Why a locker-room comment transformed a student’s life

Jade turned to her teammate whose question bounced off the walls in the hockey change room. “Yes, I do. Every week,” she replied.

“I never knew that,” added her friend.

This short exchange startled—and troubled—Jade.

“I’ve played hockey with this girl since we were quite young, going back to when we were four or five years old,” says Jade, a Grade 12 student at London Christian High (LCH). “I thought, ‘Oh, that’s not great. How could she not know I go to church?’”

By her own admission, Jade lived by her own set of rules during her first two years at LCH. She rarely sat quietly in class. She voiced ideas at any given moment. She argued with teachers to make her point.

“I just kind of did what I wanted,” she says, “I had strong opinions and didn’t really care what others thought about them.”

But that question: “You go to church?” It ricocheted off the crossbar of the hockey net. It body-checked her against the glass. It tripped her up.

Walking in the way of Jesus

“I was angry at first because I thought it was rude,” adds Jade. “Then I realized: If my friend hadn’t said what she did, then I probably wouldn’t have noticed that how I played or behaved on the ice didn’t correspond in her mind with a person who goes to church.

“She’s known me for 15 years. And if she was surprised to hear I’m a Christian, then maybe others are too. I needed to be a better, faithful witness.”

For more than a year, Jade has worked on becoming more self-aware around people. “I’m a strong believer of saying what needs to be said,” she says, “but now I know there’s a good way to say things without being too blunt or critical…and I understand how my words and actions may be perceived by someone else.”

As she grows and matures, Jade is taking cues from Jesus.

“I started looking at how Jesus talked with people,” she says. “His way of being with people has helped me change how I relate to others and be the witness He wants me to be.”