Let the elephants lead the way

Last night I piled in a car with 7 girlfriends to road trip down to SMU to meet Jen Hatmaker and Nichole Nordeman at their Moxie Matters tour stop in Dallas.   Apparently President Trump was in town so the tollway was shut down.  So we ended up sitting/driving in traffic all the way around the DFW metroplex following the directions of the Waze app lady like lost little puppies.

It was worth every mile. 

We laughed and told stories.  We ate snacks for dinner like the famished mamas we were and fended off carsickness with the automatic window buttons.  We were a circle of sisters on a mission.

Every moment of the evening was fabulous, but the image above was certainly one of my favorites. 

Jen told a story about a recent time in her life when she was hurting and feeling alone.  She received a text from Nichole with that picture of the elephants in a circle and a story about the way female elephants protect one another in the wild.  If their sister is wounded and vulnerable, or in labor, they back up and circle around her.  They guard her, defend her and cover her, until she is well, or new life is born.

Nichole’s note ended with, “We’ve got you.”

Jen went on to share what it felt like to her in that moment, to know it was okay to be the one in the middle.  To know her sisters were circled around her and they had her.   To know she wasn’t suffering alone.

“This is what we do, girls. When our sisters are vulnerable, when they are giving birth to new life, new ideas, new ministries, new spaces, when they are under attack, when they need their people to surround them so they can create, deliver, heal, recover…we get in formation. We close ranks and literally have each others’ backs. You want to mess with our sis? Come through us first. Good luck.” ~ Jen Hatmaker

Who in your life today is vulnerable or birthing something new into the world? 

Circle around her.  Remind her she’s not suffering alone.

If you are the one hurting, let this be a reminder that it’s okay to be the one in the middle. 

Your day to close ranks and defend your sisters will come again. . . maybe sooner than you think.

Let your girls encircle you.  

Let the elephants lead the way.

to more love,

Crystal