I Have Called You Friends

Last week the kids and I spent the afternoon with Rachel Wojnarowski and her tribe.  It was a time of fellowship, reassurance, and a chance to see God moving in both our lives.

Shelby and Tarah 

I stumbled across Rachel's blog around the holiday season of 2012. I was going through a really tough season and was in search of God's word and other women who had similar hurts in their lives. Her story touched my heart and helped the broken places in my own story to begin healing.

I chose HEAL to be my word for 2013 .

Through events only God could orchestrate I discovered shortly after moving to Ohio that our families were attending the same church. I remember asking my husband, "Why in the world is Rachel Wojo tweeting about Cypress?"

I decided to send Rachel a message and we were able to meet one Sunday which lead to our family hangout session. Our preplanned two-hour visit turned into almost seven hours! The kids played the wii, brought out the sprinkler, jumped on the trampoline, and made a glorious mess.

I watched Rachel care for her daughter Taylor who has been diagnosed with MPS, a degenerative incurable disease. As she explained the illness to me I felt an ache deep inside. How do you prepare for one of your children to pass away? Her bravery amazed me.

But there was something more. Rachel is a normal woman, a tired mom, and a warrior for Jesus. She told me stories about how God gave her a ticket to Allume a few years back and how he connected her to so many vital people. I opened up about my past and how much her words helped me.

We laughed about dirty dishes, kids running wild, and the fact that most days we're just trying to care for our families.

Rachel and I quickly became friends by sharing our brokenness and the glorious redemption of Christ. We have not experienced the same life events but both of us have suffered heartbreak, loss, rejection, and grief. God used these trials to claim triumph in our lives and give each of us so much more than we could have imagined.

I see the two little girls in the picture above and know God has a divine plan for them as well. They were birthed from mothers who revel in God's grace and bravely share their stories.* Click to Tweet!

God can create community anywhere we let Him. He weaves lives together and we have the ability to look toward the future with excitement and anticipation.

Thank you Rachel for being a true disciple of Jesus and an authentic friend.

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