Do you feel alone at times in your pain? Like no one else has experienced what you have or are currently going through. Are you desperate to connect with others that have walked your path and suffered similar things that you and yours have gone through? Do you want to be vulnerable to others and not feel shame or embarrassment about your broken pieces? Have you been brave at times and told parts of your hurts pleading with others to offer you wisdom on how to navigate your impossible situation only to receive shocked stares with good hearted responses of “I have absolutely no idea how to handle that.”
Perhaps you sit in isolation believing the highlight reels you see on social media that never typically tell the whole story. Maybe you have convinced yourself that there are no others that have underwent the depth of pain you have felt to your core. Have you been utterly lost on how to make decisions and steer the twisting road of the messiness of loss, mental health, prodigal, estrangement, grief, suicide attempts, addiction, self-harm, sexual and gender confusion, and all the other complications that could be occurring as the enemy slowly and meticulously disassembles the family unit?
That’s because our hurts are not meant to be shared in stadiums (like social media). Nor are they usually best received with the unfamiliar yet well-intentioned who have not gone down similar roads and cannot offer insightful advice, battle worn empathy that is only found in the trenches, or non-judgmental silence for us to fall apart in, if need be. Your complicated stories can be carefully unraveled with a professional counselor and in the safety of an intimate group that are specific to your area of hurt.
When turbulent waters hit – cry out to Jesus, educate yourself, get resources and tools, seek counseling, and find your tribe.
There is strength in the community. Your people will have a common language, share similar pain, empathize in a non-judgmental way, provide resources, and reveal lessons learned.
Compassionately lean into each other and as Galatians 6:2 commands, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Know there is protection in connection.
Below are some tribes you can connect to. If your people are not listed, I pray you were inspired about the importance of community and search for your tribe, you are worthy of that! Please remember the lessons learned in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 where we are told two are better than one because if one falls, one can help the other up. We also are instructed that there is strength in numbers. Lean into the body, as God has instructed us to do so, none of us should walk this journey on our own!
TRIBES TO LOOK INTO :
Parents of kids with destructive behaviors (Christian focused) – hopeforhurtingparents.com
Prodigals (Christian focused) – prayerforprodigals.com
Grief –
griefshare.org (Christian focused)
https://www.umbrellaministries.com/resources/ (loss of a child) (Christian focused)
https://www.compassionatefriends.org/ (loss of a child)
Mental health –
https://mentalhealthgracealliance.org/find-a-group (Christian focused)
https://freshhope.us/find-a-group/ (Christian focused) – offer groups as well as free virtual 1 on 1 coaching, to family members and those who are struggling with mental health
https://nami.org/Support-Education/Support-Groups
Addictions –
celebraterecovery.com (Christian focused)
https://liferecoverygroups.com/meetings/?tsml-day=any&tsml-view=map (Christian focused – groups for people that struggle with various addictions such as: food, depression, anxiety, relationships, etc.)
https://www.nar-anon.org/other-sites
al-anon.org
Sexual and Gender confusion (Christian focused) – livingstonesministries.org
Self-injury – selfinjury.com
Codependency – coda.org
Suicide –
https://afsp.org/find-a-support-group/
allianceofhope.org
Dwelling in Hope 
Leave a comment