Thoughts on Discipleship (2): Darcy

Just a few months after beginning my new adventure as Elisa’s disciple, my roommate and I decided to quit the solo Christian act and actually attend a Campus Crusade for Christ meeting.  We’d begun hanging around Crusade (CRU) circles, and over and over I’d heard the name Darcy mentioned.  Apparently this woman named Darcy was every girls’ hero.  She seemed to have “discipled” (the word now rolled right off my tongue without any effort) innumerable girls and was the stellar pick of the group.

Once again, I marvel at my roommate’s and my willingness and eagerness to jump in with both feet.  At our very first CRU meeting (at which, I might mention, Jeff Patterson was the emcee and I remember thinking “That’s the kind of guy my mom would want me to marry.”), we heard the announcement for the annual Cove Palisades trip.  Without hesitation, we both signed up to go (now you couldn’t get me to go camping with a bunch of strangers if my life depended upon it…sad how we change with age).  I can still see the expression on Darren Holland’s face when we went to sign up.  Now I can read his thoughts, “Wow, this is your first time here and you’re signing up for the trip!  Awesome!”  He was delighted.

As we picked up our bags and got ready to leave, a little wide-eyed, curly-haired, doll-faced girl came up to me.  “Are you Kari?” She asked.  My eyes were wide. How did she know me?  “Yeah,” I said cautiously.  “Oh! I once had a horse named Kari!”  She said with enthusiasm bubbling over.  I nodded slowly.  She continued, “I’m Darcy. It’s nice to meet you.”  Aha!  This was Darcy. I relaxed and held out my hand, wondering again why she’d singled me out.  We chatted for a moment, then I was off.  There were only a few more weeks until the end of school, so I headed off for the summer without much more connection with her, although she asked for my home address…

Later that summer, a letter arrived in the mail.  A five or six page letter (again?!), from Darcy.  Apparently she knew, like Elisa, that openness and vulnerability is the name of the game, because she too shared her whole testimony with me, including her long struggle with an eating disorder and the victory she’d found in Christ.  I was amazed, once again, at her honesty and humility, and found myself shaking my head wondering, “Why me?  Why would she single me out?”  As he letter ended she suggested to me that I pray about leading a Bible study the following year.  Me?  Lead a Bible study!  I’d only started attending!  What did I have to offer?  I’d only just heard about “disciple” being a verb and now I was supposed to start “discipling”?  THough it scared me a bit, something inside me knew this was exactly the direction I was supposed to take…