Blog

by Julie Zine Coleman @JulieZColeman

As we wrapped up a successful women’s church retreat, where women had made meaningful spiritual and personal connections, I overheard someone remark, “I wish we could have this kind of fellowship more than once a year.”

I began to wonder: why don’t we? What is keeping us from developing into a closer community? Where women share in their walk with the Lord, get support from their spiritual sisters, and offer encouragement to those who are struggling? 

In a few short weeks, a new small group was born. All of the women in our church were invited to be a part of our weekly meeting. After a few weeks of trying to work out what would be the best way to go about it, we settled into a general format. 

There were ten of us, and after coffee and refreshments, we met for an hour together.  We went around the room, each person sharing a high, a low, and a Spirit experience from the previous week. A high was a something especially encouraging to them, and the low was something that caused sadness or discouragement. Spirit was a time during that week when they could see or sense God at work: something He was revealing to them, or how He was intervening in their lives. 

What the women shared served as windows into their lives. Their willingness to be vulnerable was an invitation for the group to share wisdom, give input, and offer support. We celebrated, commiserated, and struggled together. Friendships grew. Encouragement abounded. Love covered every word spoken.

We call the group Sojourners, and three years later, we are still meeing. We have wept with our friends over one’s marriage break up, another’s loss of a job, wayward children and extended family issues. Honest questions about God have spawned great spiritual discussions. We have celebrated victories, both big and small. The bonds that have formed have gone way beyond my greatest expectations.

Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV) urges us: “…Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” We were never meant to walk this faith journey alone.

Even while not physically meeting in person, a writer/reader relationship can serve that same purpose. We are all on the same faith journey. So we write with vulnerability, sharing our weaknesses and failures. We write in honesty, without pretense. We write what God has been teaching or doing in us. We write as living examples of what life can be when we value what God values and align ourselves with His purposes. Tempering it all with the humility that comes from knowing first-hand of God’s mercy and grace.

That kind of writing will bring glory to God, as we were created to do. As Paul wrote the church at Corinth: “Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God” (2 Corinthians 3:4-5 NIV).

We write in love. Without that important component, we will be like a clanging cymbal or a noisy gong (1 Corinthians 13:1).

Effective writing communicates our true selves, and our trust in a God for whom nothing is impossible. Hopefully the Holy Spirit will use our words to build up and encourage. As we write, we are walking side-by-side with others who need words of life—our fellow sojourners.

Julie Zine Coleman is an award-winning author, speaker, and member of the Pastoral Team at New Hope Chapel. She is the managing editor for the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association’s devotional website, Arise Daily. Julie holds a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies and has authored four books including Unexpected Love: God’s Heart Revealed through Jesus’ Conversations with Women and On Purpose: Understanding God’s Freedom for Women through Scripture, which was named The Golden Scrolls Book of the Year as well as The Selah Awards’ Director’s Choice. Julie and her husband have four grown children, six grandchildren, and one crazy Golden Retriever puppy.