I stand in front of a sea of faces at the (in)courage meet-up in Springfield, Missouri. When I was asked to be an MC at the event my initial response was, “This scares me silly!” I considered giving in to my fear. Letting someone else do it. Handing the microphone right over. But then I remembered one little phrase.
You’re not the only one.
You see, I had been telling myself that the other women at the event would have it all together. Their hair would be freshly highlighted, lip gloss perfectly applied and their lives (as well as kitchen cabinets) would be in proper order. They would show up overflowing with good cheer and never once think about hiding behind the cupcake tower. Unlike me.
But then I remembered how Jesus has been showing me that we are all more alike than different. We are all broken. We are all beautiful. We are all in need of grace. We are all glory-reflectors. We are the paradox people.
So I showed up and said something like this to the crowd, “We’ve come here tonight to find ourselves among friends, as (in)courage says. And C.S. Lewis once wrote, ‘Friendship is the moment when one man says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought that no one but myself….’ If that’s true then the starting place for this evening is to stop believing the lie that we’re the only one.
Friends, continue reading this post with me over at (in)courage…
