Meet theEDGE Leaders (Tessa and Kristin)

Meet theEDGE Leaders is an opportunity for you as parents to get to know the other adults in your students lives. This week, meet Kristin and Tessa, two of our 6th grade girls small group leaders.

I grew up in Wisconsin Rapids, WI and started attending UWEC in 2007.  I graduated in December (wahoo!)  with a degree in Choral Music Education.  Currently I teach elementary music at Meadowview Elementary in Eau Claire.  I started following Christ in college and got involved with J-Well right away.  Next year I'm interning with Here's Life Inner City and am in the process of being placed in a city.  Ideally I will be helping churches to start after school programs in their urban neighborhoods and finding a way to incorporate music however I can.  I am excited (and a little scared) to start this new adventure!  P.S. Let me know if you would be interested in financially supporting me :)

    

I started serving at the EDGE this fall when I was student teaching at Delong Middle School.  I thought it would be a unique way to get to know my students and to share the gospel with them!  It's my hope that your students would have a real and meaningful walk with Jesus.  I believe that young people filled with the Spirit can shape their cultures for the sake of Christ, and revolutionize their generations others for the Glory of God.  It is a blessing to work with your students in small group and through leading worship!

A cool story from my time with the Edge is from when we were studying the 10 commandments.  Our group was discussing how we can honor our parents, and I was going home that weekend to talk to my parents about interning with Here's Life Inner City.  I'm the only believer in my immediate family, so I imagined a lot of really horrible worst-case scenarios!  I shared with our group that I wanted to honor my parents while still making it clear that I was going to do what the Lord was calling me to do.  Our middle school students proceeded to give ME advice on how to talk to my parents!  It was awesome!  It felt like a promise from God that it was all going to be ok.  God truly does use the weak to lead the strong.  So- be encouraged.  Even if your children don't act like they listen or know what is going on, they listen and file it away.  One day when they are mature enough, they will remember your advice.

Hello! I'm Tessa Maki, and I'm privileged to co-lead a wonderful group of 6th grade ladies with Kristin. By day I'm an eLearning Specialist (a.k.a. creator of online training) at RCU. By night I'm a reading, relaxing, non-cooking, strategy game playing wife to Ryan (my super awesome husband of 7.5 years). We live in Eau Claire with our pet bunny, Doozer. We have no kids of our own yet, so I figured I'd come hang out with yours one night a week.

I love serving at theEDGE because it's been a great opportunity for God to expand my comfort zone. (In the past I've been a behind the scenes kind of gal, usually serving in ways that involved stamps and licking envelopes.) I only joined up three months ago, but so far it's been a wonderful experience!

Watching the girls in our group develop friendships and grow in their faith has been quite amazing. Just this week I was blessed by their insight as a discussion about God's will conflicting with our own turned to the story of God asking Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. They came up with this example all on their own and the conversation that followed showed how much they already understand at a young age. Thank you for letting us be a part of their journey!

Ask your student who their small group leaders are and what they think of them. Do you have any stories about how a small group leader has impacted your child's life? Share it in the comment section below.