Will You Join Me?
This time of year can be like a roller coaster ride for my family.
As the winds of football season blow, our souls swirl with excitement and anticipation, but also carry uncertainties and anxiousness. The future could be promising or non-existent. So, one play at a time, one game at a time, one day at a time, we wait to see where we’ll land.
And, though, my path may not look exactly like yours, I’m thinking our travel bags might carry the same emotions. Because there’s always a new job to find. New school to begin. New routine to form. And changing seasons can leave their mark on our souls.
But in all my years of planting and uprooting and planting again, I’ve found a buffer to the ache of transitions … community.
Some of the hardest times of my life have come when I felt all alone. No friend to reach for. No family to lean on. No church to call home. Maybe you feel that way today. But the times when a neighbor knocked on the door to introduce herself, or a new face forced me to meet her at the park … those times were different.
Sure, I fought it a time or two. After a last minute move to Atlanta a few years ago, I determined to burrow in our rental home and declared my intentions to make no friends. Nada. Not one. I decided I had too much going on to join the women’s Bible study and felt sure God understood.
That lasted about an hour.
As we unloaded boxes and figured out where to drop the mattresses, the team chaplain’s wife, Ayeshia, appeared in the kitchen. Amongst all the chaos she informed me her husband would be dropping by soon to help unload and the women’s Bible study just happened to be next door. Tomorrow. “We’d love for you to come,” she said as she handed me the book they were reading.
I have to admit, if my heart had eyes, I rolled them. Ugh. I just didn’t think I had an ounce of emotion left to give to a group.
The next day I walked next door sure this would be my first and last appearance at Bible study. And you probably know where I’m going with this … a few months later, at our last study of the season, a group of women gathered in my living room.
After weeks and weeks of meeting together, we circled near the fire on that cold January evening to pray. We thanked God for each other. For the outpouring of His Spirit among us. For the friendships. For a place to belong and be encouraged. That season still remains one of my favorites, and not because of the success on the football field, but because of the community built outside the lines.
No, the uncertainties and anxious thoughts surrounding that season didn’t sprout wings and fly away, but the trial didn’t feel so fierce, because I knew I wasn’t fighting alone.
So, today, I’d like to offer you a community. A place to belong, to share, to find encouragement. I believe community matters to Jesus. He created us to fellowship with Him. He created the church to fellowship with and encourage one another. And I’d love for this place to please Jesus that way.
Will you join this community? Start by leaving a comment. Share a time you faced uncertainty and how community helped you through it. Next, share this with a friend and invite them to join us here. Finally, if you haven’t yet, subscribe to my blog by filling in the box at the top of the right-hand column. I would love to walk this journey together, friend.
So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NLT)
I’m an introvert searching for community. My family travels with my husband for his business – we are full time RVers. It feels like we are “professional” church visitors. I miss my ladies Bible study and Sunday school class. (I do an online email study with Love God Greatly. It is great, but not the same.) I try to be content with where God has me right now, but some days it is just hard. Thanks for letting me vent.
I’m so glad God provided this place for you to speak your soul, Cindy. I know those though days well. Hold on tight. I know you know God has you. I am praying for you tonight. We’re blessed to have you as a part of our community here!
I love this post, Katy. Your heart shines through in a beautiful way.
Even though we’ve been planted in the same city the last 15 years, I find that community is still a struggle. I’ve been part of a number of Bible Study groups over the years, but at some point, as our lives change, those groups have ended for various reasons. Same in groups of friends I’ve been a part of…often our lives (motherhood!!!) have gotten in the way at some time and people have gone different directions. Community group has been a life saver for us, but in our church, they are designed to meet for a couple of years at most and then the goal is to go out and each start new groups, so you’re building a new community from scratch. That’s hard…but you’re also allowing more people to come into a circle of community and to enjoy the blessings of that.
I must admit, sometimes I just wish to stay huddled in the circles I know well, but every time we start again, I’m reminded of how the Lord knits His children’s hearts together deeply, I experience the beauty of sisterhood in Christ, and I learn and grow all the more because of these new people I’ve had the privilege of knowing. It’s always GOOD, even though I dread it.
I’ve been in seasons where I felt very alone as well, and God did some great work in me through those, but I’m thankful He created us to live in community. Thanks for causing me to think through this today. I’m excited to see what the Lord does through your ministry!
Hi Angela, your sweet words make me smile. I know that feeling of wishing I could stay put – stay comfortable, but you are so right when you say, “I learn and grow all the more because of these new people I’ve had the privilege of knowing.” Wisdom! Thanks for taking the time to write. You are a sweet part of this community!
If it wasn’t plagiarism:), I could put my name on this and call it my own! Oh how this speaks to my soul… Reflecting on my days as a NFL Wife and now, as a Collegiate Coach’s Wife, my journey is so very similar. My husband was drafted by the Falcons in 2002. We got married after I graduated from Virginia Tech in 2004, and I found myself a brand new NFL wife in a brand new place:) I too, by the grace of God, found my way to the Falcons’ wives’ Bible study. Then Ayeshia was a player’s wife:), and that study with all of those women was my heartbeat through this new terrain. I am still friends with each of them today, and through life’s ups and down, I still go to them for support and encouragement. When my husband was signed out of Free Agency by the Carolina Panthers, I had the same feelings of not knowing if I wanted to dive back into building a football family, for fear of just having to move on one day. But once again, through the invite of two smiling faces named Joy and Buffy, I found my way to the Panther’s Wives’ Bible Study, or more lovingly referred to as “Angie’s House”, and God showed me the brilliance of His plan. These women mean everything to me and have been the most amazing part of His journey. Now as a Coach’s Wife at WVU, I find the same support with other wives, football and non-football. Our 4 babies are now 10, 8, 5 and 3, so I find so much community in the parents of their friends, our church family, neighbors and so many more wonderful people. It took me a while though…. a while to really let people in. A while to really feel connected and at home. A while to live in the present and not just look to where we were heading next. But, as I look back at all the moves, all the unknown, I smile thinking about how God had me all along and so perfectly orchestrated our path to find each one of the families we have loved along the way. And it brings me peace knowing that whatever lies ahead, He’s got that too. He always has. Whether we are here for the rest of our life or head elsewhere, I pray he always reminds me of how much I need the community of friends and family who will hold me up, love me and point me to Him.
“it brings me peace knowing that whatever lies ahead, He’s got that too.” I love this Jess! Thank you so much for sharing. What a beautiful testimony. I’m blessed by it and thankful to have you a part of this community!
I smiled, laughed, and cried all at the same time reading this post! I, along with several others, are so grateful you pushed past your feelings and Blessed us with your presence that year! And blessed we were! That was such a beautiful time etched on my heart. A group of women gathering to connect with each other while growing in HIM. The things I learned that year, and the countless ways I was blessed are too numerous for me to list here. But I will say each one of us left changed! And now, several years later, we cannot have a Bible study without Katy being mentioned! LOL! Still amazed at how HE continues to use you to bless so many, simply by you being determined to follow HIM. I’m encouraged by this thought, when I want to retreat, and not put forth the effort, or even deal with new community. This post reminds me that in GODLY community, not only does HE usually provide something beautiful in it for me, but maybe, just maybe something beautiful for someone else…..through me…..Thank you Katy!
Oh Ayeshia, “in GODLY community, not only does HE usually provide something beautiful in it for me, but maybe, just maybe something beautiful for someone else…..through me” Yes!!! Thanks for sharing here, friend. You certainly influenced my life in so many ways (and still do!). 🙂
Just wanted to say I always enjoy your posts, Katy! I’m not so sure I have a “community” but God has given me a few different friends to share this journey with. Thanks for sharing and continued blessings to you and your family!