We saw them swaying on the dock, arms locked, mouths open in unison. As the boat pulled closer to the edge of the island, their voices floated across the water reaching our ears. Girls of all ages, t-shirt-clad and pony-tailed, sang us a welcome and a benediction. They sang my camp-bound daughters home to the island with words about God’s grace and compassion. They sang of making memories together and finding Jesus there, in the middle of them. Jesus present in their everyday on the island of joy, wooing, speaking, and walking among them. Jesus present for the swim test, the archery class, Jesus written into the letters home, his love woven into the fabric of their days.
Are you surprised to hear it made me tear up a little? I want so much for my girls to grow up surrounded by a chorus of other girls and women who sing them home. I want them to feel the camaraderie, affection, and sense of belonging that we too often miss, rushing from one thing to another, at the expense of our relationships with each other.
This summer, I had a few difficult and vulnerable conversations with friends that reminded me how much we need one other. It reaffirmed my belief that we’re all in desperate need of a friend to link arms with, one who looks us deep in the eye, and calls us back home to our true center. The best of friends remind us that Jesus is woven into the fabric of our days, into our shared memories, our sorrows and fears and joys. Over the past few years of travel and moving, I forgot how necessary we are to one another. How much we need the women who go before us, who stay the course, and walk the path a few steps ahead, who call to us to join them and say, let’s journey together.
Come, let us journey together. Let’s grasp hands and sway to the music of time, the music of angels, the music of our own lives. Let’s look each other in the eye. Let’s listen. Let’s tell our stories to each other and to the girls following in our footprints on this journey. Let’s laugh and shout and cry and make the sound of warriors fighting for friendship and for faith. Let’s raise our voices and sing each other home.
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Do you have women who lift you up and carry you with their voice? Tell me a little about them in the comments.
[…] These are the stories we need to keep near, the stories that bear repeating, the ones that will sing us home. Let’s learn from the Judiths of this world, and allow their stories to encourage us to […]