Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

encouragement

So no one has to walk alone {an (in)courager syncroblog}

“Me too.”

Those two words have become the most important words I can hear from someone or say to someone. Because we all think we’re the only ones, right?

The only ones

  • whose marriages struggle.
  • who wonder if it’s okay to not love every second of motherhood.
  • who wonder if it’s okay to feel called to be a mom.
  • who’ve been hurt by the church.
  • who love the church.
  • who believe (fill in the blank) is the best way to live.

The truth is that we’re never alone in whatever ways we struggle. Others have been there. Others are going through it. Others have overcome it.

The hard part is finding the “others.”

Because I don’t know about you but when I look around at the people in my life, I’m certain everyone else has it all together. I’m sure no one else struggles the same way I do. And I’m terrified, sometimes, to ask if that’s true because I’m afraid that it will be.

So, how do we combat this walking around feeling like we’re alone syndrome?

Well, sometimes we have to go first. We have to be the ones to say: “This is how I struggle.” We have to risk vulnerability (and consequently being hurt) and trust that no one will run away screaming because we are freakishly abnormal.

This is hard. And the times I’ve done it have felt like walking naked into a room full of fully clothed people. But sometimes, not always, when that happens, other people start to take that risk too and we find out we’re not alone.

But what if you just can’t do that? What if you’re too alone or too isolated or too hurt to let real-life people in?

Well, that’s where a group called (in)courage can help. Today, registration opens for the next session of (in)courage community groups–small groups of women meeting, sharing, encouraging and connecting through social media. There are groups for various interests and seasons of life. Interested? Check it out here.

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I’ve been part of a group for two sessions now, and I can’t remember how I found it, but I’m so glad I did. I joined at a time when our lives were upside-down and backwards and I needed to know that there were other people out there whose plans for life and ministry were upturned. I’ve been encouraged and prayed for by women I’ve never met in person who live hundreds of miles away, and yet I consider them friends.

That is the strength of these groups.

This session, I’ll be co-leading the group and participating in some blog link-ups on the topics of encouragement and friendship. Would you consider joining one? Read through the information about how the groups work, look at all the options and then give it a try! I don’t believe these groups are meant to replace face-to-face friendships, but sometimes the people who might understand us best aren’t accessible in real life.

The first session begins in a week, and registration closes in two weeks.

You’re not alone. And you don’t have to walk alone. Community can be just a few clicks away.

Letter to a stranger: How you can encourage a hero

Next month, a team from The Exodus Road will travel to Southeast Asia as part of their work rescuing children from sex trafficking. During that visit, they also plan to deliver letters of encouragement to the investigators who do the front-line work of rescue: posing as customers, collecting video evidence, and all the while putting themselves in danger for someone else’s freedom. Here’s an open letter of thanks and encouragement to an investigator. If you’d like to write your own, the address and instructions are at the bottom of this post. Deadline is January 5.

Dear investigator,

I don’t know you. We’ll probably never meet. But your work, it inspires me.

In a world full of darkness, you are a light.

In a world quickly losing hope in humanity, you are living, breathing hope. ER-flower

You are courageous and committed, going into places few of us will ever see or would ever want to. You go willingly where others have gone unwillingly.

You stifle your own fears to get the job done. You offer life and rescue to those who have given up on both.

You choose to go in with no guarantees of your safety or success in your mission. And still you go.

You will never be publicly recognized as a hero because you work undercover. And still you go.

And half a world away, I am grateful.

Words from another letter, written centuries ago, seem appropriate for this letter as well: “Do not become weary in doing good.” The good you do changes lives.

I humbly send these words to encourage you, wishing I could do more to strengthen your resolve. You do not carry this burden alone.

Keep fighting for rescue where you are. I will do my part where I am.

And together, we will shine a light on the darkest parts of the world.

With great thanks,

Lisa

Want to write your own?

Handwritten letters can be mailed by January 5 to:

The Exodus Road PO Box 7591 Woodland Park, Colorado 80863

OR submit one online. The crew at The Exodus Road will translate your letters, if necessary, and hand-deliver them in January.

The Exodus Road blogging crew has more than 60 members. If each blogger and four readers write a letter, the team will send more than 300 letters to investigators in the field. Will you be one of the four?

Here are The Exodus Road founders Matt and Laura talking about why this is important.

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