Lovingly Always

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ

Galatians 6:2

I have been so incredibly blessed to have three of the most wonderful women of God as my roommates. Lauren, Kaela, and Sarah are true embodiments of Jesus’ love and, despite only knowing Sarah and Kaela for a week, they are my sisters. I adore them and I would do anything for them. I have never lived with anyone before, let alone share a room with three other girls. Let me tell you, I was absolutely terrified. We didn’t automatically open up to one another. We were in a foreign environment, out of our comfort zones. Our guards were up. Cause like, who are these weirdos I have to share a room with? Are they crazy? Are they going to strangle me in my sleep? How is this going to work? Are they going to hate me? There was so much anxiety surrounding this transition that I wasn’t expecting to have. In many ways, I really just jumped headfirst into a whole new life, into the unknown that the Lord had planned for me. It hadn’t quite crossed my mind that I would be living with girls who didn’t know me, my struggles, my faults, my past. We each were faced with a choice: to hide our demons or put them on display. To let strangers see our faults or shove them in the closet. And as the week began, we were cautious, on our best behavior. We hid our messes, both literally and metaphorically. We put our dirty laundry in the basket, cleaned up the bathroom sink. Yet as our week became more hectic and we were pushed emotionally and physically, our guards began to drop. As time went on, we quite literally left our dirty laundry on floor and a mess on the sink. On Friday night, after we had finished our training, we celebrated a hard week’s work. Face masks and a movie. All wrapped up with a nice bottle of Welch’s Sparkling non-alcoholic Rosé. We earned it! We worked hard! So we sat together on the floor, with our glasses of overpriced bubbly grape juice, writing our nightly prayer requests. We threw on some throwback Kesha and danced together like idiots. Not a care in the world about how stupid we looked dancing in our pajamas. We just had fun together. And in that moment I realized that I had found my people. The ones who my heart loved. The girls who would be by my side in the good, the bad, the ugly, the silly, and the tragic. So we sat together, and we laid our dirty laundry out on the floor. Our struggles, our demons, our mistakes. All out for each of us to see. That’s what the Lord has planned for us. That’s why we became roommates. So that we would have each other to lean on in our troubles, to help us carry our burdens. To be the hands and feet of Christ to one another. So in the midst of all of this change and the difficulties that are to come in this year, I know that I’ll have my girls beside me. They’ll push me to pursue the Lord daily, and they love me despite my faults. They won’t think any less of me when I screw up. They’ll come alongside me in my mess, and help me carry the burden. And they know I’ll do the same.