commUNITY
Unity. It’s an interesting word and used in many different settings. Family unity when talking about your in-laws (don’t worry mom and dad x2, you’re both great). Unity when the pastor is giving a message at a wedding. Unity when talking about the name of a school, or an organization, or any number of other things. But when I think about unity in community, I stop and think a little harder. CommUNITY, it’s in the name. But how quickly we forget about that. Through my family’s journey with losing our daughter almost two years ago, I felt anything but unity. I felt alone, broken, ashamed, an outcast, all by myself. I felt like I was the only person on the face of the planet that has ever lost a child. I didn’t know where to turn or who to talk to.
I quickly learned that I was not alone. In the days that followed the passing of little Faith, many people came out of the woodwork. I cannot even count the number of conversations I had that started with “I know how you feel. We lost a child.” I was shocked. Shocked to learn how many people actually experienced, to some degree, the pain that I was feeling. I was slowly starting to feel and get a sense of unity. There was a whole commUNITY of people out there that had gone through the same thing I did. Through a lot of prayer and dark days that followed, my wife Julie and I felt a nudge. A nudge to bring commUNITY.
Faith45 is here to provide unity through commUNITY. We, along with millions of other people are looking for that exact same thing. Looking for someone to cry with, to laugh with, to remember our children who have passed on with. Someone to ask the hard questions, and someone who won’t give us the cookie cutter, slap it on your bumper type of response. Someone to be authentic.
Far too many people go through life silent. They don’t feel they can talk about their struggle. They feel ashamed just like I did and think “I must have done something wrong and that’s why my arms are empty.” I am here to tell you that is not the case. I want to encourage you to talk about it. Get the conversation started. People want to talk, people want to listen, and most of the time people just want someone to sit and cry with. Your neighbor is there for you. Your sister, brother, mom, dad, uncle, aunt, banker, window cleaner, the list goes on and on, are here for you. And if this isn’t the case and there aren’t people there for you the way you wish they would be, WE are here for you. We want to be part of your commUNITY.
Think about holding a bottle of water. You can hold a bottle of water and it’s not heavy at all. Now, imagine holding that bottle of water for 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, and hour. That will start to get heavy to the point where you cannot possibly hold it any longer. Did the bottle get heavier? No. But holding onto something for too long will inevitable cause you to lose strength and drop it. The same goes with our emotions. If we hold onto something for too long without addressing the issue, we will eventually lost strength and nothing good will come of it.
So, my encouragement to you, find your commUNITY. Let’s together bring unity to a subject that far to easily gets overlooked. You are loved, and God never intended for any of us to go through this alone.