I listened to a sermon lately on pride and humility, and I feel like I've talked about it every day since. (haha oops!) 

I didn't think one 50-minute sermon would be SO relevant to my life that day and every day since. 

The sermon was one of a series that all talked about vices and virtues, and I would highly recommend every. single. one. of. them. 

S O  g o o d. 

Maybe you can relate to this, but I often feel a pressure to be self-sufficient. To be the independent, don't-need-nobody gal. To do it all on my own. We live in a society that celebrates independence and revels in self-sufficiency. The people who can seemingly do it all, all by themselves are the ones that are praised and lifted up. 

We call weakness strength and pride humility.

"He never bothers anyone with his problems, he is so strong!" 

"She always does all the work by herself, look at how humble she is." 

My friends... we are wrong.

We were not made for self-sufficiency. 

Self-sufficiency funnels itself into an attitude of pride. If we think we can do it all, all alone, we inflate our egos with boastfulness. And at the exact same time, we build this pressure up and create a bubble of anxiety around ourselves. 

Trust me, I've seen it in my own story--I thought I had to do things alone, so I reveled in my independence, and quickly crumbled under the anxiety I created. I thought I had to balance the demands of school, church, friends, teachers, mentors, and extracurriculars all on my own. Refusing to ask for help didn't make me strong, it made me prideful. 

I slowly and painfully realized that asking for help, admitting my weakness, made me stronger. 

In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 Paul speaks some truth into our pride: 

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 

I am content with weaknesses. Friends, let us be content with our weaknesses! In our weaknesses, the power of Christ is strong and that is good. 

We were not made to do life alone. 

Self-sufficiency tells us to do everything alone... my friends, what a sad life! We are not made for alone-ness, we are made for community. We are made for people to speak life and truth and love into our lives, and for us to do the same for others. Now don't get me wrong, my little introverted heart needs some alone time sometimes, but if I went through every day of every week never sharing my hurts or my heart with the people around me, wow would I be lost. 

One of my favorite things about my community is the way our different gifts work together. Seeing the people around me is a living, breathing model of how the different parts of the Kingdom body work together! And wow, guys, its sweet. 

So now, I'm here to tell you that I can't do this alone. I can't go to Ethiopia without a community partnering with me in prayer and support. And the best part? God knows that. He's got this. He's always had a plan, for my life and yours too, friend. 

xo - em 

If you have any questions/comments/encouragements/prayer requests, please reach out to me or leave them down below! I could use big prayers right now for faithfulness and obedience (walking out these last few weeks of school is hard, dudes). And if you have any prayer requests, I'd love to be on your side praying for those things too! Also, if you would like to support me and my team this fall, please hit the Donate! button at the top of the screen!! Everything is appreciated, no matter how big or small.