The past several years, I have been involved in R.E.A.L. Life Student Ministries, a ministry of Lavon Drive Baptist Church. For the past year and three months, however, I have been able to serve on staff in this ministry and walk alongside some phenomenal counselors, students, pastors, and friends. Nevertheless, due to the fact that I am moving to Arkansas by the end of this month, Wednesday night was my last night to serve as the student ministry associate at Lavon Drive Baptist Church.
It was with a heavy heart that I had to say farewell to my beloved brothers and sisters in REAL Life last night, but these wonderful people pulled a fast one on me and had a few surprises waiting for me yesterday evening. REAL Lifers, even as I write this, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for what you did for me last night. You have rendered me speechless. Throughout the entire evening, you lavished praise upon me (quite undeserved by me!) and I feel that I didn’t adequately express to you how much you mean to me, and how grateful I am to you. So I thought I would take this time to share my heart with you.
P.S.- I was definitely surprised!
1. The Chelsea Cake.
You prepared a cake with my name on it! How awesome is that?!
The Chelsea Cake
Photography by Matthew Wilcox
2. The gifts.
The wonderful, thoughtful gifts. You don’t know how special your gifts are to me; you put so much thought into every one!–a cupcake baked by my favorite baker (she’ll own a famous cupcake shop one day, just you wait!), one of a set of two matching rings, a Starbucks, Target, and Chickfila gift card, college supplies in some of my favorite colors, and White Cheddar Cheese-its (goodness, y’all sure do know me well!), are only a few of the plethora of gifts you bestowed upon me, including the very special gift that made me cry, given to me by the pastoral staff. You have all been so generous to me. I am overwhelmed.
Photography by Matthew Wilcox
3. The prayers.
What a powerful thing to gather together in prayer (Matt 18:19-20). And to think that you boldly approached the throne of God for me makes me feel completely undeserving of such attention. My heart is full.
Photography by Matthew Wilcox
4. The words.
The testimonies. The stack of letters and cards. The personal conversations. All of it. You have just about knocked me off my feet with all the encouragement you have poured into me.
Photography by Matthew Wilcox
As I read the cards, and of course, in the testimonies given last night, I have realized that many of your stories about me have the same (rather hilarious) beginning: “I thought you were so weird at first!” and “I was very intimidated by you before I knew you,” and “I thought this Chelsea would be the same girl I knew in eighth grade.” To those comments I would like to say this: first of all, I must have been pretty awful a number of years ago to garner such a response from so many! But praise the Lord that He has influenced a change in my heart and that I am no longer who I was! Can I get an “AMEN!”? That overbearing, unloving girl is the Chelsea that I should and would be today, had the Lord not broken my heart for Him and for His people. Thank you for all your kind words about me and my influence on your life; you have influenced me greatly, as well. However, I need to let y’all in on a little secret: I am nobody special at all! The only thing special about my life is that it belongs to Him. My life is His life. I am beyond blessed that He has used me in your lives (He has used you in my life, too!), but you need to know that anything good that may have come from me, is ultimately from Him. Because there is no way I could have attained any righteousness or goodness on my own. (Romans 3:10) Praise the Lord for that! He is faithful to create a clean heart in us! (Ps. 51:10) He is faithful to make us into new creations! (2 Cor. 5:17)
5. The laughter.
Your stories brought back so many memories, and brought me so much laughter. I especially enjoyed Lauren recounting the time I forgot to turn off the camera flash in the movie theater. . . three times. Lauren, your impersonation of me was spot on! I’ll never forget it!
Photography by Matthew Wilcox
Photography by Matthew Wilcox
Thank you.
REAL Lifers, you have done an incredible job of making me feel loved and special, and you have also done your very best to cause me to get a big head. But now, I would like to return the favor and tell you just how much you have changed my life.
Students, thank you for sharing your lives and stories with me. Thank you for trusting me enough to share your hurts, habits, and hang-ups, for allowing me to pray for you, for allowing me to pray with you, and for allowing me to walk with you as you go through your struggles. Thank you for allowing me to rejoice with you and to mourn with you. Thank you for teaching me how to play Super Smash Brothers Brawl (which I can now do, albeit very poorly), for teaching me how to play Whirlyball, for teaching me how to play guitar, for teaching me how to sing “Mashed Potatoes & Gravy,” and for making it so easy to love you. I long to see you rise up as a generation completely in love with the Lord and ready to be used by Him to change the world. I believe He will.
Pastors, fellow youth workers, and friends, thank you for walking through this chapter alongside me. Your words, your service, your patience, and your unceasing love towards me have changed my life. I am a different person because you have continually lifted me up. I am so incredibly grateful.
Photography by Matthew Wilcox
The Lord has used this season in my life to teach me invaluable lessons—lessons that I am convinced will continue to change me, mold me, and ring with truth and wisdom, even as time passes and years go by.
Thank you for being a part of it.
Love, Chelsea
The Enunciation of Truth 