For the Love of Community and a Free Book!

Y'all, this has been a summer. It has been full, and terrifying, and good, and uncertain, and tear-jerking, and life-giving.

And in the midst of all that, there was For the Love and the launch team. When I got Jen's email that I had been accepted, I screamed, I laughed, and I immediately read it to my husband who said, "What's that mean?" To which I replied, "I'm not exactly sure." And y'all, there's no way I could've been.

In the first days of the launch team we were a group of 500 who rallied around this fantastic author, determined to help her make this book a best-seller. And in the following weeks, after falling hard over these words that Jen wrote, sharing our favorite parts (all of it), we realized that we were made of the same fabric. No matter what part of the world we lived in, no matter what our situation, no matter our marital or parental status, these words resonated in our hearts.

"We will mother all our children and grandmother all our grandchildren. We will cheer each other on, refusing to speak doubt into our gifts. When you are scared, I will declare, 'You can do this.' When you whisper a dream, I'll holler through a bullhorn that you are brave and wonderful and important! When I am beaten down, you will remind me that I am an approved worker with no shame; we lift each other's heads and handle truth for one another."

We want to love people well. We want safe spaces to tell our stories without fear of judgment. We want to be that safe space for others. We want to give grace to ourselves and we want to give ridiculous amounts of that grace to others. We want to follow the calling the Lord has placed on our lives. We want to cheer each other on as others are doing the same. We want to laugh hysterically at ourselves and with each other. We desire real, life-giving community. We want to do all that in the name of Jesus, who we love so desperately. And we hope that love, grace, and encouragement spills over into the lives of everyone around us, that it's contagious. We hope it spreads like wildfire.

And I'm telling you, this kind of community For the Love talks about, it's possible. I know it's true because I've seen it. This launch team has transcended anything I thought was possible. We are sisters (with four brothers thrown in) who share the funniest, most heart-warming, and even the most terrible parts of our days. And then we rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

When mom was in the hospital and we were waiting to hear if she had cancer, I told the 500 and knew they would carry us in prayer. When I felt like God was telling me to leave my job, I knew they would help me search for answers. We have watched some get married, been there when parent's passed, supported each other as we sell t-shirts, bracelets, mugs, prayed during surgeries of those close to us, and showed up for each other over and over again. They give me courage, hope.

In a world of darkness and difficulty, let's not make each other's lives harder. It's my prayer that we internalize these words and be the community we're hoping for. I want us to be the light of Jesus in a hurting and searching world. In a generation that is determined to make a lasting difference, this is it. This is the only thing that matters.

"I see you, cheering each other on and calling forth the best in one another, and it slays me. This is the stuff. This is what we were made for. This is how to live well. If we prefer each other as Jesus told us to there is nothing our community of women cannot handle. Give it to us: injustices, struggles, suffering, loss, heartbreaks, obstacles, life. We got this, together. Within this community, we strengthen each other to love our families and neighbors and cities and world. We point each other to God and call out our blessedness. It is so incredibly powerful."

Readers, I'm giving away a FREE copy of For the Love. All you need to do is find my giveaway post on my personal page and share it! Contest ends Thursday, 08/20 at midnight EST. Winner will be announced Friday morning! Happy sharing!

For the Love Favorites

So, y'all may have heard me talk about this little book by Jen Hatmaker called For the Love: Fighting for Grace in a World of Impossible Standards, out next Tuesday. It's no big deal. I mean, seriously, it's not like I can't stop talking about it. Oh wait...

Being on the launch team for this book has been such a blessing this year. The #500 started as an online community who love Jen Hatmaker, but became a real life community who believe in the mission of this book. And we have loved, supported and cheered each other along in the midst of our every day lives. Also, we have watched a LOT of Gilmore Girls.

Full disclosure: this book is a game changer. It is hilarious, full of real life, and abounding in grace - for ourselves and each other. I should have guessed this would happen, but I fell in love with these words. And to give you just a glimpse, below are five of my favorite quotes.

 "This is why we live and breathe: for the love of Jesus, for the love of our own souls, for the love of our families and people, for the love of our neighbors and this world. This is all that will last. Honestly, it is all that matters. Because as Paul basically said: We can have our junk together in a thousand areas, but if we don't have love, we are totally bankrupt. Get this right and everything else follows. Get it wrong, and life becomes bitter, fear-based, and lonely. Dear ones, it doesn't have to be. Love really is the most excellent way."

 "I approach this one gently, because you are my beloved sisters, but I call to the witness stand high-waisted jeans. They were bad the first time and are now repeat offenders. (Watch early episodes of Friends if you need to be reminded.) I can't get behind a sixteen-inch rise. Three more inches and it's a strapless pantsuit. Heaven help if you have even a tiny pouch of belly flesh; high-rise jeans are basically a display case for your butterball. Sure, your waist looks tiny up in your rib cage, but your butt is half the length of your body. It looks like my Grandma King's backside, and all due respect to Grandma and may she rest in peace, but that is not a compliment. (Grandma, you had a great rack. We all have different strengths.)"

"If a sermon promises health and wealth to the faithful, it isn't true, because that theology makes God an absolute monster who only blesses rich westerners and despises Christians in Africa, India, China, South America, Russia, rural Appalachia, inner-city America, and everywhere else a sincere believer remains poor. If it isn't also true for a poor single Christian mom in Haiti, it isn't true."



 "Instead of waiting around for church to assemble a perfect group dynamic of People Who Can Meet on Tuesdays, maybe just invite some folks over. A shared table is the supreme expression of hospitality in every culture on earth. When your worn-out kitchen table hosts good people and good conversations, when it provides a safe place to break bread and share wine, your house becomes a sanctuary, holy as a cathedral. I've left a friend's table as sanctified and renewed as any church service. If you have a porch, then you have an altar to gather around."

"Be kind. Be you. Love Jesus."

If you read any book this year, For the Love should be it. And when you do read it, let me know. We'll go out for coffee and discuss.