I haven't been a part of the blog world in a while. To be honest, I had to let go of it because it began to consume me. I became active our first year of marriage. I wasn't working at the time so I found most of my time alone spent reading other people's blogs. They were encouraging. They challenged me. They made me want to be a better person. But quickly it turned into a comparison trap for me. I felt like I was losing who I was because there were so many other incredible women that I found myself wanting to be like. I lost confidence in myself and in my ability to be influential because I was trying to be someone I wasn't.
It has been a few years now of stepping away from this and realizing that I only need to be important to myself, my family, and my friends close to me. I don't need to impress anyone and I definitely do not need to try and draw attention to myself.
For me, a blog should be simply this: A place for me to write my story and the things I love. You see, I am not the best writer, but when I take the time to do it, I find untapped feelings and emotions that are not really exposed anywhere else. I am a thinker. But if I don't apply, my thoughts get easily lost, overlooked, and undervalued. Some may ask, why not write a journal or keep your thoughts private? I agree those are both imperative and important. But I also believe there is value in community. Value in being a little bit vulnerable to people you know and don't know. There are some things in life that cannot be done alone. Humans desire other humans and to know we are not alone in this life. We desire to share our celebrations and our struggles.
When John Mark and I started dating we knew our marriage was going to be different. We knew that God had a purpose for our lives and we needed to obey. We believe that community is God-created. That life is meant to be shared. Because of this, we strongly feel led to start a church. A community that is open to all people coming together and hearing about God's generous love. Followers of God or not, we believe that we are best when we are being refined and shaped by our relationships with: family, friends, neighbors, etc.
JM, myself and a few others are currently in full swing of planning The Gathering Church - a place that people can gather together to worship weekly. But, most importantly, we believe the church happens on a day to day basis. People coming together to commune with their city, friends, families and neighbors. People that open their homes and learn how to be good neighbors day to day, because that's what Jesus teaches us.
All this to say, JM asked me to start writing about this process and how it came to be. I am using my personal blog to start writing about this until we can launch our website. So for now, I am asking for your prayer for the process - the steps that need to happen before now and next summer. Also I pray that we all can learn to be good neighbors day to day. Sometimes it is easy to get in planning mode and realize we are missing out in the relationships right in front of us.
So then, why community? Please share what community has done for you.
