The primary reason I agreed to try to find a church home for our family was community. I had reached a point in my life where my expectations for the community that surrounded me continually exceeded the reality. As young parents our circles did not include any other families. Most of the parents of our children’s friends were much older than us and I honestly felt they were uncomfortable with our age and I never felt comfortable being myself around them.
Little did I know Jesus was using this desire in me to capture my heart! Heartland quickly felt like home for our family and we couldn’t wait to become more involved. Almost immediately we began by filling out a volunteer form and meeting with a coordinator. As much as this got us connected, and a community began to form around us, I still felt isolated. As a woman falling in love with Jesus, I needed other woman around me who would understand. I needed women who had gone before me to guide me. I needed women who were in the process of falling for Jesus and I needed women who were just a few steps behind me. All to receive, as well as give, encouragement; to share my hunger, my experiences; to be vulnerable and grow alongside women who were trustworthy, understanding, and willing to be just as vulnerable with me.
This didn’t happen over night. I slowly got more and more involved. Then one day I knew God was telling me to position myself more fully to find these relationships. He called me to a season of immersing myself in women’s ministry. So, in the Fall of 2011 I signed up for not only the Tuesday night Women’s Ministry Bible Study, but also to be a part of the 2011-2012 Mother’s Together Community. A number of ministry leaders questioned why I was adding both of these to my already hectic schedule.
The look in their eyes when I explained it to them affirmed my steps were on the correct path. Instantly there was an acknowledgement and an unspoken understanding of where I was. Maybe, as women following after Christ, we’ve all found ourselves in this isolated place. I strongly sense it is so difficult for us there because it is not meant to be this way. It is difficult so we will desire something else. As believers, the Spirit in us craves to be part of a healthy Body of Christ.
The beauty of being in different stages of our faith and life, and how wonderfully different our journeys are, became apparent to me Wednesday when many of us shared and all of us were inspired by one another. The space created there was sacred. We all contributed to building a safe and comfortable environment for all of us to be vulnerable with one another, to give others and ourselves grace and encouragement. What God put on my heart to share today was to call out what we have and what is available to us as women in this community and to challenge us all to step fully into our role whatever that may be. If you need to be vulnerable and receive grace and encouragement, do so. If you sense you need to be that for another, do so. Take the risk to invest yourself in these relationships. He promises it will be rewarding!
“The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance. You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your “part” mean anything.” 1 Corinthians 12:25-27 (MSG)
I encourage all of you to read 1 Corinthians 12 in its entirety particularly in The Message version.
- Nanette H.
