“Welcome to Lifeline! How’s everybody doing?”

Over the past six years, I have been fortunate enough to hear these words a countless amount of times, and they have grown more near and dear to my heart with each repetition. Each Wednesday night from 6th-8th grade and each Sunday night from 9th grade until now, I have attended my youth group and learned lessons to last a lifetime. In this way, Lifeline has literally been my lifeline.

The journey began in 6th grade, when life was going in a direction I didn’t like (which sounds lame now, but at that time it was all-consuming). My best friend knew this even better than I did, and she brought me to Ada Bible Church to begin my time with her group, of which the leader and other girls welcomed me in immediately. Life has changed in many ways since that first wintery Wednesday night. We have all watched each other grow immensely; whether it was all of us attending our leader’s wedding and visiting her new work office, or her sitting in the stands of our girls’ various sporting events throughout the years. Many girls from our group have come and gone, we almost lost our leader in the 8th grade, and the staff of our church has changed so many times that almost no one from my original year is still working.

Aside from my leader and my friends, my life is no exception. Although the changes in it have been huge and many, they have been there for every step. I have switched churches to be closer with them and began to work there, gotten rebaptized, adopted a new sport, and done so many other things. We have had the opportunity to travel the world together doing good work, and gotten closer through strengthening bonds with God and each other. The church and the girls who I associate with within it hold a special place in my heart because of this.

This year will be special, since we have our own house to attend every other week instead of going to the church with all of the high schoolers. Seniors from all over the area will be together for one last hurrah with the youth group that has brought us all into young adulthood. Even though the scary thing about this year will be that it is our last together (a thought that sends our leader to tears), we have spent the past six years building relationships that will last the time and distance. Each week has brought a lesson to take into the future with us, and along with my lifelines, I know I will be ready when our official time together is up.