Every Monday (and I mean EVERY Monday), I have the privilege of meeting with about 10 beautiful ladies to discuss God, love, and life. My eGroup consists of young women aged 19-29 who love the Lord and want to seek a better relationship with Him. Our first meeting was 3 months ago today, and I am blown away at what God has done to them and through them during this short time. This post is about how our sisterhood runs, what works for us, and how these girls are challenging me each day.
Our eGroup is basically a book club. We started out reading and discussing Wild at Heart by John Eldredge. It talks about the masculine heart, what it means to be a man, and how to better understand men. It really helped us get to know each other on a surface-level because we were talking about the men in our lives. Currently, we are 5 weeks into our second book, Captivating by John and his wife, Stasi. Now, we are diving into ourselves and each other. This book is opening all of our hearts up. We are learning each other's strengths and weaknesses, and holding each other accountable. We haven't decided our next book yet, but it will most likely be more about our relationship with God. So far we've covered the people around us and ourselves, so now it's time to discover who God is and how we can serve and love Him better.
We recently started having prayer teams. Because our group got to be so large (YAY GOD!), we couldn't carve out an hour of our meeting to go around and do individual prayer requests. It was becoming difficult for us all to pray for every single person in the group. Now, we have groups of 2-3 girls who go into a corner of the room and divulge struggles and praises. We are really getting to know each other on a deeper level. Each week, the teams are responsible for calling each other, and maybe even meeting up for coffee. We hold each other to a higher standard and pray for each other during the whole week. (It's MUCH easier than praying for all 10 girls every single day!) When we start our new book on January 3rd, we will change groups. I know this will be such a team-building activity. It makes my heart jump for joy when I see girls hugging each other and wiping tears from their eyes after individual prayer time. I know they are carrying burdens for each other, just as Christ carries our burdens for us.
Something I recently started with our eGroup is asking the girls to develop one or two discussion questions before coming to the meeting each week. One of my jobs as an eGroup leader is to build these girls up into leaders themselves so they can go out and make an impact in their communities-- whether that involves starting their own eGroup, becoming an eTeam volunteer leader, or even starting their own groups at school or in their neighborhoods. This small assignment helps them develop critical thinking skills that will take them a long way in their current and future leadership opportunities.
These women are impacting my life like I never imagined. When I started the eGroup, I expected it to be flowers and rainbows, butterflies and Hershey's Kisses. I thought it would be a breeze. But this group has truly developed me into the woman I always wanted to be. I am learning how to plan ahead better and to have better self-discipline because I know there are 10 women holding me accountable. If the leader isn't focused, the whole team will be easily distracted. If the leader isn't planning ahead, the team will become confused and irresponsible. If the leader doesn't hold the team to a higher standard, the team members will only hold the lowest standards for themselves. Not only am I growing into this leadership position, but my team is growing me.
We are united. We are a team. We are a sisterhood.
I love you ladies! I wouldn't be who I am without you!
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