Years ago, at our church, there was a small select group of women that pretty much did everything. A lot of times it goes like that. You’ve heard the saying 20% of the people do 80% of the work. This was different though. They didn’t actually want help. Several women offered to help for upcoming events and they would get turned down. I don’t think they meant to be exclusive but that’s how it came off. I was one of the people that tried to volunteer. I was trying to make Christian friends and instead I felt shut out. Years later God has sifted and shifted our church and what remains is amazing. We do Women’s Bible Study on Mondays. A few years back, we were doing a particular study and we decided to have everyone give their testimony. Two or three women would stand up each week before we began and tell the story of their life. It was incredible. I had known these women for years but it wasn’t until I heard their stories that I really understood them. Stories of incredible pain, abuse, grief and ultimately, through the grace of God, victory. I already knew I liked all these women, truly liked them, but after hearing about the pieces of their journey, I was amazed and inspired by them. Lots of tears and laughter came from that time. I consider it a sacred gift from God that I got to experience that with them. Since then, I can honestly say, every one of us has bonded with the others. I can’t express to you what these women mean to me. They cheer me on, encourage me, pray over and for me. I know my prayer requests will be met with an onslaught of fierce women charging the gates of heaven on my behalf and I on theirs. What God has done is miraculous. A small preview of a heavenly community. Believer’s coming together to praise, worship and adore the one who loves us so dearly, He died for us.

We are all as real as it gets. No one tries to be the perfect christian. We have no need for pretenses. We bring it all. The ugly, the pain and the praise. By being able to be ourselves, we have found freedom in this perfection seeking world. I used to wonder why I couldn’t be the (almost) perfect christian since God was perfect. He deserves a much better daughter than me. But me, is who I am. After getting to know these fierce, incredible, christian women, I realize we all have areas that have yet to be sanctified. Not because I noticed that about them, it’s actually the opposite. They would say that about themselves and I would think, “No way”! I desperately needed their honesty to stop the cycle of self-condemnation. Had they pretended to be the perfect Christians, I would have believed that I was hopeless and the only one to struggle in my walk.

We take a break between each completed Bible study and I miss them, their fellowship. I miss the laughter and the tears. They are so precious to me, I can’t even imagine how this group must touch the heart of God. Oh, I still get to see them on Sundays, but still. I wish you went to my church. I would love to hear every fierce woman’s story, to get to know you for who you actually are and not who you think you should be. To hear your testimony. To pray for you and to love you like they have loved me, in spite of me. Isn’t that the exact kind of love Jesus was talking about when He said in John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” that we love one another in spite of our flaws and imperfections? People who come to our church recognize right away the love we have for one another. They always comment how everyone is so nice and the best part of it for me is that it is 100% genuine. Now when we have an event, the majority of ladies say “what can I bring, how can I help?” Every one working together, no exceptions, no exclusions. A keyhole peek into eternity.

Proverbs 27:17  Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

Photo credit: Bobbi Adams

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