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Community

October 26, 2010 in Community, Community [series], Faith, Family, Life with 12 Comments

I’m an introvert, it’s difficult for me to make friends.  To put myself out there, well it’s hard.  Online it’s a bit easier.

When I got the inkling to do this series I started talking about it with Jenny.  We’d discussed on many occasions how we’ve both been blessed by the people we’d connected with through blogging and Twitter. We’d both experienced and developed deep and meaningful relationships not only with each other but with people around the world.

Many people don’t get it.  Don’t get the connection between two people who have never met that live on opposite sides of the world.  And that’s okay.  I don’t get the connection between two football fans, whose bodies are painted with their team’s colors standing in a form of community as they cheer their team on, but that doesn’t mean that connection isn’t there.

Over the last year or so I’ve watched as my local friendships, community have waned.  Friends we always hung out with we rarely get together with.  Other confidants – the return of phone calls ceased to exist.  As these relationships became less close, those online became closer.  I met new friends that I would soon end up pouring my heart and soul out to over email and Skype and text.  I had new friends that were genuinely interested in me and my struggles and joyous celebrations of the faith.  That spent time with head bowed in fervent prayer for me.

This was oh so evident four weeks ago as I tweeted asking for prayer giving no details, only to receive DM after DM from friends saying they were praying and giving their cell numbers telling me to call no matter the time.  Friends that continued to pray as we found out Shawn needed an emergency appendectomy.  Prayed for him and for me.

As my tangent friendships became fewer, God brought ones that I couldn’t touch but that have met me where I’ve been.

Last week at work I was thinking about the people who say you can’t have deep, meaningful relationships with people online.  I started thinking about Paul.  The apostle, the missionary, the church planter extraordinaire.  I realized that he had deep, meaningful, passionate relationships with the congregations of the churches he helped start.  Some of the people he knew, but as the churches grew more he did not.  Yet he still had connection and community even with those people.  His letters to them were full of love, correction, and passion for who these people were and their relationship with Christ.  To either him or the people in the church the miles in between and the the never having met didn’t matter.  They still loved.  They still had community.

I’ve been blessed by so many.  My life has been touched and challenged.  You’ve caused me to think.  To pray.  To cry.  I’ve hurt when you hurt.  Rejoiced when you’ve rejoiced.

Thank you for being community.

A very special thank you to Tammy, Elora, Alece, Jenni, Jenny, & Jen(ny) for joining me in this celebration over the last week.  I’m am enthralled to “know” each of you.  I can’t wait to meet over coffee, dinner, across a living room.  To hug you long and fierce.  To say in person what each of you mean to me.  I am beyond blessed.

With love…Prudy

Community – Jenny Rain

October 25, 2010 in Community, Community [series], Faith, Family, Guest Blogging, Life, On Mission with 11 Comments

Jenny has become one of my closest confidants over the last few months.  She’s someone I text when I’m battling a bad mood.  We have Skype dates and though our pups have never met, they’re best pup friends.  Jenny’s blog.  Jenny’s Twitter.

We’ve talked this week about online community.

Is it real?

Is it sustainable?

Does it make a difference and if so, how?

We have heard personal stories, watched beautiful connections develop, and listened as people have expressed why they feel online community is real  or at least real to them.

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Yet is online community practical?

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Because at the end of the day, as much as we love the mooshy-gooshy feel good stuff, we all have lives to live, mouths to feed, and tasks to complete.

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My left-brain wants to know if online community works.

I want to know if online community makes an impact in our practical, everyday life?

I believe that it can and it is.

True Biblical community is supposed to be about life change and life change is exactly what is happening in these online communities.

When Tam received a new bed from her online community and she began sleeping through the night for the first time in years.

When Elora and Russ shared on their blog some of their very-real financial struggles and watched as a community of folks showed up with practical assistance.

When Alece stepped off the plane into the awaiting arms of an online community she was meeting IRL for the first time… and then watched as God used that community to support her through the crucible of a valley-experience AND came together at a bloggers meet up to raise funds for Thrive Africa, a ministry she started in Africa.

When Jenni and Brian renewed their vows surrounded by several of their best friends – who two years prior had only been known to them across the blogosphere.

When Gitz was surrounded by the (in)courage reader community during the loss of her sweet father.

And as several of us have made the trek overseas on mission, how a loving online community came together to pray for our journeys and do guest posts while we were gone.

True biblical community is what the church is called to be to each other.

Church is happening online.

It is powerful. It is real. It is good…

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In closing… I will share my unfolding story of the power of online community in creating life-change.

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I am a regular reader at the Ragamuffin community, not only because Carlos (@loswhit aka Los) is hilarious and impacting simultaneously, but also because the group of Ragamuffins there are really good peeps.

For the last several months I have been looking, praying, researching for a DSL camera because I want to be able to capture the essence of “moments” whether they are on the field in Africa or in my back-yard.

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Last week Carlos posted a blog entitled Share your Photos and Gear and the Ragamuffins shared!

One reader – Jay – shared this:

To which I replied:


Two hours later – I had purchased a Nikon D700 and it is on its way to me TODAY!

Just in time for my Burundi trip next week

With camera case, strap, and a gogillian memory cards thrown in out of the goodness of Jay’s heart.

All at a great discount “Because I was a fellow Ragamuffin”

Not once was I worried that he was a scammer, because he was a part of this great community I loved {Plus, knowing Los and the community, if Jay was a scammer… the community would have united in protest!}

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So now I have the big-girl camera I’ve been looking for just in time for my Burundi trip at a cost that I could not have even gotten on e-bay.

A practical-solution to an every day need.

A solution generated by online community.

An event that will undoubtedly be transformational as I step into this new season of my life.

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Does online community work?

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Yes.

All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. Acts 4.32 (NLT)

Lisa Jo, Tracee, Alece, Jenny

Community – Jenni Clayville

October 21, 2010 in Community, Community [series], Faith, Family, Guest Blogging, Life, On Mission with 22 Comments

Jenni’s story inspires me in what community is and should be.  It is a story full of grace and redemption.  I’m inspired also by how she’s opened her home and heart to people she’s met on Twitter and blogging for months at a time.  Jenni’s blog.  Jenni’s Twitter.

If someone told me that I would have found some of my closest and most trusted friends via social media 5 years ago… I would have laughed in their faces.

I’ve always had friends. It’s always been important to me to be surrounded by people. But no matter how surrounded I was, I usually felt pretty alone. However, I believed as long as I was surrounded, then at LEAST I would look normal… whatever that means.

It wasn’t until I confessed my BIGGEST MORAL FAILURE, did I begin to realize how alone I really was.

Besides about 5 friends, the friends I had, or use to have, around me no longer seemed interested in being around me. I’m not sure if it was because they were hurt by my decisions, didn’t want to be associated with such a public sinner or if it was because they just didn’t know what to say. Whichever way, I totally understood and counted it as a consequence to my poor choices.

I was alone. I was hurting.

But then God.

God took this time to not only reveal loving friends I never new existed, but He showed me who my real friends were. My true “besties” rose to the surface. And guess where many of us had met?

… ON EACH OTHERS BLOGS AND ON TWITTER.

These people not only prayed for Brian and my restoration, but they called, emailed, texted and encouraged us. There were days I wasn’t sure I had a friend in the world. Heck… my husband didn’t even like me. And I deserved it. And at those darkest moments, Trish or Tam would call. Or Crystal would text. Or Diane would DM me (just to name a few). And I knew…

… Though I was lonely… I wasn’t alone.

Last May, Brian and I renewed our vows. Our ceremony was intentionally VERY small. We only invited the people we felt were instrumental in our healing process. Our angels.

For the first time ever, I feel filled and surrounded more often than I feel alone. Life is SO different now.

“Human life in common is only made possible when a majority comes together which is stronger than any separate individual and which remains united against all separate individuals. The power of this community is then set up as “right” in opposition to the power of the individual, which is condemned as “brute force.”" ~ Sigmund Freud

Community has nothing to do with what is around you as much as it includes WHO has infiltrated your heart.

Community is who you let in.

Community is a reflection of you when you finally choose to be real and honest about who YOU are.

Community is what you were born to be.

The rest of the series:

Tammy ……… Alece ………Elora ……… Jen Sparks ……… Jenny Schmitz

Community – Elora

October 20, 2010 in Community, Community [series], Faith, Family, Guest Blogging, Life, On Mission with 17 Comments

I think Elora and I are sisters from different mothers.  We share the same heart for those far from God, those in poverty and orphaned.  I’m not sure when or how we connected – I think she commented on my blog & then I checked her’s out and never left.  We text, we email, we twitter.  We almost met in real life a few weeks ago until some other things happened <insert :( here>.  One day we will meet, New Mexico cannot stand in our way. ;-)   Elora’s blog.  Elora’s twitter.

Sometimes, when I’m talking to other people, I hear how crazy it sounds. I see the questions in their eyes. You have friends….online? And I get it. I get the ridiculous bent of their eyebrows as they fight laughing at me.

But I also get they just don’t understand.

The truth: My husband & I are part of a community of believers where even though we have never met in person, if at any point a need arose, we’d be there in a heartbeat.

Why? Because we’ve experienced the unquestionable generosity of these friends more than once.

Last year, Russ & I went through a period of time where everything around us was going haywire. Without any warning, we found ourselves in a state of limbo where spiritually we knew what God wanted of us, but physically? We just didn’t see any way. And then Russ wrote this post. He didn’t write it in order to spark a catalyst of compassion on our behalf. He wrote it out of honesty and conviction.

Within 24 hours, our community of friends gathered around us and began to support us through this difficult time.

Our friend Dave Ingland, whom we met on twitter earlier in the year through Idea Camp, posted a challenge on his blog – asking for prayer & support on our behalf. We didn’t even realize what was going on and before we knew it, we were receiving text messages, DM’s, and @reply’s from people all over the US letting us know we were in their prayers. Later that week a donation was sent to our paypal with the exact amount we would need for bills. We never even asked – never even considered praying for God to do something. We knew we were in a place where faith was essential, but the thought of people online coming to our aid just didn’t cross our mind. But God’s provision didn’t stop there.

Later that month, a friend we knew through Invisible Children who read Russ’ post sent us the cash she found in her purse. The day we got her letter in the mail, we spent the last of our cash buying prescriptions at the pharmacy. Opening the letter and finding the exact amount we just spent was one of the richest moments of our marriage. I remember reading her words of encouragement and feeling God’s presence – hearing Him whisper, “I’m here. Keep going.”

And we did.

Russ & I knew before this the power of online community. We knew, through events like The Rescue, what can happen when people join together and use social media for good. We never experienced it personally though – and at such a neck-breaking velocity. Suddenly, we looked at eachother and realized, “oh. so this is community. This is what it looks like to give so someone else can have…”

Since the spring, we’ve grown considerably. Not only has God revealed to us the power of online community, He’s blessed us with an incredible in-house group of friends who challenge and walk hand-in-hand with us daily. As I’m writing this, I’m texting my friends, planning a pancake supper with one of our kids & his mama and tweeting at people from across the country – encouraging them in what they learned at church. Never before has the church had this capability to connect at such a constant level. It’s exciting.

And challenging.

When we came back from Africa this past summer, my heart suffered for weeks. I mean, there were things I experienced I probably won’t ever find words for – and it showed. My blogs frequented the topic and danced around the trip, trying to find the perfect way to describe the change in my heart. My tweets revealed my struggle with culture shock – the discrepancy between our excess and their need – it was just too much. And while I was at home, it was bearable. I knew I could call one of my friends who understood and we could go grab coffee. But then I left town for a teachers’ conference…and where those around me wouldn’t understand because they weren’t there – my friends online stood in the gap. Not a day went by without an e-mail or DM or personal card (thanks, Prudy) encouraging me and lifting me in prayer. Processing a trip is difficult enough with other people – but it’s absolutely impossible doing it on your own. Without my friends coming together and praying for me, I’m not sure how I would have made it through that week.

I know there may be a few people who won’t ever understand our relationship with these people we’ve never met. I know we still may receive odd looks when we share the latest story of someone who we’ve been connected with through twitter  staying at our house. But…we’ve grown to accept the furrowed brows and shakes of the head with a grain of salt. Once these people experience the encouragement, prayer, support and genuine concern we’ve experienced – and once they witness the stories coming from around the country of people joining together to make a difference – then they will see the possibility.

The rest of the series:

Tammy ……… Alece ………Jenni Clayville ……… Jen Sparks ……… Jenny Schmitz

Community – Alece

October 19, 2010 in Community, Community [series], Faith, Family, Guest Blogging, Life, On Mission with 98 Comments

Alece is one of those people you instantly fall in love with.  Her story is full of heart break and beautiful growing redemption.  She has connected with people across oceans and state borders.  From living in small South African Villages to major metropolitan US cities. Alece’s Blog.  Alece’s Twitter.

It’s so normal to me that I don’t even really think about it anymore.

Most of my friends are people I met online.

Although I’ve gotta be honest… Using that phrase ”met online” bugs me. It seems to diminish or devalue the experience and the friendships because of the negative connotations it holds for so many.

I never make distinctions like ”online friends” and ”in real life friends”. There is no delineation between them. A friend is a friend, no matter where or how we met.

The friendships I’ve built over the internet are every bit as real, deep, and authentic as any I’ve ever built face-to-face.

Maybe even more so.

Because I articulate myself better in writing, I’m quicker to dive into weighty topics over Twitter, email, and blogging than I probably would in person. Then once that groundwork is laid, it’s a whole lot easier for me to carry on that conversation offline.

Authenticity breeds authenticity. And while there are those who misrepresent themselves online, the majority of people I’ve gotten to know have proven themselves to be genuine.

Being real makes others feel safe to do the same.

And that’s how great friendships get built.

My life is full of them. And I am so incredibly grateful.

I have more friends now than I’ve ever had. I don’t say that to try to sound popular. (Because, trust me, I’m not. At all.) I say it with a shake of my head and disbelief in my voice. I can’t seem to find the right words to convey how astounded and humbled I am by the relationships God has gifted me with.

Because they truly are a gift.

And they have carried me through the most difficult season of my life. Even those people I haven’t had the chance to hug yet.

Honestly, as long as we’re bringing our true selves, it doesn’t matter if we get together in Starbucks or in an email.

Friendships are about connections of the heart.

And hearts hang out in the strangest of places.

Check out the rest of the series:

Tammy

Community – Tammy

October 18, 2010 in Community, Community [series], Faith, Family, Guest Blogging, Life, On Mission with 19 Comments

I’m hosting a series this week and the first part of next on community found through social media (Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, etc.).  I’m super excited about each lady that is posting here this week.  They are remarkable in their own beautiful way.  One I’ve met and the other five I can’t wait to.  I believe that God has allowed social media to serve as a place where community is fostered.  Please welcome these ladies as they share their experiences and feel free to share your thoughts each day. – Prudy

Tammy is someone I find quirky, and someone I think of as more my age than her nearly 4-0 (5 yrs of difference so I guess we’re kind of the same age).  I have a great deal of respect for this lovely lady.  Tam’s blog.  Tam’s Twitter.

I live in a small town. A very small town. It seems everyone knows everyone here. If you were born here…you die here. If you weren’t born here, you came here to retire…then die. ;)

The living is simple, relaxed, slow-going. It’s a conservative community with pockets of liberalism that typically is not received well.
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That’s just life here. I’ve grown accustomed to it, but have never embraced it. I grew up in Southern California where there is a myriad of lifestyles to behold. Thousands of differing opinions in a group of 3 people. Risk takers at every turn. And I have missed that for many years.
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In 2007 I started a blog. It didn’t take much time for me to meet people. A handful of bloggers kept returning to my little piece of the web and, honestly, I thought they were crazy. Why on earth would they want to talk to me? After some time it occurred to me… We all see something new, something different in one another, something we want to learn more about.
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I started craving the differences. Appreciating them. Digging into them. Learning from them. Suddenly, all I have been missing for so many years was at my fingertips. One of my first friends was an Atheist I met arguing with on an Atheists Blog. Seriously, I must have been slipped some brave pills in my orange juice. He and I are friends to this day.
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Perhaps it was because I let my guard down. Perhaps it’s because we all do here. Sure, there are some who are all a facade. And those ones are spotted rather easily. But you know when you meet a genuine friend on the net. There’s a connect. An instant bond. It’s unexplainable really. They become an extension of your family.
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We have had nearly 30 different people come through our home whom we’ve met online. Some say that is crazy. We say it is perfectly normal.
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Each and everyone we’ve met “IRL” or online have added something special to our family. They have encouraged us, challenged us, surprised us, gifted us, embraced us, loved each of us for who we are. Not all of us have the same view of God, the Church, politics, outreach, social justice and so on…and that’s okay. We sharpen each other. We’re not carbon copies. We stretch one another…learning to appreciate and embrace differences while valuing the impact we can make in this world. A very big world the internet has brought together, made to be within our reach, in ways I never thought possible.

The rest of the series:

Alece ………Jenni Clayville ……… Jen Sparks ……… Jenny Schmitz

Friday – Winner

October 15, 2010 in Family, Life with 1 Comment

I’m super excited about today’s winner.  She’s gonna be super excited too.

She asked me jokingly to rig the contest…and well I didn’t even have to.

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Congrats Jenny Sparks!!!

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Email me your address to prudy at prudychick.com.

Thanks to everyone who participated this week.  Next week I have a series next week that I’m excited about.

Have a great weekend all.

Worth All the Money and More

October 6, 2010 in Compassion Int'l, Family, India, Life, Nikita with 6 Comments

I want to scoff at those who think child sponsorship doesn’t work.  Those who think that their money can be spent better elsewhere than on those who Jesus commanded us to take care of.

Yesterday we received an updated picture of Nikita.  The young girl we sponsor through Compassion.  We’ve sponsored her for nearly a year and a half now.  I love that God has allowed her to be a part of our lives.  This young lady who loves dogs, calls us Uncle and Aunt, always sends hugs and kisses for us and our doggies.  This young lady who in part we think of almost like a daughter.

The photo we received yesterday showed her with a study desk that she was able to buy with money we’d sent for her birthday.  The initial picture in her sponsorship packet show a sad, maybe even scared little girl has been replaced with a smiling, happy young lady.  As soon as I saw her picture my eyes brimmed with tears.  I couldn’t believe the change.

Sponsorship works.  It works for them and it works for those who sponsor.  Every monthly amount, every birthday gift, every family gift, every care package with stickers, coloring pages, paper dolls, puppets, construction paper, little books…..

All of it is worth it!

Beautiful Words

October 1, 2010 in Faith, Family, Life with 12 Comments

This has been a rough week.  Shawn’s appendectomy.  I stepped on a safety pin last night.  Lack of sleep. Etc…  I’m a little brain dead and said brain is having to it’s best in 1st gear as it’s Month End at work and invoices to our customers just don’t happen on their own.

So today…..an easy post.  Share your favorite Bible passage.  It can be long or short.  You can put the whole thing in your comment or just a link to the passage.

If there is a story behind & you want to share feel free.

For me, I was turned here by a wonderful pastor’s wife over 14 years ago.  I was on medication for in active Tuberculosis.  The meds were hard on me in a number of different ways.  A few of them being weight gain, acne, and bouts of depression.  This lovely lady and friend turned me here.  She shared with me God’s thoughts of me.

Psalm 139 (NLT)

O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up.  You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home.  You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.  You go before me and follow me.  You place your hand of blessing on my head.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!

I can never escape from your Spirit!  I can never get away from your presence!  If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there.  If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.  I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.  To you the night shines as bright as day.  Darkness and light are the same to you.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.  Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!  Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.  You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.  You saw me before I was born.  Every day of my life was recorded in your book.  Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.  They cannot be numbered!  I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!  And when I wake up, you are still with me!

O God, if only you would destroy the wicked!  Get out of my life, you murderers!  They blaspheme you; your enemies misuse your name.  O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you?  Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you?  Yes, I hate them with total hatred, for your enemies are my enemies.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

You’re turn:

Trust

September 27, 2010 in Faith, Family, FEAR, Life with 6 Comments

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