seniors - alex & megan - Kaitlyn Phipps Photography

Portraits

seniors – alex & megan

How do I sum up years of friendship and growth into one post? I can’t! One of my favorite parts of my job with Cru is called discipleship. It is basically like a Christian mentorship. In the Bible, someone who followed Jesus was called a “disciple.” So Cru’s model for discipleship is just this: follow me as I follow Christ.

As a student, I benefitted so much from this model! My friend Nicolette poured into my life throughout college and it has had a lasting impact on me. So sophomore year of college I wanted to be able to do the same for others. At the end of my Junior year, I got a text from my friend Nicolette asking me to meet with a girl in her small group…enter Megan. I think Megan and I were both a bit weary upon meeting each other. She’d been passed around to a couple different disciplers at this point and I’d tried to disciple a couple people and here we were. Hoping it would go well. Three years later and Megan and I’s friendship has come so far. The point of discipleship is that you’d pour into someone else, give them wisdom and point them towards Christ…but of course, more often than not, I felt as if Megan was the one redirecting me. I have never met someone so in LOVE with Jesus. She is so compassionate, so lovely and just willing to be there for someone. You can tell when you meet her that there is something other worldly about this girl. She just radiates love. She has also been through more struggles and hardships than I can begin to comprehend, and always she responds calmly and sincerely. Because she knows her everything and her hope is in Jesus and that is what really matters.

Enter Alex. Alex had been on my radar since I was a junior at Fall Retreat. The same Nicolette who loved me so well had been loving on Alex and sharing Jesus with her. And somehow, by a crazy turn of events, she ending up placing her faith in Jesus the same place I did, at Fall Retreat! So Alex and I have always had that bond. And then my first semester on staff with Cru, Alex and I ended up together. Alex is bright and bubbly, crazy and impulsive, so, so opposite of me. And I love that about her. Alex has shown me so much of what an emotional journey with the Lord is like. She’s not afraid to say that she loves Jesus and cherishes Him. She’s learned to not be afraid to admit her struggles and her sin. It has been an absolutely crazy ride the last two years with her, but SO good. She’s taught me a ton about honesty and vulnerability, about struggle. I’m proud of all that she’s learned and pursued and am grateful for the chance to be apart of her story.

Now for the real kicker. Alex and Megan are best friends, BFFs. If you could meet these two you’d be laughing along with me. They are REALLY really opposites. Megan is quiet and thoughtful and tenderhearted. Alex is loud and bold and impulsive. They crack me up. They constantly laugh about the fact that they are friends because they are so different. But that’s some of the beauty of the Kingdom of God, He brings all of our crazy together in unity and love. These two have shown me what real sisterhood looks like. They lean on each other when things are tough and celebrate when things are good. They speak truth to each other and ask the tough questions with an incredible amount of grace.

So of course, we had to do their senior pictures together. Meet my favorite seniors! :]

This is the beautiful and bold Alex…