It all started a couple of months back when Lisa-Jo decided to have a laundry day for Africa. I thought long and hard about how so many of us feel like we are stuck and only have enough time, energy, and resources to tend the few feet of world around us.
Some days I'm not even sure that I have that.
It is easy to feel guilty. We feel guilty that we wipe runny noses, but haven't done a single thing to wipe out poverty. We feel like our bags of Goodwill donations and our dented cans aren't really making a dent in the whole scope of things and we would love a way to do a little bit more from where we are at.
Then I thought...why can't we? What if we made it a part of our everyday? What if we could find community with other women and make space to reach out beyond our every day?
Osheta Moore articulated so beautifully this guilt in a recent post that she wrote to all of us. She wrote it to all of us who are living in the suburbs, or in small mountain towns (like myself) and who think our sphere of influence is just too small. She wrote it to those of us who would theoretically love to move to the inner city or address issues of human trafficking, but just feel like we can't uproot or change course in this season of our life.
Her words were the newest piece in the puzzle that God has been putting together in my heart.
I've got some ideas. They are ideas that I think can build community right where we are and change our world in small ways.
We're a month away from the start of another trip around the sun and I want this trip to be a bit different. I want it to be focused and purposeful and full of Gospel living and doing that changes me and my world from the inside out.
I'm thinking that I'm not the only one feeling this pull, feeling the gravity of life pulling at us and struggling to rise above and make this year about more than the average.
I'm starting it out a bit early. I'm joining up to support the International Justice Mission through the Dressember project (more info to come) for the month of December. I'm also hosting a Girl's Night In&Out Christmas shoe cutting party for Sole Hope.
In a couple of weeks I'm going to unveil the whole plan for 2014. I hope that this community of women will link arms with me and begin to see our lives, our towns, our reach in today's world, our sphere of influence past our mailboxes, our calling as women, wives, mamas, grandmas, sisters, Jesus followers in a totally new way.
Sisters, this ain't about guilt. It ain't about wondering what more we could be doing. It's about doing what we can from where we are and investing in one another in the process.
You in?
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