You all met Team SHEkinah in a blog I wrote earlier in the Summer but can I just say I love each and every one of them like they were sisters – Abby, Bethany, Imelda, Jillian, Laine, & Raquel.
Let’s be real though … I’m independent. I’ve been doing life on my own for eight years and now I have to live with six women, 24/7, for the next 11 months? No men? I have to share my clothes and perfume? I’m selfish. There’s no way this will work. I like my alone time. I like to eat when I’m hungry not when “everyone” is hungry and contrary to what people believe about women, I do not like to talk, talk, and talk.
I don’t think this is gonna work.
…. God told me otherwise. God gave us all community. Team SHEkinah is my community, my family, and they are my sisters in Christ throughout the next 11 months.
I LOVE when they ask for a squirt of my perfume because I love them. I love eating dinner with them because they make me laugh and I love talking and learning more about them because they are all AMAZING women of God and such great teachers. Every story and tear reveals more about their hearts and helps me to learn more about myself.
When God formed our team, He did it with purpose and perfection. Abby is so logical. Bethany serves a reminder to all of us (especially me) that we must be patient. Imelda has so much wisdom. She teaches me so much. He put Jillian on Team SHEkinah for compassion and encouragement. My abs hurt every single day because I’ve never laughed as much as I do with her. Laine brings so much truth and even though it can be hard to hear, its good stuff. He put Raquel on our team to keep us grounded. And He knew that I could carry Team SHEkinah as a leader.
Its so easy for women to compare themselves to others – To believe the lie that you must be the complete package to be whole and worthy but we are all different and only because of that are we beautiful. I don’t have to be perfect in patience. I don’t have to love changing baby’s diapers. I don’t have to do it all on my own. But regardless of this, I’m still perfect in God’s eyes.
“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to us. If your gift is prophesying, the prophesy in accordance with your faith, if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching then teach; if it is to encourage, the give encouragement; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.” Romans 12:3-8
