The Simplicity of Sharing
I thought it would be 14 days, give or take. Tuesday, May 19th will mark 64 days.
For several years I've been part of a bible study that includes a diverse group of women. Some of these women are part of a Redemption campus, some come from small churches in the east valley and some do not currently have a church home. March 16th was the last night that we met in person and with the coronavirus building steam in the US, we felt that it was appropriate to set aside our study and simply share scripture and pray together. Not knowing what the upcoming weeks would bring, it was suggested that we encourage each other through text with a daily scripture and I was nominated to do so...and to make them "look nice".
- That simple promise to encourage happened before we knew there would be no gathering in person for bible study and no gathering corporately for worship for a week...then two...then indefinitely.
- That simple commitment to design these verses and text them to our group of 16 women daily spilled over into many of us passing them on directly and through social media and seeing others share them and be encouraged by them.
- That simple dedication to sharing God's word daily through design unfolded into making new cards to encourage our R/Kids volunteers, friends, family and people God was laying on my heart. When you have tools in hand, it makes reaching out natural.
- That simple determination to point my friends to our known and trusted Savior in the midst of this unknown season with often untrustworthy information has kept my eyes focused on the Lord in a time that Satan would love to use to derail my thought life and cause fear and discouragement.
- As churches stopped meeting corporately, that simple daily text led to sharing our Redemption service with the group each Sunday- to some who didn't have a church home to begin with and others whose church was not in a position to host online messages. Sundays became a connection point for both the word and for worship.
I have been deeply blessed by this simple request to lean into God's word in an intentional way.
Coronavirus quarantine has become an opportunity to grow deeper with these women (and finish our study via zoom), strengthen our faith, reach out beyond ourselves and many other ways that have yet to reveal themselves.