J O Y ✨ As a region, we’ve claimed this as our Word of the Year for 2023. We’ll be featuring stories of JOY on the blog to celebrate how God is growing this Fruit of the Spirit within us this year. Have a story to share? Send us an email!
Written by Heather Ring, Capernaum Team Leader for Southwest Michigan Young Life
When was the last time you allowed yourself to get all decked out and dressed up and dance as if no one is watching you?
In May, the outstanding Young Life Capernaum leaders in Southwest Michigan, along with several folks in the community, adorned the First Church of God campus in Stevensville with fresh flowers, colorful decorations, lights and balloons, and set up an evening of dancing, games and family fun for our enthusiastic Capernaum friends.
In this ministry, I marvel at how our Capernaum friends continue to show us how to live life to the fullest. These amazing folks bring out the best in me and the other leaders because we feel so completely accepted for who we are as we embrace them and nurture them in their own walk of faith.
They fully live into the moments they are given and don’t fret about what others think of them or spend wasteful energy analyzing the past or even worrying about the future. Their joy is absolutely contagious!
As I walk along-side our friends in this ministry, I am continuously struck by how they are living out the message of Jesus. Jesus has called all of us to love and to be love for those around us. Young Life Capernaum encapsulates that like nothing else.
God is moving in and through and around this ministry; it is a joy to be among such wonderful people!
“This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.“
—PSALM 118:24
