It makes me sad, to say the least, and maybe even a little afraid that I only have one more year left at anthem and that I know it will be over in the blink of an eye. It scares me when I think about the community at anthem, and how I don't even know if it's possible to find a community like this one in the "real world" A couple weeks ago, I watched the senior class talk about their experience at anthem and the only thing I could really think about was how that was going to be me next year. I just don't know how I'm going to say goodbye to this community and it scares me, maybe even more than all the decisions that I need to make next year.
It was because of my incredible experience so far in Mars Hill students that I decided to be a lifegroup leader myself and I could not be any more blessed or thankful for the group of 6th graders that I had the opportunity to be a leader to. I get to move up with these girls as they go on to 7th grade and I am so excited to watch them grow and grow with them. They amaze me with how much they think. They ask difficult questions which challenge me to think about God with a more clear lens, as well as examine my own faith. It took me a while to warm up to them, and warm up to the fact that I actually had some kind of authority. I'm 18, I'm a kid too. At the beginning of the school year the question, "Aubrey, can I go to the bathroom?" scared the daylights out of me. "Am I really allowed to make this decision right now?" Of course I wasn't perfect and it is safe to say I learned a lot. I am so thankful for my co-leader who took me under her wing. I became so much more confident and I'm so glad she was there beside me.
I really don't know how to close this. There's too much to say, too much to process. I can't thank the people in the Anthem/Mars Hill community enough. Thank you for believing in me when I just couldn't find it in me to believe in myself. Thank you for showing me how a Christian community should be. Thank you for making it totally acceptable to "fly my freak flag" Thank you for helping me learn of my value, that I'm not a bad investment. I still struggle at times to believe this, I am still my own biggest critic and at times my own worst enemy. But I am learning to love myself and I can say without a doubt that because of you all, I am able to get back up and learn to walk again. My one word to end this: speechless
