I have a love/hate relationship with technology. On one hand, it can be so annoying. It doesn’t always work correctly, resulting in us spending extra time trying to make it do what it said it was supposed to do in the first place (I’m looking at you, Siri.) Or even worse, it lulls us into wasting inordinate amounts of time when we could be living real life. That’s the worst.

But the best of technology comes when it helps us connect our real lives with the real lives of others. When it helps us stay in touch with real, actual people we care about. Or when it joins us with a tribe of thinkers who share the same heart. That’s when I fall back in love with technology,

I have technology to thank for My People, The Jujus. I think God might have had a little something to do with it too.

Around 2010ish I read a book called Is That All He Thinks About? written by an author named Marla Taviano. The book was amazing and insightful, and I drove my friends crazy telling them all about it. We even bought copies (and the companion ebook) for everyone in our home group that year.

Because of the book, I found the author’s web site and I was hooked on reading her blog. I found myself reading through current and old posts and constantly saying things to myself like YES! Me too! I know, right?!

This lady was My People already. Marla’s writing was frank, funny, and real. The way she talked about Jesus sounded like the same exact Jesus in the bible, y’all! He wasn’t some Fix-it Felix in the sky or some weak doormat. He was The Savior of us all, just showing the world how to love and be loved.

And Marla seemed like a normal person. She shared her everyday thoughts and struggles and highs and lows. She questioned and wondered and had bad days like everyone else. On her blog, I’d commented on a few blog posts, which turned into mini-conversations, which turned into us realizing we were both about to embark on trips across the planet (me to India and her to Cambodia!!!) which then turned into emailing back and forth to share our feelings about all that. In those interactions I realized she lived across town from me. Before you know it, we were setting up a date to meet.

Since I was going to someone’s house whom I’d never met before (!!!!) I had a deal worked out with my husband that if I didn’t call by a certain time, he was to call me and/or show up at the address I gave him. Seemed totally secure to me. Turns out when I arrived, Marla was the sweetest thing ever. No axe murderers here. She and her daughters and I talked and laughed and had a great time. We ended up sending a text to my husband with a photo of me tied to a chair in her kitchen, held hostage by her three girls. (Oh how I wish I could find that picture!) Good times.

Kind of around that same time, a sweet lady I’d never heard of named Sarah was also reading Marla’s blog from the nearby state of West Virginia. She had begun heart-connecting with what she read as well. She joined Marla in a read-along group at her blog, and began the same process of chatting back and forth here and there with this new online-friend. Sarah was also a writer, with a make-you-think style somewhat like Marla’s, but with a little touch of southern belle charm. I hopped on over to her blog a few times through Marla’s as well.

By that time I was pretty sure Sarah was another one of My People, (unbeknownst to her.) When I read her thoughts, they felt a lot like mine and Marla’s—questioning, challenging, stretching. Just lovely. At some point Marla had also met Sarah, who brought her best friend Jen when she arrived on Marla’s doorstep (genius! safety in numbers, right?) and they quickly turned from online- to real-life friends.

Sarah’s friend Jen, a missionary to Honduras for 8 years, also shared the same heart as the rest of us when it came to figuring out just what Jesus meant when he talked about love, justice, mercy, and the like. She’s also a wonderfully thoughtful writer, although she would probably never say that about herself at all. Every once in awhile she would begin a Facebook post and a few minutes later shared a Sermon on the Mount of sorts. She reminds me of another Jen in my life, since she is more the quiet and reserved type. But when she opens her mouth, you’ll definitely want to be there to see what comes out of her heart.

One of Marla’s great gifts is connecting people. At some point she realized we all needed to get together. Our thoughts were so similar, we were all trying to apply God’s truth in new, similar ways in our own lives. We were each struggling a bit to find folks who wanted to think and talk about these things on a regular basis.

Not long after, some magic happened, and there we were: the four of us having coffee, closing down Panera, and throwing around ideas about solving the ills of the world. It was a beautiful, heart-building thing.

Friends, let me tell you how valuable it is to have People who are outside of your normal daily life to lean on. Sometimes you need vision outside of your immediate circle. Sometimes your people are too close to a situation to give you objective perspective on things. Sometimes it’s easier for those slightly-more- distant folks to hurt your feelings a tiny bit because they’re a little outside of your typical circle. This is what the Jujus became for me.

We’ve talked each other through raw emotions, how to love the poor well and live in the richest place in the universe, divorce, infidelity, fear about the future, feeling like we are living in two different worlds, trust, questions about theology, health issues, strongholds in our lives, longings that may or may never be fulfilled, disappointments, joyous occasions, social justice, white privilege, avoiding the Santa/savior routine, being thankful for what we have, trying to learn from things when we leave our past behind. You know, just a few light topics of conversation.

The whole Juju ideas came up in conversation one day in a conversation we were having about purging. Purging is harder than it sounds, especially when there is emotional attachment to certain belongings. Our stuff sometime symbolizes time periods, situations, or people, that are no longer in our lives. When one of these friends was talking about having a hard time purging, I mentioned that the stuff she was referring to add “bad juju” and she should get rid of it. Everybody had a good laugh over that one, and the word stuck around. From then on we would constantly throw around #TeamJuju.

As for technology, I’m so thankful for it because of My Jujus. Every week (sometimes every day!) Facebook messenger is our friend, allowing us to talk about whatever is going on in our worlds that week, even though we are all in different states and/or hemispheres.

But I’m even more thankful to God, because I know He placed us in each other’s lives at just the right time and for just the right purpose. He kinda always seems to do that, doesn’t He?

The Jujus: Jen, Marla, Sarah, & me.

I am grateful to have My Jujus (and of course the Junior Jujus, led by Chief Jr. Juju Olivia Taviano.) They are each so uniquely gifted and have such huge hearts. If you have a chance in your life to have a small, dynamic group of friends that can take any question or doubt you throw their way and barely even flinch, then you know you are sitting side by side with some of Your People.

Friends, one of My Jujus is hurting right now. Jen’s momma is in the hospital due to some problems with her heart. She will be having a bypass next week, but for right now could you just pray for healing for her momma? Thank you, lovelies.

Have you ever known someone so determined to do what they know they’ve been put on this planet to do that nothing in the world can stop them? That pretty much sums up my friend Delaine.

So, there was this one time that Delaine decided to teach herself the language of Hindi. HINDI. Before you read another word, check out this video that Rosetta Stone produced about Delaine, highlighting how she used the program to teach herself Hindi at home. Like a BOSS.

And when people asked Delaine why she was trying to teach herself this difficult language? I snagged this post from her Facebook page that explains it all:

January 7, 2014

Why Hindi and Marathi?

Because when I go back to India, I want to pray for those in the villages in their own language. I want them to know that God is calling people all the way over here in the West to leave their homes and love on and care for the tiniest of villages in the East.

Our love for India is what brought us together. At the time, I had recently returned from my trip there and Delaine had been longing to go back. She and her family have huge hearts for India and have been called to show God’s love to its people. I know one day, when the time is right, I’ll be writing a blog post about how they moved there to live full-time among Their People. I cannot wait for that day!

But one of the things I love most about Delaine is that she doesn’t just dream about living in India. She works while she waits. Another post from her Facebook page illustrates what I’m talking about:

May 23, 2013 · Columbus, OH

There’s no need to wait until I get to India to be philanthropic and generous- not when there are felt needs and real wounds right here in my community, my church, and even my Facebook wall. God’s mission isn’t beginning and ending with one trip- but He calls each of us to do what we can to help others wherever.we.are.

EXACTLY. Every single one of us has work to do right where we are. And if we don’t know specifically what that work is, then we can just jump in and help someone else do their work until it becomes more clear to us. What we cannot do is sit by idly while the world hurts in so many ways. We can each offer the little tiny talents we have to make a difference.

Delaine and I are actually fairly new friends. We just met a few years ago (our first breakfast date was Dec 1, 2012!) but when she describes us kindred spirits, she’s not kidding.

Throughout this 31 Days series, I’ve been asking each of My People to answer a few questions to help me guide my writing and potentially remember anecdotes that this old brain has forgotten somehow. Just a few simple, quick answers. But my friend Delaine has done a full-blown interview here, and I am blown away. (She is clearly prone to exaggeration because she says way too many wonderful things about me here.) But it’s incredible to know that things we think might be small gestures toward Our People can mean so much.

KC: What do you recall about how/when we first met/ became friends?

D: We met at a time where I felt like God was asking me to pursue justice and compassion in India, but I wasn’t seeing any doors opening to do so. I was so frustrated because each time I even mentioned living in India, it was met with surprise and doubt by well-meaning friends and family. I didn’t really feel like I had an ally who had been to India and could give me guidance as to what to expect and how to engage with this beautiful people. Up until the day we met, Jonathan and I had given financially to build a water well in Bangalore, but had no real concrete ties to the land or the people.

I remember feeling like I had met a kindred spirit, a “sisters, indeed” sort of feeling! We met through a real life friend, Marla, and she connected us because of our involvement with India.

I loved how you encouraged me to move forward with loving people in India, and living a sold-out life in service to others. You were not shy about how painful that can be at times.  You understood what it felt like to be overwhelmed with love and overtaken with immobility at the same time. You were real with me. And to find out that you had ALSO been to Bangalore WITH THE SAME MINISTRY that Jonathan and I gave financially to, I was blown away. I immediately felt like God was orchestrating something. You opened up a photo album of your trip to India and I got to see many of the faces that I had only heard about through friends (Brad and Melissa Pauquette). Then, to encourage me and to give me hope that there is a future for me in India, you GAVE me one of the photos of a water well–quite possibly the one that we gave towards building.

A photo of one of the fresh water wells at a leper village in India

I remember trying not to cry (in vain) and not scare you away by being an emotional crazy lady that cries over photos of water. But I sensed you understood where I was coming from and that picture hangs on my wall today- it serves as another sort of well… when I’m feeling disconnected, unimportant, too far removed from my beloved Indian family and loved ones, I go back to this picture, and I remember how I may never see my impact, like I may never see the well we built, but the work is still needed and appreciated! I LOVE YOU!

KC: When did you first know/think we’d be each other’s People?

D: Oh. I guess I got a little carried away with my first answer! I guess to build on what I’ve already said, it was love at first hello! 🙂

But first impressions can be that way sometimes. I knew for sure that you were my people, when you followed up with me, checked in on me, sent me advice about fundraising and innovation, and asked me “how can I help you do this?” I remember having tears in my eyes because justice and compassion are overwhelming. They are gut-wrenching disciplines sometimes, where it feels like no single action, no single human can make a big enough dent in the world’s problems to make a difference.

But month after month, year after year, I watched you as you made one piece of jewelry at a time, one event at a time- meanwhile encouraging ME to do the same!

And I guess, I realized I was your people too when I found myself praying for you and your family, in the secret, quiet times. Sometimes, I wear the Redeemed bracelet you made for me on my wrist as I pray for you, and  praying for you leads me to pray for the CATCH program and Doma(Freedom a la Cart) and all the other anti-human trafficking advocates.

Delaine wearing her REDEEMED bracelet

KC: What are the top 3 things you’re passionate about?

D: 1. It’s important to me that each person has a chance to reach their biggest potential in life! This comes from my faith in Jesus- He leads me to work toward a more just, more empowered community.

2. I am passionate about my marriage. My husband is my best friend. Not trying to be cliche here, but beyond the work of Christ through me to seek justice in this world, my man is my next passion in my life! #sorrynotsorry 😉
3. Travel!!! One of my favorite things to ask people is where they have been and where they desire to go for vacation. I’m one of the few people I know that gets very excited about being on a plane- I get really chatty and annoying. I want to go to St. Kitts (for the island feel), Belgium (for the chocolate), and Istanbul (for the culture clash)!
4. Good, rich, interesting food! In fact, I think I might like travel BECAUSE of the amazing food! #BonusAnswer

KC: What are three things you’re not a fan of?

D: 1. Cats- I’m a dog person  (and Krysten said: AMEN!)

2.Traffic, it literally feels like ants are crawling on my legs when stuck in traffic

3.Gilmore Girls and other fast-talking, whiny characters, which may include the majority of female characters on television because that’s how The Man writes for women… Forgive me.

KC: Would you be willing to share a funny quirk of yours?

D: Okay, this is a real life truth here…

When I’m at home on Saturday mornings, I put on Bollywood music on Pandora and sing and choreograph dances… I have about 15 different song routines- it’s helped me learn Hindi, make a fool of myself, and provides great belly laughs for my family. Jonathan thinks I should start a Bollywood dance class for exercise… That’s just what the world needs… a Haitian American woman leading an Indian Bollywood dance class.

KC: Girl, that is exactly what the world needs!

KC: Is there anything else you would like to add about yourself or about our relationship?

D: You’ve inspired me to go back to school. I’m majoring in Social Work, minoring in Human Rights with a specialization in Global Inequality and Poverty. Thank you for leading by example, and showing that I can go back to school as an adult! 🙂

KC: That’s about the most awesome thing I’ve ever heard, D!

Sometime I would love to gather all y’all in my living room with Delaine so she could share her wisdom and delightful personality. So she could tell you more about her heart for justice, racial reconciliation, refugees (isn’t that all of us?) We could talk about the time she came to my class to teach my students about Kwanzaa. Girl brought her teacher-heart and a drum and sang songs with my class. They were still talking about Mrs. Thomas in May when we left school. Or perhaps she could tell you what inspired her to host women in her own home under the theme of “Arrival Stories.” Women from all over the world sharing about how they arrived in the US. Just sharing, because our stories are important. All of them. Beautiful.

Mrs. Thomas, banging her drum for my 2nd graders

Friends, we connect with people all the time over many, many things. You might spark up a conversation with the dry cleaner about your favorite band or brand of coffee. But when you keep in touch, encourage each other’s dreams, and help each other grow in an understanding of how every person on this planet matters, then you know for sure you’ve found another one of Your People.

Thank you for your kind words, Delaine! I love you! Enjoy Hawaii!!

Welcome to Tuesday People Tips #3! Today there’s a little bonus at the end of the post so don’t miss it!

Each Tuesday I’ve been sharing my tips for fostering relationships with Your People. This week, I’m filing these tips under the “golden rules” of loving Your People.

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Make Space

We talked a bit last week about using technology as a tool to help your friendship when time is tight. And yes, a timely text or email is great for those hectic times. But we have to actually make space for the People in our lives too. It’s been said that a person’s priorities can easily be seen on their calendar and in their checkbook. And yes, where we spend our money speaks about what we consider important, but where we spend our most precious commodity–our time–is where we truly show our values. So we need to make space to spend time with each other whenever possible. For you that might be once a month, or once a week. There’s no rule with this stuff. Do what feels right for you and Your People. Just carve out some space to enjoy with them.

Know Your Place

While we all want Our People to make space for us, it’s important that we know our place in each other’s life. The seasons of our lives will drive this. If you have a friend who is a busy mom with 5 kids, she’s not going to be as available to meet up one-on-one with you perhaps as often as your single friend. Don’t take that personally. If you are truly each other’s People, you’ll recognize that this is a season where her focus has to be on the kiddos, and relationships with friends will probably work better through technology rather than daily hang-outs. Also, understand that even if you were once the #1 go-to for one of Your People, as life progresses that may not always be the case. Years ago my friend Jeff and I would have picked up the phone and called each other first to share fun news or get advice about something important. But now that we are both married, we know obviously that “first place” belongs to our spouse. We would never look at that as a negative thing, we just know our place in each other’s life, and it’s a little further down the totem pole than it was years ago. Friends, we must know (and be fine with) our place in Our People’s lives. This gets rid of any weirdness in relationships, and shows that you respect Your People and Their People in all circumstances.

Avoid Avoidance

Lastly, there will be times in Your People’s lives that are hard. Life takes us all on some long, winding, bumpy roads. We want to show up for our friends when it’s time to celebrate the great milestones of life, but we cannot avoid also walking along with them in the not-so-happy times. Perhaps one of Your People is traveling a dark and twisty road right now. You don’t know how to help. You can’t really change the circumstances or do anything to make it all better. Heck, you don’t even know what to say or if you should mention what he or she is even going through. Friend, that doesn’t matter much. Just don’t avoid her. Please don’t pretend like he isn’t hurting. I know it’s awkward, I know it makes you uncomfortable to talk about. We all get that. But I promise you that if Your People are going through hard stuff, they already feel kind of lonely. Don’t avoid their situation just to keep up your level of comfort. Show up, dive in with them, and just make sure they know that you are there to talk/pray/be with them if needed.

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Speaking of going through tough times with Our People, here’s a resource that might help Your beloved Person if they’re finding themselves in a rough place right now. Today is Book Release Day for Rachel Wojo’s book, One More Step! WOOHOO!

I hardly know Rachel. We’ve met exactly one time, briefly. But it was one of those encounters that I know God orchestrated in my life, even though it seemed purely coincidental at the time.

I was in an airport on my way home from a writer’s conference. A woman stopped me, seeing my She Speaks bag, and mentioned that she’d just come from there. We had just apparently spent the same 4 days in another state, walking the halls of the same exact hotel, going in and out of the same conference rooms, and we hadn’t crossed paths once. Strange.

I wasn’t even supposed to be on a plane that weekend, but there I was, back in my hometown, now meeting this woman at the baggage claim. We chatted for a few moments, then she happened to mention she had one advance copy of her book left, and asked if I would like it. Of course! How fun to get to read someone’s words before they go out into the world for everyone to see.

Little did I know God would use that book to speak through Rachel and right into my life, where things had recently been dark, difficult, and just way too much for me.

The full title of Rachel’s book is: One More Step: Finding Strength When You Feel Like Giving Up.

So in a strange way, I guess Rachel is My People too. A person that God plopped right into my life to speak in a way that I needed so badly. Perhaps you or one of Your People needs to hear the hope that’s in this book. Great news! You can now get it!! Today, One More Step was released into the universe. Check out this link to learn more about the book and to order!

Also, if you are local to the Columbus, Ohio area, you’re in for a real treat! Rachel’s Book Release Party is happening tonight at Lifeway Christian Store at Georgesville Square from 7-8pm!

Happy Tuesday! Go love Your People well.

We are 19 days into this series, 31 Days of My People. Probably about 8 of you are still hanging in there, and for that I am thankful. I am tired, folks! But the thing that keeps me going is that I have more of My lovely People to share with you. Y’all have had nothing but kind and wonderful things to say about them so far, (I told ya you’d love them) so let’s keep the good vibes going and DO this thing.

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I have all these Jennifers in my life. They are all awesome in their very own ways. This one is my Jen. (Or JP to my husband, who gives them all his own nicknames so he can keep the Jennifers straight)

I’m just going to start with the obvious: Jen is beautiful. I mean, gorgeous beautiful. If you’ve ever met her in person, you know this is one instance where I am not exaggerating one tiny ounce.

I kind of have this aversion to very long hair on women over 40. (forgive me, ladies. It’s just an issue I have) I personally think you’ve gotta have some seriously special, uber-healthy hair to pull off a long, flowing mane after you leave your thirties. But Jen is my #1 exception to that rule. She just broke into her 40’s not too long ago and still has the most incredible, healthy, full-of-body hair that will give any twentysomething head of hair a run for its money. It’s kind of embarrassing to be around her, just sitting over here with my regular hair.

THE HAIR! And also her husband Brian.

But it’s so worth it, because Jen is one of those people who I’d love to spend more time with. We talk regularly and see each other a couple of times a month, at least. But if I had my way, she’d be hanging out on my back porch drinking some wine every other night. She’d be putting up with me asking her a million questions and writing down every single thing she says. She’s got a lot of wisdom, this one, but for some reason she would never agree with that statement. She probably just can’t hear me under all that hair.

My husband and I met Jen and her husband Brian over a decade ago when we started coming to the church, which happens to be pastored by Brian’s dad. Our first memory connected to their family was when my germaphobe husband and I were teaching the 4 & 5 year-old Kids’ Ministry class together. Jen & Brian’s oldest son Jason was in our class, and apparently had some sinus issues. Little 4-year old Jason sneezed, Todd wretched, and my blood started to boil. I watched this little guy’s confused face, having just blown a good amount of snot all over his chin, waiting there for a capable adult to help him out. My 6’1”, 260lb husband was paralyzed, his face twisted in horror at the sight of preschooler snot. HELP HIM! I yelled from under the pile of the other 15 preschoolers. Todd grabbed a tissue and threw it at Jason, saying “blow your nose!” which was super helpful because as we know, a 4 year old nose-blow only results in the sound “fffffffff” coming out of their mouth. Needless to say, I had to disturb the pile of preschoolers to go rescue this poor child from his own snot bubble fiasco, and that was the last time Todd “helped” in the Kids’ Ministry classes.

Sigh.

That story is one that Jen & Brian didn’t hear about until after it was over. (We might have even waited several years to tell them that story, just to make sure they loved us enough not to disown us when they realized Todd was the one who had traumatized their kiddo)

Some time since then we all became part of the same home group, meeting several times a month together. Jen is part of our group of Divas. All of us look up to her as a role model of sorts. We all agree that she’s got a lot of wisdom we’d love to benefit from.

She’s got four kids, all of which are awesome in their own unique ways. I absolutely love how she and her husband parent…with a nice mix of freedom and firmness, coupled with a huge dose of reality.

Out of the 10 of us, she and I are the only Divas so far who have raised kids all the way through teenage-hood and lived to tell about it (yay us!) I think that makes us have some sort of special crazy-person bond. I’m pretty sure we both think we’ve messed our kids up a little along the way, but it turns out they are real live contributing-to-society people now, so we had to do at least a couple of things right. The struggle is real, moms. You can do this. Just keep going.

I don’t really know how we hit it off. She’s quiet and demure and I’m typically the loudest one around. She says we connected because my husband and I were “so freakin’ normal” which I definitely take as a compliment. There’s nothing I’d rather be thought of than normal, and as she puts it, “solid and straightforward.”

I thought the same of her. She and Brian both are the kind of people who aren’t always the first or the loudest to speak. But when one of them leans in to say something, you want to be sure you hear it. Just the first few times this happened, I knew they were both Our People.

And then… we went halfway around the world together. We took a trip to India with some other folks, all visiting our sponsored children and looking forward to spending time with the amazing people of Cornerstone Ministries.

You guys, just going on vacation with someone gives you a special little bank of memories you’ll cherish for a long time. But when you travel to the other side of the Earth with a bigger purpose… to look into little brown eyes and reach across culture and language just to somehow say to them, you’re loved, that’s a whole different thing.

When you make memories like bouncing beach balls and blowing bubbles with a swirl of happy little faces round you, and your ears full of giggles you just want to bottle up and hide in your carry-on, you’ll have something to talk about for life. When you’ve walked past trash heaps where little boys and old men and mangy dogs are all digging through side-by-side for food, and you shoot each other that look that can’t even be backed up by words, that’s something. When you stand next to one another and awkwardly try to bless a person with leprosy with a small gift, all the while knowing you are the one really getting the blessing, that’s going down in your history. When you board that plane back to your half of the planet, and your mind is full of the beautiful faces of folks who spend Lord knows how much time and money to host you for dinner in their homes, that’s an amazing feeling. Knowing you have a friend who understands all the feelings and thoughts you have about all these experiences, that person is Your People forever.

Sometimes I wonder if Jen got stuck with a little more than she bargained for when she took on this “straightforward” friend. Because that girl has been on the receiving end of some of my serious junk. She knows all the crazy, and so far she hasn’t taken a step in the other direction. I love that we’ve lived through some hard and beautiful things together, and the hard stuff is a tiny bit less hard when you have  someone who can just be there and say, I know.

I love you, Jen! I’m so thankful you’re My People! Stick around, would you? I think our very best years are yet to come.

My whole wedding situation was a disaster. We were scheduled to get married in May. Construction on the church where our ceremony was to be held went wayyyyyy past its deadline and we soon realized that venue wasn’t going to work. But we had this nonrefundable honeymoon booked for which we had to be married in May. So we decided to have a small, quick wedding to make things official (so we’d be all set for the honeymoon vacation in May.) Then we moved the public ceremony to September so we could still celebrate with our family and friends, and my dress would get to have its day.

Problem solved, right? Wrong. In the midst of all this, there were behind-the-scenes things happening, including leaving our church for a new one (which didn’t make some folks at church #1 very happy.) The construction at church #1 was still taking too long, and every time we checked in with them (and someone actually called us back) we were assured everything was just fine and there would be no problem with the fall date. Come to find out, two weeks away from our (already postponed) wedding ceremony, the church was still not finished. There were other issues as well, that need not be aired now, more than a decade later, but the bottom line was that our wedding ceremony was obviously not going to happen. We ended up having to send out postcards thanking everyone for caring about us, reassuring them that nothing had happened between us and that we were enjoying our first year of marriage, but that we would able to celebrate with them due to unforeseen circumstances.

Talk about sad. The whole thing was awful, emotional, and a waste of money already spent. I now had this beautiful wedding dress, veil, shoes, handmade bouquet and flower arrangements, etc… that would never get used. It was a bit depressing, but at this point it barely mattered. I was married, happy, and just had to get over it. I couldn’t return my dress, even though I’d bought it right off the rack because it fit me perfectly with no alterations. But in wedding-dress world you pretty much can’t return anything, ever. I didn’t know what I was going to do with that thing, because I definitely didn’t need it any longer, but I just couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it.

A couple of years later that dang dress was still hanging in my closet, untouched. I’d recently met a gal named Amanda. She and her fiance had started teaching in the kids’ ministry where I worked, and I’d started to get to know them a bit through our interactions there. They were good people, I could tell. When she started talking about needing a wedding dress, I somehow mentioned that I had one she was welcome to try on. The conversation eventually led to me saying If you wear a size 8/9 shoe you’re welcome to those too! Turns out that’s exactly what size shoe she wore.

She tried on the dress. It fit. Along with all the undergarments and the shoes. Now Amanda and I are built somewhat similarly, but she is several inches shorter than I am, so I figured even if she liked it, it would need some serious alterations to work for her. But somehow, that off-the-rack dress that was perfect for me actually fit her perfectly without changing a stitch. I still believe that was a little tiny miracle just for her.

So there it was… my dress our dress was about to have it’s day. Now I knew exactly why I’d been hanging onto it for those years, never feeling right about trying to sell it or give it away. It was never really mine to begin with, I was just holding on to it for her.

At the end of the next October, I got to see that dress in action. It was as beautiful as I’d imagined. Not only did my friend look gorgeous in the dress, but their ceremony was classy, understated, and moving. Her husband Adam gave her daughter Aaliyah a necklace to wear as a symbol of his love not just for her mom, but for her as well. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. They became more than a couple that day. They became a whole family. To this day, Adam and Amanda’s downtown winery wedding is my all-time favorite.

Absolutely perfect!

The dress gave us a story that would forever link us together. How can you not be each other’s People with that kind of history? But that was just a start. We got to know Adam & Amanda better over the next several years, and now she is one of my very best friends.

They started taking Financial Peace University, which my husband and I facilitated at our church for many years. During this time we were able to get to know them and share our journey to becoming debt-free. Amanda always says we “took them under our wing” but I laugh when she says that. I just think we loved them from the start and tried use what we’d learned to help them jump-start their financially free life together as newlyweds. They drank the Kool-Aid too. 🙂

Not too long after, we found ourselves in a small group with Adam and Amanda, and apparently they haven’t gotten sick of us yet.

Amanda and I are 77 Sisters. We were born about 6 weeks apart in 1977. She comes from a small, quaint little town called Newton falls. And people, the zip code there is 44444. All 4’s. So that means that the 4th of July is kind of a really big deal there. (Get it? Spend the 4th in the 44444?) Our friends and I had heard so many stories about the 4th in the 44444 that we wanted to check it out for ourselves. It turned out to be just as much of a small-town delight as we always imagined it would be. So much fun.

Newton Falls: The 44444

Amanda has a freaky-weird luck when it comes to winning things. Especially when the winning happens from a radio station. When she starts dialing, she must say some strange spell or something that jams all the telephone lines except she one she’s calling from. Seriously, it’s like contest voodoo. She’s won more concert tickets (and stuff in general) than anyone I’ve ever known.

Once she heard that Bon Jovi would be coming to town. She asked me if I would want to go if she won tickets. Of course, because BON JOVI. It wasn’t too long after that, she called to see if I was free on such-and-such date because she had JUST WON TICKETS TO SEE BON JOVI and we were going. Whattheheck!?!?!?!? File that under one of the best surprises ever!

We rocked the heck out at that concert. I will never forget dancing like a couple of teenage fools while singing along to Bad Medicine at the top of our lungs. File THAT under one of the all-time best days ever! We both barely had a voice for a couple of days afterward. And PS: Jon Bon Jovi? That man’s still got it.

Pre-Bon Jovi concert

Amanda is a genuinely wonderful  person. She’s got a big heart and she is moved to tears over more things than she’d care to admit. She’s one of those folks who would give you anything of hers if you ever needed it. She goes out of her way to make people feel special, even though she probably doesn’t think that about herself.

She also loves everything Amish. It’s kind of a weird obsession. She’s a fan of local and handmade stuff the same way I am. She knows every song lyric to anything that was ever on the Top 40 Countdown for sure. Same with lines from movies.

We’ve been on many road trips and overnights. She was there when I asked a perfect stranger for a piggy-back ride (and he obliged.) She and her husband made certain I wasn’t kidnapped by some creepy folk while I was momentarily inside their ice cream truck. We’ve witnessed crazy things at the Renaissance Fest. We’ve made plans a year in advance to see the Hunger Games movies as they’ve come out. We’ve run races together. We’ve been to countless parties and important gatherings together.

Before running a race on a COLD day

And we’ve talked each other through some pretty hard stuff. Solicited advice from one another about life and marriage and finances and friendships. We’ve created more inside jokes in the 7-8 years we’ve known each other than most people have in a whole lifetime.

This is the stuff that relationships with Our People are made of, my friends. These stories and memories and conversations and inside jokes, they are the moments that make life…life. They are the things that stitch together our individual lives to make our very own little communities.

Amanda is the kind of friend that never makes me wonder if I truly have People in my life. People who care. Who will be there. The ones who just aren’t going anywhere. These are the kind of People you want in your life, dear folks. Even if they never take you to see Bon Jovi. 🙂

Sometimes life’s just not fair. A lot of times, actually. We all know this. Many times something will happen to us and we’re all: life’s just not fair, and we may even have ourselves a little pity party over it for a minute. But eventually we kind of get over it and get on with things.

But when life doesn’t seem to be fair for Our People, it grates on our nerves and presses against us from all sides even more than usual. Our hearts have lots of achy vibes when it’s Our People who are hurting, facing injustice, asking Why, Lord? while they wait and hope and pray for their situation to move from hurtful to healed.

It’s in these moments where we rally around Our People, offer whatever we can as support, and pray them through the icky, unfair parts of life.

This whole process is illustrated so very clearly when we stand beside friends who desperately want to have children to complete their family, but for whatever reason are unable to do so. I’ve prayed alongside many of My People who were aching to be parents, had wonderful, stable homes, and could provide so much for a baby, yet still remained childless.

I’ve witnessed that struggle they deal with when they try to reconcile the promise of God giving us the desires of our heart with their present reality of the not yet. I’ve seen how they try to navigate ignorant comments from well-meaning people and push their hurt down a little further each time while they try to seem fine on the outside. I understand their thoughts of feeling forgotten by God because it seems like their prayers for a family have bounced off the sky and landed in a barren field in the middle of nowhere.

I’ve seen it in the faces of some of My People over the years. And I remember a few years back at a prayer meeting, when I saw glimpses of these same things again on the faces of a man and woman I did not yet know.

Jay and April had been married a couple of years at the time, and they were ready to begin a family, but at that point they had been unable to. Their hearts were hurting and they were sitting smack-dab in the middle of the not yet. My husband and I had the privilege of praying over them for this very thing. I don’t remember the exact prayer, but I do know that I asked God to enlarge their tent, because it is something from Isaiah 54 I pray over every couple longing to be parents.**

Fast-forward not too far into the future, and Jay and April have become foster parents. They began attending our small group which is how we got to know them better. I am so thankful we did. We got to hear first-hand how God opened doors to allow them to care for many different children when their families of origin could not. Heart-wrenching and wonderful, every bit of it.

Eventually, April began coming to our girls’ Diva nights, where we meet once a month and have an awesome, real time together. April said she knew we would be each other’s People after the first time she attended Divas. In her words, she says, “I felt (and continue to feel) like I had found someone I could be real with.”

Man, isn’t that what this whole People thing is about anyway? When you find someone you can be real with, someone who forgets about judging you and just accepts you for who you are, someone with whom you can share the real stuff of life and never worry if they’re going to shut the door on you because of it…that’s when you know you’re in the midst of Your People.

Jay and April both have a great sense of humor. Jay is quick-witted, a lot like my hubs, which cracks me up. They come to us all the way from Maine, so they have that Northeast accent (Have you ever seen Down East Dickerin’ on the History Channel? Pretty sure those are Jay & April’s People!)

They both have big ol’ huge hearts, and if you could be in the room to hear April say something is Wicked Awesome just one time, I know you’d love her forever too.

Jay & April!

Through the process of fostering, they’ve been parents to a little guy who is definitely all boy. He’s growing so fast and I can’t believe he’s already two years old. Every couple of weeks when I see him, he knows about 678,000 more words than he did last time, and he looks like a tiny grown-up. It’s awesome to watch him flourish, knowing that it’s all because of how God chose Jay & April to raise him in their home.

This week I filled out paperwork to be a reference for their adoption of this little guy. As I mailed those papers back, I prayed I’d articulated just how wonderful my friends are, and what great parents they’ve been to this little guy, so the adoption agency can fully understand that they simply need to grant legal status to this family that God’s already knit together.

And I hope that someday soon, I will be filling out similar paperwork to convince them to do the same for this little guy’s baby brother, who they also have the privilege of caring for right now.

In a span of about two years, God has taken Jay & April from sitting broken-hearted while strangers prayed for them at a Tuesday night prayer meeting, to raising two beautiful sons and awaiting the final words telling them that the law recognizes what all of Their People already know. That they are, indeed a family.

Jay & April, I’m inspired by the way you handle everything. You don’t have the option for it not to be all at once and hectic, it just happens that way. And you handle it beautifully. I’m so thankful you are Our People so we can walk alongside you through it all and watch God’s promises unfold in unexpected ways. It’s wicked awesome.

**This reference to Isaiah comes from something intensely personal that God spoke to me years ago. He showed me how He was widening my narrow definition of motherhood, and would allow me to mother many more than I ever possibly could in a traditional way. I always pray this over families struggling with becoming parents, because no matter what God’s answer is regarding how they will become parents, this mindset applies. God can always (and is always working to) redefine our Good, and I truly believe that’s what He means by giving us the desires of our heart–making our heart’s desires align with what He has in store for us. I’ve seen it happen so many times, and it is a beautiful thing.

There’s this neat phenomenon I’ve heard about. From what people say I guess it occurs rather frequently, given the right circumstances. But I still have a hard time believing it, because in my world it’s about as rare as a unicorn.

But y’all, folks say that sometimes, really truly: Your People are actually related to you.

I know, right? Seems pretty far-fetched to me. Not to be telling tales out of school or anything, but for me, most of My People–the ones with whom I share everyday life and most of my memories– share no blood with me whatsoever. It’s just how it is for me.

I have a few exceptions to this, and one of them is my sister Kara. We share blood for sure, along with the exact same eyes, laugh lines, sense of humor, and thighs (thanks, a lot, mom.)

Wonder why people ask us if we’re twins?

Kara got the good hair in the family. I mean really freakin’ good hair. She’s got this thick, wavy, every-shade-of-blonde-and-brown mane, and I’m sitting over here trying to constantly to get some volume and tame my flyaways and such. It’s so annoying.

My sister is the reason I know how to drive and get around places. We used to get in her car and drive all over the city, listening to music and stuff. For no specific reason. I think maybe that was her cheap therapy or something. For the life of me, I can’t believe she would have wanted to hang out with her kid sister all the time like that. But I loved those times. All I could think of was all the places I would go when I was able to drive myself. I was going to know all the cool places. Mostly malls. But still.

We were born 13 years apart. So basically that meant I wanted to be just like her. She was always so awesome to me. She was pretty and smart and fun had bright, awesome clothes and fun friends and tons of shoes and makeup.

Every weekend she would get ready to go out with her friends, and most of the time I was right next to her, watching her do her hair and put on her makeup. I was fascinated by how it turned out perfectly every time, even in the Blue Eyeshadow Phase. Then she would try on 1,822 outfits before finally choosing one, and head out the door, probably without giving me a second thought.

I would wait for a good half hour or so, just to be sure she wasn’t coming back, then I would sneak in and try to replicate that makeup. Using all the available options, which were from Clinique. (Whoops!)

After I made sure my 11-year old face looked totally awesome with the blue eyeshadow and all, I would dig through that pile of clothes she’d discarded while trying on the 1,822 outfits and put one together for myself. My favorite thing was her belts and scarves. You could get lost in them. She could probably have opened six locations of belt and scarf boutiques if she had kept all those.

When I had figured out the outfit I would be rockin’ for the next hour or so (until I had to leave my fantasy dreamland) I would try to do my hair. This, as you could guess, is where things started to fall apart. I mean… hot rollers? Why did they magically turn her hair into a Pantene commercial but make mine look like a cheap Shirley Temple wig you’d wear for Halloween? Must watch more closely next time.

Of course, since I was a kid and all this crap was very expensive, I would head to the bathroom and scrub the stuff off my face so she wouldn’t kill me for wasting it. (PS: Who knew Zest soap wasn’t a great facial bar/eye makeup remover?) I’d always hope my momma didn’t see me on the way down the hall and yell: Wash that shit off your face! You ain’t gonna go around lookin’ like no floozie!

Back in Kara’s room and meticulously rearrange the pile of clothes she had discarded on the bed, replacing the ones I’d been wearing. I was a clearly a genius. But this trick was nothing compared to later when I was a teenager. I would occasionally sneak an outfit out of her closet and wear it to school, then sneak it back on the hanger (EW!) when I got home so she wouldn’t know I’d borrowed it. I don’t know if she ever did catch on, but at this time I would like to take a moment to apologize for possibly causing my adult sister to wear dirty clothes out in public without her knowledge. Please forgive.

When I was 16 I got my first job in the mall working at the one-hour photo lab. Kara worked at Discover card, whose offices were located inside the Sears store at the other end of the mall, so I would frequently get to see her “at work.” It wasn’t a big deal, but it seemed super cool to me. No one else my age had a gorgeous older sister who would buy them an Orange Julius on her break time. I had a good life.

As I “grew up” (aka: thought I was actually some sort of adult) I dreamed we would continue to grow closer, but for a while that just didn’t happen. We actually grew apart. She became a Christian and got married, and we just didn’t understand each other much anymore. I didn’t agree with anything she was about during this time, and I am sure she felt the same way toward me.

It wasn’t until years later when I became a Christian myself that I understood some of the changes she had been trying to make in her life when her priorities shifted. She was there the day I took a step into faith and decided that I could no longer ignore all the signs that Jesus was just who He said He was. I can’t even imagine what was going through her mind as she watched her messed-up little sister finally get over her stubbornness for a moment and admit there was something bigger to live for. The whole day was surreal, and in most every way my journey to faith was a solitary one, but I am so glad she was there when I finally took a step.

We still don’t agree on everything, but that’s okay. We are better friends now than we ever have been. She has given me two of my favorite things in the whole wide world: my nieces, Gracie and Sara. Kara turned 50 this year, and it was so much fun to throw her a surprise party! I loved seeing everyone who came to celebrate her and how awesome she still is after 50 years! Some of her friends were there who have known me since I was that dorky teenager who worked in the mall.

She’s 50, people. And I’m not even 40 yet. So there.

Today, Kara and I don’t get to spend as much time together as I would like, but we talk or text often. She’s a busy band mom now. What?? That doesn’t even compute, but it’s adorable to me to think of her in her daughter’s team colors sweatshirt, feeding the entire band some chili or something.

When we are out together, she loves it when people ask if we are twins (which happens a lot) because she’s 13 years older than me. Which I always say is either really great news for her, or really bad for me. I would also like to remind everyone that she is still 13 years older than me. (Don’t forget, I’m the young one.)

I don’t tell her enough that I love her to pieces and don’t know what I would do without her. But it’s so true, especially now. Since our momma has been gone I feel like we’ve been closer than ever. Probably because she and I are so much like our mom (even some of the parts we hate to admit) so spending time together reminds us of her.

It’s one of Kara’s biggest dreams to take off and move to North Carolina, but I just don’t think I can allow that. I don’t think I could deal with not knowing that we would be running to Target together or meeting up for lunch at least a few times a month. No, that just isn’t gonna work for me. I need My People, and that includes my sister. Especially my sister. She’s my unicorn.

Folks, Your People are so very important. If Your People share your blood, consider yourself very lucky, because that’s not always the case. And if you have a fantastic big sister, tell her how awesome she is, even if she did get the good hair in the family.

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You’re about to go on a road trip to a fun place for the day, and your friend-who-likes-the-driving-part picks you up, so you’re pretty sure it’s gonna be a good day. With a car full of awesome ladies you love, you know it’s gonna be good. Then when your driving friend mentions that she brought some snacks along for the ride, you’re thinking, awesome! But when you finally open the container of snacks to find every single passenger’s individually wrapped favorite snacks? Holy cow, you’re in the presence of Your People.

This is what it’s like with Jess in your life. You live a carefree existence being toted around everywhere with a nice supply of your very favorite snacks forever and ever.

Well, something like that….

Sometimes it’s not car rides and snacks. Sometimes it’s flowers on your doorstep after a really crappy week. Once in awhile it’s a little card in the mail, or a note tucked onto the windshield of your car. Sometimes it’s a text message with a hideous picture of an obese cat, that you despise but can’t help laughing at.

EWW.

It doesn’t matter exactly what it is, but when Jessica is Your People, you live with a pretty consistent stream of happy surprises infused into your life. Thoughtfulness is her love language. It’s impossible not to smile when you’ve been on the receiving end of her thoughtful acts of kindness.

And if you’ve hung out with her? Then you’re SUPER lucky, because she has a big, contagious smile that can put the sunshine to shame.

Out of all Your People, she will never be the one to forget your birthday. Or your anniversary. Or your kids’ birthdays. Or that appointment or interview or other-important-thing you mentioned. She will remember it and ask you about it because that’s what she does. She makes people feel like they’re special. (And people are special, it’s just that she lets them know it.)

Now don’t get me wrong. Jess isn’t perfect. I mean, sure you’ll have a thoughtful friend who shows that she cares about you all the time. But if you want to go to a restaurant where the whole group you’re with decides what they want and everyone’s ready to order when the waiter comes, she’s not your girl. She will ask 4,736 questions about three different menu items, then get the fourth one.

And if you’re somewhere that gives you a cup to get your own fountain drink, and you try to just dispose of it when you’re done without refilling it for the road? You will get scolded. Why would you waste that??? she asks. Last night at Panera I may or may not have referred to her as the “trash police.”

And let’s say you want to give her a little gift to reciprocate all those little surprises she’s always so thoughtfully giving. Don’t pick out something with a totes adorbs asymmetrical print and pattern. She’ll have a seizure and you’ll be dead to her. She just can’t even.

And she’s stubborn. So stubborn. When she gets an idea in her head, there ain’t no gettin’ it out. Which is why I’m sure she didn’t bother to tell us when she decided to track her lost iPhone using the “find my phone” function. She tracked it to a house (by herself) where she promptly knocked on the door and let the occupants know that her lost phone was inside their home. After a few moment of awkward conversation about it, she left. With her phone in hand. Oy vey. That girl. 

Yeah, she’s not perfect, but that is fabulous news. Because when I asked her why she thought we were each other’s People, she said “Maybe because we know that we’re all a mess, and people make life better.”
Right on, sister.

Did you know that my girl Jess wears crazy socks year round? If you see her out and about, ask her to pull up a pant leg. There is a 94.8% chance you will find a brightly-colored crazy-patterned sock on her foot. She knows every inch of Amish country, especially the spots where you can get a puppy and a box of donuts the size of your forearm all in one stop. And she ALWAYS has the best Halloween costumes. Don’t even try to show up at her Halloween party and be all, I didn’t really want to dress up. She will not understand the words that just came out of your mouth.

The sister-wife and Rosie.

Bon QuiQui

Another thing y’all probably don’t know about Jess is that her life hasn’t always been as perfectly cheery as her pretty face seems to make you think. She endured some hard stuff at a young age. Nowadays she looks back and can see how amazingly God has pieced her life together to help her heal from wounds of the past. There have been a lot of those if that would have never happened, then this wouldn’t have, and we wouldn’t be at this place at this time, and we would have never…It’s one of the things I love most about her.

It’s cool to watch Your People put on the lens of hindsight, zoom way out, and see the big picture of what God is doing and has done in their lives. There’s a very pure appreciation for where they’ve come from, where they are now, and a sense of wonder about where they’re going. Just lovely.

Sometimes I think about me and Jess and how we are kind of unlikely friends. We are complete opposites in many ways. Had she and her husband not started attending our church, we may never have crossed paths. We were introduced in the lobby one day, we invited them to go out sometime “for lunch or drinks or whatever” (which was hilarious to two non-drinking former Nazarenes! Ha!) and they actually took us up on a lunch date. We spent time with Jess, Dave, and their super hilarious son Julian. I had an inkling we’d be lifers after that.

Somehow we stumbled into home group together, (she would remember that better than I would… we call her The Vault.) And once we all started connecting within our group, it was clear, we were among Our People.

Learning her loves is a fifty-fifty thing. She’s got some constants. Family. Traditions that bring people together. Funky socks. But some of her loves are ever-shifting, and you just have to figure out where her interests lie at the moment. Like whether she’s eating popcorn by the bag or roasting cauliflower for dinner. Whether she’s drinking a Coke freeze or a super, duper, large iced tea. Those loves are fluid. They can change. I’ve learned to keep up with the ones that don’t. They’re the most important.

Jess is crazy supportive of my endeavors. Teaching, abolition work, writing, anything. She will attend a function, help me sell stuff, spread the word about whatever I am going after. It’s just no question whether or not I can count on her support. I suppose that’s because when it comes down to it, she’s not an encourager of what I do, but she’s an encourager to me. Because We are each other’s People, and that’s just what you do.

At least if you’re Jess, that’s what you do.

Thank you for being My People, girl. I love your Type A-ness, your smile, and your thoughtfulness so very much. I want everyone to have a Jess!

~~~~~~~

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Much Love,

Krysten

I don’t recall the last time we’d talked. But out of the blue I got a message from her.

I thought to myself, How weird. I’ve been thinking about her a bunch lately.

It started with a simple Can I take you out for coffee sometime? but then it was full of brave, to-the-point things such as I want to talk about what inspires you. I want to talk about Jesus.

This is brave stuff, people. In our time, you don’t get a lot of folks just saying exactly what they mean. I want to spend time with you. For a specific reason. I have things I want to talk about with you. Can we make that happen?

Sadly, it’s not common. It should be, but it’s not. Ladies, this is the worst for us. We follow each other’s Pinterest pages and see one another posting fun selfies on Facebook, and all of a sudden our highlight reels seems like our whole, perfectly packaged, color-coordinated lives. Not so. Life is messy and we need to get real about that. We need to reach out to each other and connect. But memories of mean girls, feelings of inadequacy, or the never-ending what-ifs can paralyze us into staying on our own little island, keeping up the stagnant status quo.

But there are those moments when something inside just can’t stand still anymore. Especially when you get to that point when you’re shedding the things that used to seem important, but no longer really matter. When you’ve got one arm around your right-now self and the other around the person you want to become, and you realize that to make a move, you’ve got to let go of one.

It’s a journey we all take at some point in our lives, and in order to take it, we have to have Our People. And sometimes you notice that you need more of Your People around. So you invite them to coffee. To talk about Jesus and the stuff that inspires you. 

My girl Erin (another redhead!) has been My People for a while now. I think we’ve always kind of known it. We’ve been on the fringe of each other’s paths, which have crossed now and then. Thinking back, I couldn’t remember exactly how we’d met. She reminded me we taught a children’s ministry class together back in the day.

Around that time, she and her husband Danny also took Financial Peace University at our church, which my hubs and I facilitated. They got to hear all the details of our debt-free journey, and I am happy to say they drank the Kool-Aid big time. (WOOHOO!) They are on their path to being debt-free and living simply. She talks about us being an inspiration to them, but it’s very much also the other way around.

Erin is a beautiful person, inside and out. She falls in the category of My People I Can’t Wait To Spend More Time With in my life. 

We did get together for that coffee, you know. And during that time, we talked at length about important things. There was very little small-talk because neither of us were super interested in that at the moment. Sometimes girls need to talk about cute shoes and vacation plans. But sometimes we gotta talk about what’s moving in our spirit and our hopes and dreams and fears and goals.

And sometimes we’ve just got to talk about how there are things we want to throw around, like important questions we don’t yet have the answers to.  And we want to throw them around with someone who also doesn’t necessarily have the answers and who can be okay with that. Because shrugging our shoulders and saying oh well, I’ll never be able to figure that one out doesn’t work for us. We want to talk about it and toss it around with someone else who shares our heart on the subject, and see how iron can sharpen iron on the matter. That might take a few coffees or a few beers or a lifetime, but it’s worth the work.

Did I mention that Erin is a redhead? There’s some business about redheads being fiery and I really do believe that. She’s got this fire that won’t quit, and even during the times when she feels all melancholy about those questions she’s wrestling with, there’s always spark in her that keeps the joy on.

She’s got two perfectly adorable children. (seriously, Fiona’s curls and Felix’s chubby cheeks make me want to die of adorableness-overload!)  I get to watch her parent from afar, and I from what I can gather, she seems to give her kiddos room to just become. Photos of her kids capture a variety of moods and outfits and activities that show their personalities coming out in every dynamic. She’s there guiding, but not pushing. It’s a beautiful thing. Those little humans are going to bring more joy into this world because their momma allowed them space to be themselves. It’s going to rock to watch that unfold.

Erin says it was after our coffee date that she knew for sure we were each other’s People. Our conversation moved from topic to topic so easily, talking through heavy things that you normally only talk about with your very best friends. We talked about the ways we’d felt God moving us along in our lives and where we thought we might be headed (or how unsure we were about that.) We both left feeling energized, refreshed, inspired. This is a telltale sign of Your People, my friends. Your People build you up and allow you room to breathe. You never come away stifled or feeling drained after being with Your People. This is a beautiful thing.

I can’t wait to get to know Erin even better and share more about how she’s shakin’ this world straight up. But can I just tell you what my take-away will be from talking about her today?

It’s Being Brave. Could you think for a moment about a person in your life who just might be Your People? Would you be so brave as to say to them something like I’ve really wanted to spend more time with you, so let’s make that happen. I want to talk about how you met Jesus, and how He has changed you and what’s going on in your heart right now.

Seem too risky? Erin did it. And she’s still doing just fine.

Or maybe you’ve just started reaching out to people but things didn’t go so well. What would it be like if you contacted that person and said Hey, you know what? Our first conversation didn’t go so well, and I’m sorry for ______. Can we maybe start over? Would that bring a little peace and joy to the universe in the form of a verbal white flag? Nothing wrong with that.

Still more of you might have People in your life, but you’re ready to move on to something more profound and authentic. Maybe a little more meshing of your faith and your everyday. Could you take a brave step of saying I love being friends with you. I feel comfortable talking with you about anything. I’m also at a point in my life where I want to connect even more deeply with people I love. Would you consider setting aside the first 15 minutes of each of our get-togethers to just talk about our dreams/faith questions/other-specific-important-things? 

We need each other. We need folks with whom we can discuss these life-giving things and air out our frustrations and know we are still safe from rejection and judgment. Our People are that safe place. Let’s be brave enough to reach out, open up, and become that safe space for them. And I just bet that in those brave little moments,  we will find what we’ve been looking for as well. 

Another lovely redhead in my world!

Beautiful

Erin, you’re an inspiration to me wrapped up into a tiny, gypsy-hearted package. Just the best of people. One of the things I love about you is your positivity. You’re always trying to be uplifting and I appreciate that. I love the journey you are on, with all its layers, and I’m honored to be part of Your People, cheering you along every step of the way. So glad you invited me for coffee!

It’s Tuesday again!

I hope you are enjoying reading this 31 Days of My People series as much as I am enjoying writing it. I’ve been sharing stories of My People and I’m overwhelmed at the response from so many of you who have said things like:

“You have such great People in your life.”

“I think these are great reads that will make others think of their PEOPLE and maybe, just maybe begin to appreciate their PEOPLE a bit more.”

“Every day I can’t wait to read who is next!”

“I was so bummed when I checked and it was just your Tuesday Tips! I wanted to meet more of Your People!”

Okay well that last one… I get what the person meant! But Tuesdays in this series are special, because Tuesday People Tips are all about helping you start, build, and grow your relationships with Your Very Own People.

So here’s Round 2 of your Tuesday People Tips:

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This week I want to focus on the logistics of staying caught up with Your People. We live in an overwhelmingly busy world. SO many things fight for our attention, and commitments can overtake us pretty easily if we let them. So if you have Your People or you’re trying to build better relationships with some, then there have to be some logistical considerations.

Let Technology Work For You

My momma taught me that a girl needs pretty stationery to send notes and letters when the time is right. I will never forget that, and a good old-fashioned letter or card in the mail is the ultimate kind gesture to me. (I still believe in you, USPS!)

But of course options like text, email, and Messenger are the fastest route to Your People. And as much as technology drives me insane because of what we let it do to us at times, I can’t deny how great it can be for keeping in touch when things are busy.

On any given week, you can find a group Facebook message going between me, my friends Sarah and Jen (in West Virginia) and our friend Marla, who lives across the planet in Cambodia. Even though it is impossible to see each other often, we can certainly keep in touch because of technology. We’ve talked each other through some pretty tough situations, discussed theology and social justice, and cracked up together all because of one little free app. Not a bad deal.

This week my friend Jeff, who lives across the country in Portland, launched his first ebook on Amazon. (WAY TO GO, Jeff!!) We carried on a great conversation about it via text, then later he emailed me some things and asked me to help him edit some things in it. It just worked best that day for us to text and email, so rather than wish we could do all this over the phone or in person, we just let technology work for us.

Put each other’s birthdays in your iPhone calendar and set an alert. (I am THE WORST at remembering dates, so this one is a MUST for me!) Text pictures of your kids’ soccer games to Your People. Follow each other’s Pinterest boards to share recipes from across the country. Bottom line is… Whatever it takes, do what needs to be done to connect. Relationships don’t just happen. They have to be maintained. Technology can be your assistant in this.

Small=BIG

There have been many times I’ve come home to find a small surprise awaiting me from My People. Chocolate covered pretzels in my fridge. Flowers on my doorstep. A card tucked in my screen door.

Sometimes a one-line text message with ridiculous emoticons (see technology above) is all I need to get through a day. Something indicating that one of My People is thinking about me.

When a friend invites you over and then you find YOUR favorite drink in the fridge, that’s a small thing that says they were thinking about you. Those small things are the BIGGEST to me. They don’t take a huge amount of time or even tons of effort. Just a small acknowledgement that I matter to someone. To My People.

Good is Better Than Perfect

All of the above fall into this category, to be sure. In fact, this might be the best tip of all Tuesdays. A good time of connection with a friend whenever you can is better than waiting for the perfect time. The other night Emily and I stole away for two hours, tucked ourselves into a booth at Panera, and talked about everything until we just had to go home. Two hours was all we had. That wasn’t nearly long enough to catch up fully. It wasn’t enough time at all for either of us. We were just getting warmed up!

Sure, I’d love a long, lazy weekend retreat with a few days with each of my friends to sit around a fire and talk about all the things of life. But if I can’t have a lot of time with My People, you’d better believe I will take a little bit. Memories and connections can still be made in short bursts of time. There’s no rule against that.

So yes, plan ahead and try to maximize your time together. Use technology to help facilitate keeping touch, and be mindful of small things that mean a lot. . But by all means, let the good be GOOD, and don’t push it aside waiting for the exact perfect time or place. Talk on the phone for 20 minutes while you’re driving home from work. Meet up at the grocery store and chat while you get your weekly essentials. Get creative to make sure you get to connect and spend some good time with Your People, because they are perfectly here, right now. And THIS is the time to enjoy them in your life.

Plan some good time with Your People this week. Get creative.