Sisters...

I was the sixth child in a family of seven children.

I have three brothers and three sisters.

Family is a powerful thing.

We all know horror stories of a family gone powerfully wrong

as well as stories of families that sound more like a family of saints than our own flawed reality.

The truth is, for most of us, we come from a family with both strengths and weaknesses,

good memories and painful ones.

At least that's my experience,

yet I can't imagine my life without them.

No one can make me belly laugh like my siblings.

We all share a quirky sense of humor,

we all share the same funny family stories and memories.

We also share in one another's childhood pains and wounds,

so we can bear each other's burdens with compassion and understanding...

we know where we came from.

I have some friends that are only children.

While I'm sure there are some pretty great things about being an only child,

give me a sibling or two or six to share my joys as well as my sorrows.

If there's one thing I've learned about the body of Christ it's this,

no one is an only child.

Oh sure, there are horror stories about people that have been terribly hurt in church

so they have chosen to withdraw away from gathering with other believers.

And maybe, somewhere out there, is a church so perfect that everyone gets along and no one ever gets offended or hurt. 

{If there is, I sure haven't heard of it.}

The truth is, for most of us, we come from churches with both strengths and weaknesses,

good memories and painful ones,

at least that's my experience,

yet I can't imagine life without by brothers and sisters in Christ.

But here's the deal,

sometimes when it comes to church,

we can't see the forest for the trees.

We hear the word church and we think of the handful of people that we actually socialize with out of the dozens, or hundreds, or thousands that gather to worship together in the building that we also call church.

So, to think of all of our siblings in Christ from various churches and denominations world wide as our brothers and sisters is more theoretical to us than reality.

Then, along came the internet.

Suddenly,  we're connecting and communicating with our brothers and sisters in Christ

across the country and even around the world via the clickity clack of our computer keyboard.

We're experiencing a foretaste of that great day when all of those who name Jesus as Lord from every tribe, tongue and nation will worship Him together.

In truth, the walls have come tumbling down in so many ways that there really is no reason for any Christian to walk alone, to live like an only child.

Maybe you're reading this and thinking, I haven't connected with others like that,

how do I get started?

Well, (in)courage wants to make it easy for you to connect with some of your other sisters in Christ.

They might not meet at the same church building as you do on Sunday mornings,

their worship style may be different than yours,

they might not even have the exact same doctrinal statement as you,

but they love the same Jesus that you do.

Today, you can register to join an (in)courage group.

There's a group to fit your area of interest, your area of need, or the season of life you are in.

Why not check it out?

As far as I'm concerned, you can never have too many sisters in your life.

still following,