The heart behind this blog…
One Another
Friendship, Mentorship & Cultivating Community
What is this Blog About?
It's about Friendship:
I’ve been asking myself: What does it mean to be a friend? How do you find a good friend? How do you be a good friend? How do you ask good questions? How can you serve each other well through the best of times and the worst of times?
It’s about Mentoship:
I’m pretty sure I just made up that word, but I’m sure you get the idea. I’ve been asking myself: What is a mentor? How do you find one? In every season of life are you supposed to be mentoring someone? What do you actually do with a mentor? What do you do when you see your mentor struggle with sin?
It's about Cultivating Community:
I’ve been asking myself: What does real community look like? Where do you find real community? How do you be community (does that questions even make sense?)? How do you start cultivating community? How can you serve in your community?
Who is your audience?
College age on up
I want the readers and participants of the blog to be as diverse as possible, in age, ethnicity, economic background etc.
My heart is for the younger generation (college and post college), I hope that this blog will be solid resource particularly helpful for them
What's the purpose?
Women are made for relationship...
To remind us that the most important relationship we have is with Jesus. To encourage us in how we can grow in our relationship with Him. Only he satisfies our longing for deep meaningful relationship. (Matthew 22 - 37 - 38)
To be a platform for diversity within Christianity to encourage empathy, compassion, mercy and understanding to help us grow in loving one another. (Matthew 22:39 - 40)
To share ideas, stories and interviews about friendship, mentorship and cultivating community to challenge and inspire women to grow in the areas of generosity, hospitality, conversation just to name a few...
My heart behind this blog
I think a lot about the topic of friendship. At a young age both my parents instilled in me the importance and priority of friendship and how one of our major goals in life should be to fight for friendship. When our life is over, we will have nothing but God and the people we love. That's it. Money will not matter. Our careers or “ministries” will be a faint memory but people; the people in our lives are more precious than any worldly goods.
I have had the privilege of being mentored by the same wonderful woman for a little less than ten years. We do not meet on a regular basis anyone since I live in a different town, am married and have a family now, but my life would not be the same without Marilyn. The years that I’ve spent with her just talking and praying reading the word have changed my life significantly. I owe so much of my spiritual journey and maturing to her.
Cultivating community has been on my heart since I was in college. I have walked through a few good and difficult learning curves while working for different churches, youth ministries, and serving teams. I've come to observe that real community has some common threads: friendships, mentorship and good old-fashioned potlucks - that’s where real community thrives and is woven together over days, weeks, months and years.
Let me be clear though, if we do not have Christ, we have nothing. If we do not believe the Gospel is true, we have nothing. Friendship and community don’t stand a chance if we don’t recognize and believe that in Christ alone is where our hope is found. Christ alone is where every desire is met. In Christ alone can we truly be free to be ourselves and to love others on their best of days and on their worst. It is Christ alone in whom we live and move and have our being. And it is out of that relationship, out of that friendship with Christ Himself, can we be and do everything we are called to do.
I have a strong conviction and deep humility about sharing what I am learning about friendships and community. I make no claims of having friendships down to a science, or that I've landed in the best community on the planet. The older I get the more I understand I can boast in nothing but Christ my Savior. On this side of eternity all I can say is that I'm honestly excited to share some ideas about how God has challenged me to be a friend, given and receive mentorship and lastly learn how to cultivate community.