To Write Love On Her Arms.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again...

I think To Write Love On Her Arms is an extraordinary organization of ordinary people serving ordinary people and giving extraordinary hope. It's not about the organization and it's not about Jamie and it's not about the cool t-shirts (though they are pretty cool). It isn't even about the music or the books or the speeches. What it really comes down to is community and the realization that no one is alone and no one is meant to be alone. And when we think we're alone we do some pretty desperate things to feel and to cope and it ends up screwing things up more than helping. But when we look up and wake up and see the faces around us as people who are just like us, trying to find peace and joy and hope in a broken world, life is just better. Fuller. Enriched.

A lot of people don't realize (or don't want to) that even though everything I just said is true, really it's not. Really it's about Jesus, and it's through Jesus, and it's for Jesus. He is the Great Redeemer. He is the Creator and the Healer and the Lover of our souls. Oh, how He loves us.

TWLOHA focuses on four specific symptoms of loneliness: depression, self-injury, addiction, and suicide. I've never personally struggled with the last three, but I have experienced depression and I'm fighting a winning battle against loneliness. 

God equips us to help and to serve and to bless others. If we're made to serve the lonely, we should step up to the call. TWLOHA steps up. Not only are they creating conversation and providing hope to the hopeless, they are setting an example. In my eyes, they're being the Church. They're showing Christ in a way the world greatly needs to see Him - as helping, as living, as redeeming. Accepting. Loving. Welcoming. We need to follow in their footsteps, in our day-to-day lives and in the big picture.

It's an encouragement to see how God is working through TWLOHA. It's a blessing to be part of a movement that is neverending: love and hope and community. TWLOHA is bringing a piece of heaven to earth, and I want to take part in Redemption and in Providence. 

Eternity is looming.