Dana Jones

8th Grade Girls LifeGroup Leader

Tell us about your family.

Hi, y’all! My husband, Garrett, and I got married at the beginning of 2020 (pre-COVID19… praise God!). Just a couple weeks after we got married, I felt God calling me to quit my job as a police officer. This was a hard move for me because I loved the challenge and growth that I was experiencing in my job and I couldn’t imagine why I would be pulled away from serving and protecting. Obeying God’s call for my life, I quit in mid-March and not even two weeks later, everything shut down because of COVID. Shortly after that, protests and riots started breaking out after the George Floyd shooting. God knew exactly what was going to happen and He called me out of it just in time. Garrett and I are forever grateful for His sovereignty and protection! For now, I enjoy being a stay-at-home wife/dog mom and having all the availability to be ready for the next step. We have a 6 month old Labradoodle puppy named Jasmine and a 4ish year old Terrier mix. We just bought our first house and there is nothing we love more than using it to host others. We call it “The Canvas” because we view it as a blank slate – we are ecstatic to let God paint the picture for what He wants our future to look like and for the growth we will experience at our home together through friendships, ministry and building our own family.

What do you do for fun?

I’m a sucker for craft coffee shops, spontaneous date nights with Garrett, adventuring outdoors, good conversation, bonfires, snow and traveling to explore new places! I enjoy watching NBA games and playing a laid back game of softball!

Why are you passionate about serving with students?

Middle school and high school were the hardest years for me to navigate for a lot of different reasons. It was really easy to wander away from Christ and put worldly things at the center of my life. Throughout my adult life, I have loved different opportunities to pour into the lives of students and youth in different ways to try to help them make right decisions and navigate the hard things that they will deal with. I’m so excited to get to do life with students at 121!

What would you like to say to the parents?

I know how difficult middle and high school years can be to navigate. As a student, there were times that I refused to seek help from my loving parents and I refused to believe that they really wanted the best for me. There were also times where my leaders and mentors from church were the only ones who I was willing to listen to and seek truth from. I pray that I’m able to build a trusting and fruitful relationship with both you and your daughters so that we can work together to build them up. I desire to be a safe place for your daughters to open up about the hardships and struggles that they will experience, but also to celebrate victories and successes with them! There is so much joy and fulfillment in living out a Christ-centered life and I’m thrilled to lead these girls through it. Attending their sporting events, taking them out for ice cream, surprising them on their birthday, or just sending them a piece of mail – I’m game for all of it! SO excited to get to do life with your family!