Tonight I met with some amazing ladies.. ladies on a mission, my favorite kind. There isn’t much more beautiful a sight than women coming together with one heart, passion and mission. It will be exciting to enter into a partnership with these gals.
It’s been no shocker to anyone around me that (though I’d like to think I hide it well) I am in a rut. Break ups can do it to ya, but more so can lack of community. I can remember very early on in my Christian walk reading this silly Christian book (I am calling it silly, because really I’m just jealous that other people have actually accomplished such a task and I have not). The author seemed to have a plethora of great friendships to surround him, encouraging him and the like. At the time, I did not. I wanted to throw the book across the room. Sure, this life, this walk by faith was easy for him… he’s got help, lots of it. That night I argued with God. I tested Him. And literally almost overnight the seed’o’community blossomed. That next morning a blonde college student walked into the surf shop I was managing and asked if I wanted to go to church with her—more specifically their college ministry. I was in a bible study within a week and the friends I made in that season (7ish years ago) are some of the dearest people in the world to me.
What this says to me, is that God takes community very seriously. Real quick, let’s unpack that “churchy” word. Community is basically a circle of people that you can do life with, be vulnerable around, encourage, challenge, love, pray and cry with.
For me, being dumped right before your wedding was a huge embarrassment. Now, unavoidably to all who knew me I was damaged and wounded. To know me was to pity me, whether the case, I felt like all eyes were on the broken Christian girl to see how she would respond. I’d like to think I rebounded well enough.. it only strengthened my walk with Christ. I trust God now with a fierceness I had not known I was capable of. I say all of this to confess almost a year later, I see where the wreckage took place. I withdrew myself from community. I opted out of being vulnerable. It just seemed easier and less bothersome to have a breakdown in private.
Here’s what I’m pleading you this evening, find authentic community and anchor yourself deep within it. The truth of the good news in Christ is that we aren’t perfect, we’re actually pretty stinking messy. We are broken, ugly, and dysfunctional but Jesus has reconciled us to the Father… so thankfully I don’t have to put on my perfect Christian face every morning… so thankfully I can cry for help and watch as a team rallies around me and for me… so thankfully, thankfully, thankfully.
I was fortunate enough to have community around me, I just chose to shut it out for a bit; however if you are trying to do life on your own right now, please prayerfully consider joining us this next Monday, May 10th. We are getting a women’s group of out-of-college-single-20-somethings together to go through the book of Colossians. Email/facebook me for more details.
(Didn’t mean to turn this into a commercial, lol.. but hey? If it works.)
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