Author Spotlight
Campbell Wood
She had to stay.
When senior Lucy Jones’ parents told her they’d be moving out to California come June for her dad’s job opportunity, she immediately informed her church youth group, confessing how she wanted to stay in Kansas City, along with sharing her concerns on finding a place to stay and asking for their prayers.
Choosing to be halfway across the country from her family was a big decision to make — she’d have to relocate during a pandemic and give up seeing her family in-person for months at a time, as well as adjust to the routines of a new home. But in the absence of her immediate family, the stability and support of her youth group served as a surrogate family. She knew they’d be there for her during this time.
While the Brookside Christ Community Youth Group helped Lucy deepen her relationship with God through analyzing scripture and attending seasonal retreats, it was the relationship she’d built with the other group members that helped her during this transition.
Whenever Lucy has a pressing issue on her mind, she confides in her youth group. Granted, her prayer requests are typically good-luck safety nets for upcoming tests — she never imagined she’d go to them asking for support in choosing to be 1,000 miles away from her family. The sense of community and support received from youth group gave Lucy and her parents confidence in knowing she made the right decision, even if it was a hard one. To Lucy, having a close connection with God allows you to be more present in knowing He’s in control.
Having this assurance and trust in God is something she’s valued since her Sunday school days when her parents laid the foundation of faith in her life, and the youth group’s in-depth bible study has helped her deepen that faith. She wasn’t ready to let that go — even if it meant spending senior year without her family.
“When you find a community that really supports you in that sense, it’s just a lot easier to share what you believe in a loving and respectful way,” Lucy said.
Through months of prayer, she felt as though God called her to stay in Kansas City to finish off high school and make the most of her time left in the youth group before college. Her parents have witnessed first-hand how the youth group has impacted her life — giving her a community where she could openly discuss her relationship with God. Understanding that connection, it became clear — Lucy would stay in Kansas City while her family packed their bags for California.
Lucy has always put God first. When she was little, weekly church services never felt like a chore, but rather an opportunity to grow in her faith. Her parents helped lay the foundation of religion in her life, listening to worship music in the car and praying with her every night before bed. As she got older, she longed for a community her age that did the same. Sophomore year she attended her first youth group meeting and had an immediate connection with the group.
“I felt that [my] youth group was something God had given me and that was so wonderful,” Lucy said. “That was just tying me here — this is something that I’ve been given and I want to walk that out to its entirety.”
Now, in her senior year, Lucy arrives at East 15 minutes early to do her daily devotionals, listen to instrumental worship music and pray — asking God what He wishes to place in her heart that day.
“I think a lot of her peers and people younger than her look up to her and the relationship she has with God,” Lucy’s youth group leader Ashtyn Fair said.
Despite being an introvert, the youth group has helped Lucy open up by seeing how others are able to freely share their own troubles and testimonies — something that’s given her more confidence in her relationship with Christ. A few weeks ago, she leaned on her youth group during the first meeting following her grandpa’s passing — there was only so much FaceTimes with her family could do, but she knows she’ll get to hug and grieve alongside them when they come back for the funeral.
“I think a strong relationship with Christ, especially during a pandemic, has given [me] a lot of assurance,” Lucy said. “It’s so easy to be afraid, and with a pandemic like this, I definitely think those feelings of fear are valid. But knowing that I’m not in control and that I don’t have to be in control of that, cause Christ is there for me, just being able to know that is really great.”
Her parents took comfort in the idea that their daughter wouldn’t be completely alone — that she’d have another family of her own in Kansas City, the youth group. But nonetheless, leaving their child behind was tough.
They understood her longing to stay in Kansas City since it was her senior year. With both parents having graduated from East themselves and already watching their two oldest children graduate from the school, they knew the significance of this moment for Lucy. They would’ve done the same thing if they were her, but at the same time, they’d have to give her up a year early — sacrificing their last remaining months with their daughter before college.
“I miss just silly things like eating dinner and going for coffee,” her mom, Kim Jones, said. “We would do that a lot and go to places like Black Dog and Crow’s Coffee.”
Even with missing the car rides to school and spontaneous coffee runs, Lucy’s parents know her decision to be apart from them makes the little moments they do get together even more special — moments the family was all too used to taking for granted.
Her parents weren’t surprised by Lucy’s decision. She’s always had strength when it came to making tough decisions, according to her dad, Chris Jones. When she no longer wanted to play soccer — a sport she’d played for 12 years — she was straight forward in telling her parents that she was burnt out and didn’t enjoy it anymore, just like when she told her parents she didn’t want to move to California.
“She has the character and the strength to make those decisions, versus saying, ‘Yeah, I’m just going to keep doing this because I know my parents want me to do this,’” Chris said.
Her parents, who met in a youth group, believe Lucy’s strength comes from her faith, which has helped her to stay in Kansas City.
“Even though she’s got a loving family to be with and they’re so welcoming, I think her faith is what strengthens her and keeps her going, and just maturing and growing as an individual,” Kim said.
Lucy knows her confidence in making the right decision came from God. Lucy believes that if God wanted her to stay, He would open the doors to make that happen — and He did. Her plan of finding someone to stay with slowly worked itself out to the point where she was able to stay — she knew God wanted her here.
The Nyhus family, a fellow East and church family, took Lucy in. Hosting her for a year was a big favor to ask, making Lucy extra grateful when they volunteered — one of the doors God opened.
Despite knowing the Nyhus family since grade school, Lucy was still nervous to be in a new home, not knowing where pots and plates were in the kitchen or when family dinners were scheduled. But through working on homework together and playing card games, Lucy’s transition into the Nyhus home has grown easier and she’s no longer uncomfortable to ask for help if she needs something.
Adjusting to the Nyhus family has been easier than adjusting to not having her own family close by. They stay in contact with Lucy through frequent texts — she’ll send them pictures when she goes to the French Market because it reminds her of them, and they’ll hold daily phone calls to tell her about the new church they found in California — but it’s not the same.
“[I’ve been] figuring out ways to keep myself busy so I’m not homesick in a way,” Lucy said. “Which is weird because I’m still technically at home, but your family is just such a big part of that feeling — when you’re with your family you feel at home.”
It’s been five months. Other than a one-time visit from her dad and a few trips to see her older sister at the University of Kansas, Lucy won’t see her family until Thanksgiving. It’s been hard for her to face a pandemic without having her family to come home to, she misses their post-church lunches where they’d talk about the sermon and soak up the blessings God has given them — each other.
“I’m not with my immediate family, but you’re always surrounded by the community of Christ and that’s so helpful for me,” Lucy said. “In every situation, you really aren’t alone and you have other people to rely on.”
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