FREEDOM IN COMMUNITY

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Jesus liked to hang with people. He wanted to spend time with them, to eat dinner with them and hear what they had to say.

Jesus said “if you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father” (John 14:9) and if Jesus’ life is our example, then relationships are a very important thing to God.

God not only wants us to spend time with Him, He also wants us to spend time with each other.

“Community” can seem like an overused word these days (along with its cousin, the phrase “doing life together”), but it is so, so crucially important to our emotional, mental, and spiritual health.

Don’t stop meeting together with other believers, which some people have gotten into the habit of doing. Instead, encourage each other… Hebrews 10:25

This scripture is often used as an argument for church membership, but I think it goes beyond that. It’s super easy to join a church, show up for services, sit on the back row, and sneak out without having spoken a word to anyone. This often feels like the safer choice–especially when you’re hurting–but it is so dangerous, friends.

If either should fall, one can pick up the other. But how miserable are those who fall and don’t have a companion to help them up. Ecclesiastes 4:10

Making friends can be super overwhelming and scary–especially the older we get. I’ve learned during the past year that it takes work, and it takes putting yourself out there and getting a little awkward (which I’m alarmingly good at).

Sometimes (maybe most of the time) we have to be brave and make the first move–invite people over for dinnner, ask that nice girl you met briefly at church or work if she wants to meet for lunch or go to yoga together. Do the inviting, reach out.

Finding and maintaining the community of friends who will be your people takes work. But we were created to live in community, in fellowship with one another, and there is such joy and freedom to be found there.

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FREEDOM TO KNOW THAT GOD LIKES YOU

Cafe (1 of 1)

 So, if the first step toward freedom is getting a deep, healing understanding of God’s love for us, the second step is knowing that God not only loves us, He likes us, too. There is a big–yet subtle–difference between loving and liking someone. We love our family members. But we don’t always necessarily like them and […]

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FREEDOM TO FEEL LOVED BY GOD

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To begin on our 31 journey to freedom, we have to begin at the beginning; build the foundation first, and all that. The simple truth is that we absolutely can not, will not, find true, lasting freedom until we grab hold of the fact that God loves us. I know it’s super basic, and many […]

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THE INFLUENCE CONFERENCE 2014: A RECAP

a little behind the scenes prep

It’s hard to believe that the 2014 Influence Conference is over, that I’ve already attended two years in a row (and have purchased a ticket for 2015). My experience this year felt different than last year, quieter somehow (I did a lot less running around and socializing at all hours of the night), but it […]

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#INFLUENCECONF

CarolineGarza

Hi, girls–I’m Caroline, and I’m sooo excited to meet you at Influence Conference this week! I live in Dallas with my husband Jon and our pups, the bitties, and we’re in the seemingly never-ending process of adopting from Ethiopia. The Influence Network has been truly life changing for me–the girls I’ve met, the things I’ve learned and […]

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BETTER & BEST THINGS

Mexico (1 of 1)

When I was 14, I went on a mission trip to Mexico with my youth group.  It was almost Christmas, so we filled huge trash bags with toys and walked through a sprawling, pitiful-looking community–full of houses made of corrugated tin and cardboard–giving toys to each child we saw and speaking and praying with people. […]

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STITCH FIX REVIEW

Moni Stud Detailed 3-4 Sleeve Blouse (1 of 1)

This is my fourth fix, but only my second Stitch Fix review. While my first fix was great and full of items that my stylist had pretty much plucked directly from my Pinterest style board, fixes 3 and 4 were underwhelming. And full of things I don’t really wear. Stitch Fix has awesome customer service, and […]

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GET NAKED (THE EBOOK)

Get Naked book cover

This is a book about stripping down to your true self, you wonderful thing, you. Being authentic and vulnerable–getting emotionally naked, if you will–is hard.  And it requires bravery and making the daily (and sometimes moment by moment) decision to be yourself. It’s good to know that we’re not alone in this journey and to […]

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YOU WILL FLOURISH

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I’ve been kind of obsessed with filling my house with flowers lately; spending way too much money on them, driving out of my way to the store that has the very best ones. We’ve recently transitioned to a new church, and several weeks ago I attended their monthly women’s event, Sisterhood, for the first time. The theme […]

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THE HUNDRED EVENT

TheHundredFounders

Last weekend I sneaked away from The Declare Conference for several hours to attend the first night of The Hundred Event, an intimate–limited to 100 attendees–blogging conference. The Hundred was hosted by Lauren, Megan Graham, Bridget Hunt, and Grace Patton. When Bridget announced The Hundred on her blog in June, I was super excited and wanted to go, […]

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