Back in the spring, a group of my favorite internet ladies decided to join forces for a newsletter. The idea was to share more words than would fit in an Instagram caption and to foster community among other journalers who were struggling to find their voice. We’ve taken turns over the last six months, collectively sharing a weekly entry with our readers. It’s been hard and wonderful and thought provoking and I have stretched my faith and grown so much during our time together. You know how when you first meet a new friend and you try your best to squeeze in time with her as often as you can? How you rearrange your schedule and avoid obligations and cancel your least favorite activities, just to have more time with her? That’s kind of what Stones & Sparrows felt like from the beginning. We were so excited to partner with each other and eager to share what was on our hearts. We moved other things around and always put the newsletter on the top of our list. Then we remembered that we can’t avoid our families and responsibilities and Jesus, forever. As five women with loads of important things on our plate, we felt like we weren’t always bringing you our best. We struggled to get our thoughts composed in time and have been afraid of disappointing our readers. For this reason, we’ve decided to take a short break to redirect our focus and pray about our future. For now, I’ll be continuing to share Bible pages over on Instagram (did you notice they were back?) and sharing a few of my previous newsletter articles here on the blog. I always get such great feedback from journal entries here and I want to make that a regular feature again. I have missed daily journaling and I’m working hard to make it a regular part of my day again. I’m not sure what the future will hold for us collectively, but these four women have ministered to me in such amazing ways over the last year and even if it was only for a season, I have loved gathering stones with them.
To Arden, Bekah, Kristen & Neely — you have been the best imaginary friends a girl could ask for. xoxo
Originally posted on April 5, 2016.
I’m not entirely sure where to start. It’s a little intimidating to be the first person to share in this space, but it seems only natural since I sent the message that started it all. Back in the fall, I casually reached out to four women who I found immensely inspiring. I had been following them all on social media for a while, but felt inclined to reach out to them in a more personal way. I sent a simple message that would open the door for an amazing friendship to come.
For the last seven months, Arden, Bekah, Kristen, Neely, and I have shared in daily conversation. Oftentimes it is filled with Biblical revelation and prayer. Sometimes it’s a way to let off steam after a long day or share encouragement with one another. Other times it’s just a place to laugh and be honest and real in a way we can’t always be in curated squares on the internet. Aside from a renewed relationship with Jesus and better knowledge of the Word, the greatest reward of the last year has been this [Illustrated Faith] community and the amazing friendships it has borne. It is hard to imagine loving these girls any more if I had met them face to face.
Before the beginning of the year, we started talking about what it might look like to share something collectively within this community. What if we could start a conversation with you that looked more like the ones we were already having with each other? What if we could encourage you and cry with you and laugh with you? What if instead of sharing a quick caption that is all too often overlooked, we could pour our hearts out in a place designed just for that?
We had been back and forth for weeks about when and how to share and what to call this space. I’ll let some of the other girls tell you what was on their hearts and minds during that time, but I wanted to share with you what God laid out so clearly for me. After batting around ideas on a Saturday in early March, I walked into worship with these friends heavy on my heart. We had been talking about how we couldn’t wait to have an opportunity to meet face to face. Worship was especially powerful that morning and I was just standing there, lost in the music and thinking about how amazing it would be if they were there. I was thinking about how much I want to show them the places I grew up and to introduce them to my family and to worship alongside them in a church that has completely transformed my life in the last seven months.
Most Sundays, we have our own praise and worship at our local campus and then join our collective church for the message. This particular Sunday, they had us join together earlier in the service for a single worship song. Our pastor talked as the instruments began to play and he shared about the importance of making a collective statement of faith to show each other and the world that we are in agreement about the things that we believe and the community to which we belong. I cried through the words of The Creed as we lifted our voices together in unison and was so amazed at how God used him to preach about community in a moment when I couldn’t think about anything else.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-5 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven… a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them.” Genesis 31:46 says, “And Jacob said to his relatives, ‘Gather some stones.’ So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap.” We are standing here holding stones and we have two choices. We can throw them at each other, causing insult and injury, or we can heap them up together and build an altar. I love the idea of covenant relationships. As described in the Bible, covenants define a relationship. They are not conditional, offer no expiration, and are governed by God. I am so excited to be part of a larger community of women who connect over scripture and creativity, but I have longed for a handful of friendships where I could be open and honest about what God is doing in my life and how He is teaching me and guiding me through this daily time in His word. I hope that you will come to love this opportunity as much as we already do. I hope you will share our words and your own. I hope you will find women to connect and identify with and who bring out the very best in you. We can’t wait to gather stones together.
