Me Too
Me too. Each week as I sit in a room among dozens of stories in bodily form, I come to realize that this is the deepest message reGROUP seeks to convey each week. Whether it’s through Sixty Minute Seminars during the summer, the regular reGROUP big group curriculum throughout the year, or in our Connect groups, this is the resounding message of reGROUP. Me too.
Each of our stories are different by design – we are uniquely formed with purpose by our Creator. Beneath the details of our circumstances, though, lay the threads that bind us together as humans living in a fallen world. Grief. Loss. Abuse. Loneliness. Addiction. Fear. Shame. Longing. Vulnerability. Heartbreak.
Me too.
This is where God has created community. When God declared to Adam that it was not good for man to be alone, He had much more than marriage in mind. God created us to need one another, to be able to relate to one another’s pain as well as to celebrate in times of rejoicing.
When I first entered into the reGROUP process in the fall of 2011, I didn’t know which way was up. My world was spiraling through a mixture of unresolved issues from my past and a recent job transition, all adding up to deep resentment and feeling abandoned by God in the midst of what I had been convinced was His calling. Many of the details of my story and hurts were not especially common to the stories I heard each week. But as I chose to lean in to the process and engage in community, I began to hear the stirrings of that still, small voice.
Me too.
Her broken relationship and feelings of loneliness, my loss of my former community, and me too.
His drug problem and hiding his shame, my fear that I’d failed, and me too.
Her eating disorder and feelings of worthlessness, my wounds from part of my upbringing, and me too.
One of the biggest lies we believe is that we’re completely alone and if anyone really knew us or what we’ve done, we would be completely rejected as unloveable. The paradox of this is that the more I’ve been privileged to hear the stories of women I’ve worked with over the past two-and-a-half years, is that with every brave telling, with every bared soul, the greater my love and compassion grows for each of these women and the journey they’ve travelled.
We’ve all been hurt before, and often in relationships with others. We cannot build our walls in fear and mistrust as our way to protect ourselves from being hurt. It’s only through courageously engaging in healing community and beginning to tell our stories that our wounds begin to lose their power over us.
It’s in the “me too” that we know we’re not alone.
reGROUP returns on September 21st, at the Herndon campus. If you are interested in attending, please click here for more details or come by Herndon on a Monday night at 7 p.m.
Megan Wasneechak has been involved with reGROUP at Summit for over three years—first as a participant, and then as a volunteer leader. She is a social worker in Seminole County, working alongside families with youth who have mental health issues. In her spare time she likes riding bikes, reading, traveling, and trying her best not to kill her succulents.