Polished Oklahoma City

I’ll be there for you

(When the rain starts to pour)

I’ll be there for you

(Like I’ve been there before)

I’ll be there for you

(‘Cause you’re there for me too)

There’s a reason the sitcom Friends is so popular – it depicts the kind of connection we all crave. We all want to be known and accepted precisely as we are (even if it means our friends have no idea what we do for work or if their constant use of the word “actually” makes us actually want to poke them in the eye). We all crave connection. And we all need community.

While we may not live in a rent-controlled apartment across the hall from our besties in NYC, it is possible to cultivate community right where we are. We cultivate community when we take the vulnerable step of inviting someone to coffee (even if you have to ask more than once). We get closer to the connection we crave when we put our phones down and give our full attention to the people we are with (even if it means we miss a work email). We nourish our community when we prioritize being a safe person for others to be around (even if it would be easier to put your head down and work without regard to your coworkers).

The wisdom books of the Bible have a lot to say about friendship and community: two are better than one, iron sharpens iron, and even the wounds of a friend can be trusted. Jennie Allen said, “We weren’t just built for community; we were built because of it.” Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit embody community and created us from the connection they share. Our craving for community is innate and holy and needs to be tended to.

Join us this month as we focus on community. We’ll talk about what makes it so difficult for us as working women to find and cultivate community and how we can take steps toward building it. We need to pivot (PIVOT!) from living isolated, compartmentalized lives and begin imagining how we can find the connection we crave by cultivating real community.

About our Speaker Christie Luther

Christie Luther is the Founding Executive Director of the RISE Program, Inc., a collaboration between the Oklahoma State Board of Cosmetology and the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. Its mission is to equip incarcerated women and men with the skills of cosmetology and barbering and provide wrap-around re-entry services. She operates three schools, two transitional living homes, serving 1,400 women every month. Christie is an appointed board member of the Oklahoma Cosmetology Board and is a Celebrate Recovery Inside State Representative. She is mother to 2 daughters, “Gigi” to one granddaughter, a pastor, an avid traveler, and a Harley enthusiast. She travels to Africa annually to speak at men’s and women’s prisons, churches, and orphanages. Christie has received awards for her work, including the Rodney Bivens Innovation Award, DOC Volunteer of the Year, and Journal Record’s Woman of the Year. Most importantly, Christie is a woman of prayer and faith, a believer in Christ, and happiest when she does Kingdom work by serving the people in her community.