It was around the beginning of my junior year of college at East Carolina when I felt my heart was being called to do something new. I had heard about Dirty Vagabond Ministries through my church for a few years but had always thought I was too busy to add something new to my weekly schedule.

Well, come to find out, I was wrong!

I went to my first DVM breakout session a few weeks into the school year. Nervous, excited, and so happy to meet these high school kids for the first time. What would they think of me? Would they like me? All these questions ran through my head, but when I entered those doors, all those thoughts were quickly swept away by so much diversity, love, and happiness that filled the room.

Most of these kids come from challenging backgrounds and hard pasts, but I tell you, they love so hard its as if they have known you forever. Some are easier to break in than others, but overall their faces radiate with smiles when we are all together.

Through the course of the school year, I formed amazing friendships with many of them helping to guide and lead them through the path of life with our Lord and Savior.

Weekly traditions of picking them up from school or home to bring them to my college ministry is one of my favorite things. These car rides are never a dull moment. Music always blasted loudly, voices on a level 10, and lots of laughs always filled my car. This is when the chaos from my day and week schedule quickly subsides. These kids bring me so much happiness and can make any bad day a great one.

On Wednesday night after we attend mass and have dinner, we go to breakout, which is a weekly night held at the "Underground" where we play games, eat snacks, pray, and enjoy time together. This is a couple hours out of the week when they can get away from the challenges they are faced with and have some fun.

When I became a Core Team Leader with Dirty Vagabond Ministries almost a year ago it was as if I had been doing this my entire life. Not a week goes by that I don't think about the kids during our time apart. They welcomed me into their challenging and broken lives and have entrusted me to share the love of Jesus Christ, all while loving them for what they come with.

The Lord knew what he was doing when he said, "Alexis these kids need you". I was working daily as a nanny, going to school full-time, and knew despite MY busyness, my heart was not too busy for these amazing people.

As this new school year begins I can only imagine what new and wonderful memories I will make with my DVM kids. They are some amazing people with such great potential and the Lord is cheering for them with so many others along the way.