How Delight Ministries Strengthened My Relationship With Jesus
It’s hard to believe that I’ll be officially done with college in nearly five weeks. Where has this semester gone?! More importantly, how did these past five years fly by so fast?! Sometimes I feel like I just started college and am still trying to figure it all out! 😂
With graduation coming up, I feel lots of different emotions. Mostly mixed with happiness and sadness all at once! It’s bittersweet that it’s not only my last semester in college but also my last semester with Delight Ministries 🥺 I know I’ve mentioned a lot about this group in various other blog posts, but I never really shared about how I got involved and how it’s changed my relationship with Jesus for the better. So I figured sharing about it now as I get ready to graduate would be a great way to share with y’all!
If you’re unfamiliar with what Delight actually is, I’ll give ya a short explanation. It’s a nationwide organization for college women who are seeking Christ-based community, and it’s a place that fosters vulnerability and transforms stories. It helps girls to grow, learn, and serve while chasing the heart of Jesus with one another. It’s basically a Christian sorority, except it’s absolutely free to be a part of!
I’ll never forget the first time I ever discovered Delight. It was in the the fall of 2017 and I had just transferred to Kent State to attend their fashion program and was commuting from my parents’ house for the first two semesters. I grew up in a Catholic family, but it wasn't till this time of my life when I really started to draw closer in my relationship with Jesus. I had also just got baptized months prior, which I think was a powerful moment in my life leading up to joining Delight. After transferring, I was desperate for community and to not be so lonely. Even though Kent is a pretty big campus, it can still be really hard to meet lifelong friends. I’m so thankful when my friends (and now roommates!) Abby and Katie invited me to come to Delight at the University of Akron for a fundraising gala for RAHAB Ministries, in which the girls in the chapter were volunteering at. I’ll never forget that night and meeting all those women. They were all so kind, beautiful (inside and outside!), hilarious, and pure joy to be around. I truly felt the presence of Jesus and His love being with them. We celebrated the successful night by going to Compass Coffee for some late night hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies, as well as played “Two Truths and A Lie”. I felt so much gratitude and grace wash over me that night, and thinking back to it still puts a smile on my face! Right then and there was when my relationship with Jesus strengthened like never before!
My first time at Delight Ministries at the University of Akron!
Not long after attending more meetings and events, Akron’s team director Madison met with me at Starbucks one day and asked if I wanted to be a leader for the 2018 fall and spring semester. The pure joy I felt in that moment was so overwhelming! I’ve hardly ever had any opportunities in my life to lead in anything, let alone in a women’s ministry group. But of course, the answer was easy … I said yes! And since then, my life changed for the better. I became the social media coordinator for the Akron team and I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to create fun and engaging content for the chapter. I’ve also had the blessing to attend the Delight Annual Leadership Conference in Nashville three times in 2018, 2019 and 2020, as well as a trip to East Lansing, Michigan for the “For The Girl” Tour. Eventually, Katie, Abby and I felt called by God to start a chapter at Kent State since they didn’t have one at the time, and didn’t have a strong variety of Christian-based organizations to begin with. After a lot of prayer, communicating with the university and recruiting team leaders, we eventually got approved to be an official student organization and had over 90 girls attend our first kickoff event and signed up for our newsletter! God is so awesome, y’all! He clearly wanted a chapter on Kent’s campus and it’s amazing how He chose us women to lead it!
Though my time in Delight is coming to an end, I’m absolutely grateful and blessed I got to be a part of this community, and it will forever be a part of my life. I look forward to sharing about it with younger girls I meet who are seeking community in college, as well as my daughters and granddaughters (if I have any!). And I have friends I’ve made who I will always stay in touch with and do life together with. Delight really changed my faith in Jesus for the better. It has played a huge part of my college life, and it will always be a huge part of my whole life. Looking back to that time period in my life when transferring to Kent and seeing where I am in my faith now brings me so much joy. More than ever before I look forward to opening my Bible every day and blasting worship music on repeat! I said once but I’ll say it again for the rest of eternity … God is so awesome!
Delight Memories
Thank you Delight Ministries for not only impacting my college experience but as well as my life. I have so much confidence, faith, and love in God now more than ever before. I thank Him for the light He has filled within me and other Delight leaders, and I continue to pray that it radiates and invites other women to draw closer to Him!
If you know a girl in college who longs for community and Christ-centered friendships, encourage her to find a chapter that she can check out and be a part of! OR if you know girl who loves leadership but is at a campus that doesn’t have a chapter, reach out and encourage her to start a chapter! Nothing makes us women in Delight more ecstatic than to see new chapters pop up at multiple other universities!
“Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” - Psalm 37:4