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| Jen Hatmaker is the author of 11 books |
However, this journey didn’t
really start a week ago. No, it actually
started last March. I had finished Jen’s
book Interrupted and started to
follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
That’s when I saw her post about applying to join her Launch Team. I’d applied for a couple teams before but
never got on. I figured I’d go ahead and
apply. After all, Interrupted had been amazing.
Then another amazing thing
happened. I was picked. I didn’t find out until later that 5000
people applied and only 500 were chosen.
I was part of this group. I
received an advanced digital copy of the book and later a hard copy advanced
book. I also joined a private Facebook
group, a community.
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| Launch Team love because who doesn't love swag. |
Of course in March, I didn’t know
that. I really didn’t understand much
about it at all. It started small. Most people posted about the book, parts they
liked, quotes, etc. Then a few started
posting about their life, funny stories about their children, pictures, etc. Before long, people started sharing prayer
requests, life stories, and struggles.
In the months that followed we
became friends and prayer warriors. This
little group of women (and 4 men) became a community. They knit together to lift members up in
prayer and also we started to gather in small groups all over the country. People lived out the gospel, as well as the
central message of the book we were launching:
Grace.
When a sister posted about a
need, there was response. Those who
could give, gave. Those who couldn’t be
there physically prayed. Groceries were
given. Refuge was given. Travel to the launch party was given. A car was given. And that is just the physical stuff. Support was given for those who were having
difficulty in marriages, difficulty in raising children, taking care of
parents, ministry needs. Friends were
made who’d never met in real life.
It was a safe place for people
who were searching, for people who’d been hurt, for people who needed a safe
place.
Then a week ago, over 200+ of
these women converged on Austin, TX. I
was a scholarship kid. I didn’t have an
FTLBFF (For The Love Best Friend Forever).
I really didn’t know what to expect.
I was flying to Austin alone, in a shirt emblazoned with the book title,
in hopes of running into some of my FTL sisters in the airport. And I did.
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| All alone at the Austin airport, waiting on my FTL sisters. |
I also made some really great
friendships over the course of the weekend.
I was challenged to get out of my comfort zone and I was able to
introvert a little, too. Sure, we did some
sightseeing and some shopping. We even
went to the main event, the party at Jen Hatmaker’s house! And we did church together on Sunday. But
those things seem small in comparison to what really happened over the
weekend. Our community, which had largely
been online, met. We came together. We hugged.
We loved.
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| Just a few of the beautiful women I was blessed to spend time with. |
Faces I recognized and those that
I didn’t came together with stories that’d been shared over the course of
several months. I was able to hug and
talk to those who I’d been praying for and hear about continued requests and
answered prayers.
I didn’t engage a lot
(#ambivertproblems), but I observed a lot.
I still want to cry when I think about it, when I think about the things
that were shared during that weekend, barbeque and donuts, tears and laughs, fears
and joys, bread and wine, love and grace.
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| Just a few of the ladies (seriously). |
I still struggle with putting it
all into words. A week later and I still
don’t think I’ve processed what all it means and how it has affected me, even
as I’m awakened by texts from my new FTLBFF’s and praying for my FTL
sisters.
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| Food + Great ladies = An amazing time. |
And if I can’t completely
comprehend what has happened here in this place, I don’t know how to share it
with others. Other than showing
them. Loving them. Giving grace as freely as it has been given
to me.
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| Meeting Jen was great. She was the one that brought us together. But in the end, this was just a small part of an amazing time. |
