“We rejoice and delight in you;
we will praise your love more than wine.”
-Song of Solomon 1:4

This new thing I keep mentioning and trying to write a post on and failing.

Is a study of sorts.

It’s something I’ve been needing.

For a while now I’ve felt a gap in how girls and women, and women and women, and girls and girls, just females really, relate to one another. There’s a gap. That’s all.

I have felt it in the recounting of hard-to-navigate relationships in sophomore year of college.

The one-generational/one-story bible studies junior year.

And the feeling of not fitting in senior year, because who gets married and has babies that quick?

And now my friends are starting to get married. Some are starting to have kids. But some aren’t. Some are starting careers. Some aren’t. Some are still in school. Etc.
We just aren’t in the same places in life anymore so our built-in get togethers of a shared environments just aren’t there anymore. It takes a little more to stay connected now.

As I’ve been thinking on this year and my inkling of starting a bible study of sorts, I’ve realized that even though my first urge was to just include the people my age that wouldn’t fix the problem. I’d still feel like it is my goal to build friendships only with people my age or in my same life stage.

Instead it might be better to look to the bigger picture and see value in friendships with people whose stories aren’t just like mine.
And I felt God pushing me to make my plan a little bit bigger. I should just include everyone.
It felt a bit audacious. And still does.
But if we don’t limit our gathering to age groups or life stages, we’re left with a better representaion of who the women in the body of Christ really are. And we get a better picture of who God is in the many ways He chooses to reveal himself.

We aren’t all young. We aren’t all married. We don’t all have kids. We’re at different spots in life and age and everything, but we’re all still together in it.

We all look to the same God. For assurance of salvation. For hope. For joy. For peace. For care and everything else.

We all have things to contribute. We all have things to learn.

We aren’t ever completely right or completely wrong. And that’s where we talk and have discussion and leave room for differences in opinion.

The important thing is that we build toward a community that brings glory to God.

That we support each other as gracefully and lovingly as possible no matter what our life story.

And that we share together.

Share things, share words, share hopes, share food, share peace, troubles, joys and sorrows til we know that our sisters in Christ have our backs and we don’t have to worry about whether or not we agree on minor details. Instead we can find joy in our differences and the various places these women kingdom workers have in God’s plan.

We can rejoice in the many ways God shows his grace to us. And the many way we can live our live as wholly His and wholly creative and still be in His plan for us.

“I delight to do Your will, O my God,
And Your law is within my heart.
I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness
In the great assembly;
Indeed, I do not restrain my lips,
O Lord, You Yourself know.
I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth
From the great assembly.”

Psalm 40:8-10

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My dream for this year is to create a passionate and diverse group of women who, through discussion and fellowship, can pour into each other as we work through the year intentionally focusing on improving, thinking about, and discussing how we live in order to better reflect God’s glory, the Gospel, and His grace into the hearts of a searching and a watching world.

We will see how God chooses fill our group and mold my plan closer to His. It will be a good year.

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PS– We’ll be reading The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee, so you might expect to see some reflections here every couple weeks or so. If you’re interested in following along or joining the discussion pick up a copy and join me here.
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How do you stay connected to other Christian women? Is it important to you? Do you find it comes naturally or is it something you have to work at?

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