Building Community: Is anybody here?

The Scavenger Hunt 1.5 - Guest Blog by Chrissy L Whitten

Lilian with her parents and grandparents! Reminders that people showed up when it mattered!

Welcome to part of my current tribe! God weaved my journey and moved me towards this amazing group of men and women. Lilian Grace’s legacy has brought me to some unique and beautiful places on this journey. My grief never goes away. I’ve gotten stronger and can battle easier at times. God has been healing, renewing, and moving me into my current season.

I’ve had some rough seasons off and on in my forty-three years and nine-and-a-half months of living. I’m forever indebted to His grace, mercy, and unconditional love. If you would have given me a glimpse into twelve years from the moment sitting with Lilian’s heart specialist crying with us after sharing Lily’s six heart defects at twenty weeks gestation and her predicted life expectancy, I would have been overwhelmed.

I used to ask if God could just give me the final results with many things—the good part. At those moments of despair, I was clueless. I didn’t know that some of the best parts were in the fires when it got heated up. I’ve learned to appreciate the journey from the first change or bad news all the way to the season’s ending. Knowing the results misses all the goodness, healing, transformations, and renewal.

If God had only shown me the change in Lilian’s journey to the part she died, I would have been in deep sorrow right when she arrived. I’m thankful the unknown was there, because our story overflows with good parts woven with the broken, sad parts. When you face heart problems or any that veer away from normal, it’s important to let God build your community. Connections are a necessity, especially when you are a newbie with a small fraction of knowledge and wisdom.

I strongly believe that we would not have had one hundred and three days with our warrior princess without the connections of willing warriors who poured into us through shared knowledge, recommendations, prayers, and care. I know I’m just getting started with my expanded community, but I love watching it build and grow. I would have been lost without my original tribe.

Is anybody here? Yes, we are here. You are not alone. There is an abundance of caring human beings all over the world who have battled and trained to be warriors—heart warriors in this particular community.

Don’t be afraid to reach out to others. God meant for us to be here for one another. The crazy thing is that even normal situations and people need community. I’m thankful God didn’t let me curl up in Lilian’s dark NICU room and shut the world out. He was loud and brought me His best to help guide, direct, and protect us.

You hopefully made it to the end of The Fight Scavenger Hunt! Don't forget to look around this host site to get to know them and learn what they are about. Before you go, make sure to write down who and what your community looks like. You will email your response along with the other four responses to chrissylwhitten@gmail.com when you finish reading all five entries over the web. Find space and bravery to reach out to others, especially when others are letting His light shine bright by living out their purpose to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Chrissy L Whitten

Award-Winning Author

To learn about me and all things The Fight book and tour, please visit my website at www.chrissylwhitten.com for more. If you have just stumbled upon this scavenger hunt here, please go to the very first blog post, From Giving to Building on my website to start from the beginning.