SCA Sisters' 1st Annual Beach Day!

Welcome to a new school year! SCA Sisters ended the summer with a bang at our first annual SCA Sisters’ Beach Day. We had so much fun swimming in the ocean, walking the pier, and just getting to know each other.

We hope you all had a great summer and are looking forward to connecting with your SCA Sister this school year! It doesn’t matter if you are the older or younger “sister”, take the initiative and plan an activity together this month! You’ll be glad you did.

And, if you ever want to host an SCA Sisters event, please let us know.

We are looking forward to seeing you all again!

Love,

Ashlyn and Tessa

 Hanging out on the beach

 With our SCA Sisters

 The Whole Group

Cute shirts by Tessa and Naomi!

Finding our Identity in Christ

They say that you will know you are a competitive swimmer when your non-swim friends just stop inviting you to things, because they assume you’ll have swim practice anyway. They say that you will know you are a completive swimmer when you smell like chlorine all day, every day. I meet those criteria. I am a competitive swimmer. I swim more than twenty hours each week. But, this year I’ve been learning a lot more from swimming than just stroke technique.

At swim, I sometimes deal with coaches who are happy with me when I swim fast, and frustrated with me when I don’t. At swim, I sometimes deal with teammates who, for whatever reason, exclude me from their “group” of friends. No matter how well I do at a swim meet, there is always the internal and external pressure to get a faster time at the next meet. The swim world can be intense. I know that many other SCA students (and parents) also experience these and similar situations in their own sports, classes, or jobs. Sometimes we can be tempted to compare ourselves with others. We can struggle with low self-esteem, or with contentment. There is a temptation to let other people or our circumstances tell us our worth. I think I am coming to learn the solution to these temptations.

As Christians, we belong to Jesus. We are His children first and foremost. He made us and has a plan for us, and that is where our identity lies. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “I have been bought with a price and I belong to God.” So, no matter what the circumstance, we must remember these truths. There will always be a time in our lives when we feel “less- than”, or like we don’t belong. I know when my dad was out of work he needed to remember that he was so much more than “a job”. Some of us may not be accepted into the college of our choice, or get the part in the play or the job that we had hoped for. A boss, teacher, coach, or friend may leave us feeling like we are not enough. Life on earth will always bring challenges. This is when we need to rest in the truth of God’s Word.

God loves you. Jesus died for you. He is good and we can trust Him with our lives. Yes, I am a competitive swimmer. I am also a student, daughter, sister, musician, and friend. Most importantly, however, I am a child of a Faithful God!! I live for His approval alone. I want to encourage you to do the same. Let’s live our lives for the glory of our amazing God! Ephesians 1:3-8 says, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before He made the world God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. He has showered His kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.”

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)

"I have told you this so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete." (John 15:11)

Love,

Tessa

SCA Sisters is now accepting new applications!

Mission Statement: SCA sisters is a club designed with the purpose of encouraging special friendships between older and younger girls at SCA in order to teach high school girls leadership, service and mentoring, as they invest in the lives of  their younger sisters in Christ through encouragement, prayer, and time spent together for the purpose of growing closer to Jesus.

Key Verse: “We were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.” ~1 Thessalonians 2:8

This year, SCA Sisters has met for a service project, cupcake decorating, breakfast, and more! 

If your daughter is entering 4^th-12^th grade in the 2012-2013 school year, we would love for them to be involved!! Also, if you would like to step down from being involved, or request a new sister for next year, please contact us as well.

How? Please print out the application from our website and mail it to us. Our address is in the SCA Directory. Or, e-mail us with more questions: alwaysashlyn@cox.net

Please visit our website for more information! http://scasisters.webs.com/

It is our hope and prayer that this program will help grow older and younger girls at SCA closer together and closer to Jesus!

Belated Valentine's Day Party!

Today SCA Sisters had a belated Valentine’s Day party! Some of the sister pairs gathered at IHOP to connect and celebrate the love that we have as sisters in Christ. While we devoured piles of pancakes, we laughed and created fun memories. Here are some pictures from the event.

Happy (almost) Valentine's Day!

Hi SCA Sisters!!

We are so sorry that we haven’t been in communication about our Valentine’s Day party for a while. Yes, the party is still on! Date and location are TBD (it’s going to be an “after Valentine’s Day” party…but, it’s never too late to celebrate love!). But, we want to take a quick survey…how many of you would be available to meet on a Monday morning?

How have you been spending time with your SCA Sister? Remember to show her some love, especially in light of Valentine’s Day this Tuesday! Please let us know how things are going and if a Monday morning will work for you.

With much love,

Ashlyn and Tessa

Happy December!

School is in full swing, sports are in season, and holidays are wizzing by. I love the fall-approaching-winter season, but I always feel the same way—my life is moving way too fast! As soon as the stores start putting up Christmas decorations (which sometimes can be as early as October. Yikes!), I feel like the world starts going into fast-forward mode. With all the excitement, activity, and, yes, homework, sometimes it can be hard to enjoy this wonderful time of year.

I hope all of you are having a great school year so far! And, I also hope that you have been able to spend some time with your SCA Sister. Even when life gets busy, it is important to continue investing in friendships with the people that you care about. Call your SCA Sister, write her a letter, plan a time to get together, or simply pray for her!

Psalm 23 is a Bible passage that has been on my mind lately (probably because I have to memorize it in Spanish for my Spanish class :)). It’s a passage that most of us are familiar with, but I think it is a perfect reminder of how much God loves us. When I read the passage, I am reminded of God’s omnipresence, omnipotence, love, grace, faithfulness, and kindness. I am filled with peace when I remember that God is sufficient for us no matter how crazy life gets. And, He is the best friend we are ever going to have. This Christmas season, take some time with your SCA Sister to talk about how God has been working in each of your lives.

Merry Christmas!!

With Much Love,

Ashlyn

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Service Project Re-Cap

Hi SCA Sisters!

Thank you to all of you who joined us to serve at Open Doors Ministry last Thursday. Kari, the women in charge of volunteers, e-mailed me and said, “Thank you so much for bringing your young women mentoring group to serve with us. The boys were a great help too!”

For those of you who weren’t able to make it, we missed you! We hope you will be able to join us next time. If any of you have any other ideas for a service project (or fun SCA Sister event in general), please let us know!

In the meantime, let’s all remember to encourage our SCA Sisters to serve other this fall!

Love,

Ashlyn and Tessa