Circle of Sisters

I knew before we left that I would need a circle of sisters around me. Not literally. No, we didn't have a host of folks begging to ride our coat tails to the shores of war recovering West Africa. But thankfully it was 2010 and folks could come along for the ride via blogs, email and the occasional when-internet-was-good-enough skype date.

Before we left for the field I thought long and hard about who I wanted in my inner circle of sisterly support. I prayed that God would bring them to my mind and then my goal was to commit to sending a weekly email to them covering the nitty gritty details of life in all it's crazy hard and beautiful ups and downs.

In the beginning it was simply a way to keep myself grounded. I needed women guarding me spiritually and sending encouragement that helped me go on when I wanted to shut the door to our little two-room-cement-floor-hot-as-blue-blazes-house and never come out. What their support turned into was a space for me to feel understood and known.

We need people in our lives that don't think we are superheroes for the life we are leading. Without those people we either will begin to think we are superheroes or we will be crushed under the weight of the realization we are weak to meet the needs and do the task set before us. 

Today I'm sharing this part of my story over at Velvet Ashes. Even if you aren't a woman serving overseas I invite you to read and think about the importance of community along the rocky path of life. Click on over and read the whole story.

Photo Credit: Dani_vr via Compfight cc