thrive community

My friends Brian & Tiffany Kellogg have been helping me set up my new place here. Their story is the backdrop of what I hope becomes the norm of those who join our community.

I asked them to look over the site and their story to make sure they’re ok with how and where I’m using it. Tiffany checked out the story but continued to read what I’ve written here. Her response to my initial blog conveys the heartbeat of who I hope joins us here and where I hope we can go together…

“I thought it was interesting that you picked the song ‘Iris’ to spotlight. The chorus keeps repeating ‘I just want you to know who I am’ and I think that is true of most people. I think people want to be known and you are doing just that in building community.

The next part of the song:

And I don’t want the world to see me
Cuz I don’t think that they’d understand
When everything’s made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

So many people seem to want to blend in and go through the motions of life. So many of us are broken and need the healing that only God can provide. We try to ignore our brokenness or handle everything on our own. So much of that healing starts with relationships with people. Once we can trust people, we are more open to trusting God.” 

Like Tiffany said, we all attempt to hide from the world, blend in and ignore our brokenness. People want to be known and loved for who they are. So what are we afraid of? The fact is that we’re all messed up and need healing. We are all broken, even if we are unaware of it. We all want to experience a community where it’s safe to be yourself even when people get to see you up close.

The reality is that unsafe relationships usually involve those who have yet to experience brokenness in their life. People who haven’t experienced brokenness are poor at being gracious. Those who have experienced brokenness tend to have a greater capacity to offer grace for the journey and find greater satisfaction helping people find wholeness.

Many of us have been broken and have scars to prove it. Some of us are in denial. But real community is birthed out of hearts who are ready to be known and will give grace as well as receive it.

Thanks Tiffany!