{Be Confident} Double Dog Dares From the Man Upstairs

The four of us girls met at a sleepover.

Well, kind of.

We met in 6th grade at one of those middle school dances you remember me telling you about.  Three of us proudly titled ourselves as “band geeks” and the fourth was a member of the middle school chorus.  We didn’t have much in common except for the fact that all four of us longed to have a group of girlfriends we could laugh with, tell secrets to, and play Truth or Dare with.

I distinctly remember us awkwardly moving to the music on that middle school dance floor as one of the girls yelled to the rest of us: “We’re gonna be best friends forever!”  We all giddily agreed and the night ended with me being double dog dared to put shaving cream in another girl’s hair.

Community was formed that night, and even now, over 11 years later those girls are some of my best friends.

Community is literally a group of people who share SOMETHING in common.  You can have a community of farmers, a community of dog lovers, or even a community of middle school girls whose only thing in common is the fact that can’t dance and crave friendship.

Community can take on a lot of different shapes sizes and themes.

But, it’s the type of community you cultivate that matters.

When I was in college, one thing I craved desperately was authentic community.  I had spent much of my time submerged in the mindset that I had to pretend like everything was amazing in order to show that God was working in my life.

That got tiresome quickly.

I felt utterly alone.  I became tired of living in a world laced in perceived perfection.  It wasn’t real perfection…because everything wasn’t amazing all the time.   But… I wanted people to know that I loved God, and that I wanted to be used by him.  I also wanted them to think highly of me.  It was an exhausting circle that frustrated me and left me consumed with people’s opinion of me.

See, there is a reason that the only perfect being on earth is Jesus Christ.

If we strive to be perfect we will become self consumed and empty.  But, if we strive to be like Jesus, we will never be perfect, but we will be fulfilled.

Being fulfilled emotionally, spiritually and mentally is so much better than perfection- because it points to perfection – Jesus- not to us.

Anyways.

I craved authentic community, but I had no idea how to get it.  

Now, this next part sounds really silly– but bear with me:

I prayed.

I know I know I know.  It sounds so simple, right?  I prayed for authentic community.

And yep- God did answer my prayer!

But he didn’t give me authentic community.

You know what he gave me?

Ways in which to be authentic with the people around me.

See, I think that God likes to double dog dare us to do things.  In fact- I can almost guarantee it.

And I’m happy to say his double dog dares are more purposed than putting shaving cream in another girl’s hair at a sleepover.

I honestly believe God thoroughly enjoys giving us opportunities to trust him. He dares us to. And I’m sure he waits in excited anticipation for the moment when we finally do.

In answer to my prayer God said, “You want authentic community?  Be authentic.  I double dog dare you.”

Hearing his prompting stirred something in me.  It made me question if I really wanted authentic community or not.  Truth be told, it was hard.  But, being authentic became a means of finding other people who were attracted to authenticity which inevitably led to us connecting and community being formed.

What is God double dog daring you to do about community?  We learned last week that God wants us to have each other- that’s why he created Eve for Adam.  It wasn’t good for Adam to be alone.  

So, do you feel alone today?  Why?

Figure out what kind of community you’re longing for and I double dog dare you to do something about it.

My advice?  Start on your knees.

xo
AnnaFilly