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The Life-Long Impact of Young Life
Joy Wendling's Young Life Story
By Kelianne Gros Louis
Oct. 15, 2021
Joy Wendling was a college freshman at Catawba College in 2000 when she was first introduced to Young Life. Her boyfriend at the time was a Young Life leader and took her to club, and in Joy’s words, “I mostly just sat back and watched the craziness ensue!” That night, Joy was introduced to Area Director Chris Fowler, and his wife, Beverly, who talked to her about becoming a leader. After that night, the rest was history! Joy excitedly jumped right in and said “Yes!” to leadership trainings, club and taking a group of girls to SharpTop Cove that summer.
Reflecting on her experiences in Young Life, Joy says, “Even though I had been a Christian for years, I was pretty new to having a daily walk with Christ. Young Life changed everything.” For the first time, Joy was feeling a sense of belonging. Joy had an entire community of adults pursuing her, teaching her and loving her in ways she hadn’t experienced before. This community helped her develop not only ministry leadership skills, but also an understanding of what it meant to work with God at the center.
Throughout her time in Young Life, Joy learned that her faith was a daily walk and relationship with Jesus, not just something for Sundays or holidays. Through Young Life, Joy built lifelong friendships, understood a relationship with Jesus and grew as a servant of Christ in many ways. In Joy’s words, “Young Life in college equipped me to follow my calling into ministry as a career for many years and still impacts the way I serve and minister to my family.” Some of these lifelong lessons learned through Young Life that still impact Joy’s faith and especially her motherhood are:
1. Jesus in the everyday: Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says, "These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up" (NIV). Just as Joy learned this in Young Life as she led Campaigner girls, she sees the importance in letting her daughters know that Jesus isn’t just for Sundays or church. According to Joy, “I can talk about Jesus while walking down the aisles of Target or over a Happy Meal at McDonald’s!”
2. Excellence, not perfection: Through serving with Young Life, Joy came to witness the power of aiming for excellence instead of perfection. She saw staff intentionally prepare and plan, but hold their plans with an open hand and a lot of grace. In her own life, Joy is intentional about striving for excellence over perfection and has experienced the beauty of holding things with open hands and letting God control plans.
3. Meet them where they are: This is another lesson that Joy learned from contact work. “As a mama obviously, I live with my kids all the time,” Joy said, “however, I can choose to sit and watch their show with them rather than do dishes or I could play Kids Bop, instead of listening to my podcast while putting away groceries.” She sees that there are lots of daily opportunities for her to intentionally meet her girls where they are, just as Jesus meets us where we are.
4. You can’t take them further than you are yourself: Reflecting on this lesson, Joy states, “If I want my girls to learn to pray, they need to see me pray. If I want my girls to confess and ask forgiveness for mistakes, I need to model that.” Just as Joy learned through her Campaigner girls, she can’t expect her daughters to pursue Christ in ways that she doesn’t herself.
5. The value of humor and fun: Through Young Life, Joy learned to step out of the box and into a fluorescent tracksuit with a granny wig, simply to break down walls with high school students! She learned that “cool” wasn’t always helpful for building relationships and laughter goes a lot further than trendy clothes. As a mom, Joy gets to see this in her day-to-day with her daughters. She sees how laughter can often break through tough emotions, turn around tense moments and provide a shared experience that builds a bridge for a new way forward.
6. The importance of community: This lesson about community changed Joy’s life more than anything else in Young Life. She felt valued, seen and encouraged by those around her. Joy reflected, “We were a diverse group, but there was fun, laughter, love and growth because at the center of it was Jesus.” Now, Joy sees this lesson in action in her own life, saying, “I can look for the value each of my five girls brings to the family and make sure each feels included and purposeful.”
7. There is nothing more important than your personal relationship with Jesus Christ: As a Young Life leader and staff person, Joy learned the value of her own walk with Jesus in serving others. In her words, “I cannot expect to point others towards a deep and intimate walk with Jesus when I don’t have that same thing. But, more importantly, we shouldn’t just practice our faith as a tool for serving others.” This lesson has had great impact on Joy and her motherhood. She states, “My girls deserve a mama that is in a healthy spiritual place because I will be a better mom with Jesus. But that is a by-product! I can’t earn more of His love no matter how many of my girls walk with Him.”
Although Joy is not currently serving with Young Life, all of her experiences have impacted her for eternity. In her words, “I have no doubt that I would not be who I am without Young Life.” The incredible people God has brought into Joy’s life through the ministry have impacted her in innumerable ways. Reflecting on these lifelong lessons, Joy says, “In college, God used Young Life to draw me closer to him and point high schoolers to Christ … Now, 20 years later He is still using my experiences from Young Life to draw me closer and point my girls to Christ!”
If you’d like to visit Joy’s website and blog where she shares more about these lifelong lessons, visit this page.
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