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Community Begins with Your Unique Voice

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Community Begins With Your Unique Voice

Since this is our inaugural post for the Allume Community Writers, we would like to introduce ourselves first.

community_unique2Hi! I’m Caroline.  And this is my friend Karrie.

We met each other almost 11 years ago in Akron, Ohio.  Karrie was in high school & I was a sleep-deprived mother of 2 toddlers at the time.  Karrie quickly became a necessity in my life as a babysitter & sanity saver.  2 more kids later & 16 moves between the two of us, Karrie is no longer our babysitter, but she’s still my sanity saver!

Karrie & the TeSelle kids circa 2009

Karrie & the TeSelle kids circa 2009

From the very beginning, we have done life together & built community – sharing the good, the bad & the ugly.  We have not let geography or our 15-year age difference hinder that.

It was because of our friendship & life built around community & our desire to help others that led us to start working together as virtual assistants.

What does all of this have to do with being a part of the Allume community?

Community begins with your unique voice.

We recognize that you have a unique voice in this world.  Your life and your experiences are uniquely you. You’re here because you have recognized the opportunity to share that with the world through the avenue of blogging.

What is our unique voice?

Our unique voice is to help & encourage others.  Right now, we’re doing that in a virtual way.  We are here as a part of the Allume community to HELP YOU.

We see this as an opportunity to get to know you {build community}, hear your dream {encourage your unique voice}, then point you in a direction of figuring out how to achieve that dream {grow your influence}.

In the coming months, we will cover topics ranging from writing a great purpose statement for your blog, interviews with the experts, working with affiliates, widgets we love & much more.

…our heart here in this space is that we walk together into living well and full, and from that place we write and blog and make a difference in the world in which we live. Logan Wolfram

Most importantly, we’re here for the community, sharing the good, the bad & the ugly. Walking together, living well & full – that’s community.  Building upon those relationships will help grow your influence & make a difference in this world.

We’ve introduced ourselves, now it’s your turn. We want to get to know you better.

Take that first step of walking together in this community.

What is your unique voice?  Share it with us in the comments below.

Comments

  1. Wow! I’m the first….I’m the first….I’m the first. LOL My voice is encouragement in the Lord I think we can laugh and cry together and sing Halleluah with the best of them. Bring it on, ALLUME, bring it on.

  2. I’m not sure how unique it is, but my voice is usually funny. I can find the funny. It can be my downfall but also my saving grace. In doing so, I usually see God’s hand as well. He leads me, over and over again to the funny. It’s our “thing” we have and it keeps me from sinking into the world too much. You know, becoming Veruca Salt.

    • karmen – your voice is unique & we need to hang out! i take life too seriously sometimes. 😉

    • karmen – your voice is unique & we need to hang out! i take life too seriously sometimes. 😉

  3. My voice in unique in that I want people to see God in their everyday life. That in and of itself is not unique. Many of us travel similar paths, but to each one, God whispers one important word for each section of the path. I have had several noteworthy saying from God to tell others who are not as far down the path as i am. “Look for Christ in the Everyday, Brokenness is a beautiful pearl necklace because each pearl is a testimony of Christ,” and lately, “in the small of your life Christ will build big for His Kingdom.”

  4. My voice is one that reaches out to share the message of finding uncommon joy in the everyday. What a struggle it was to find that voice! I share insights, information and resources to help others have those aha moments that will help them be grateful for wherever they are, and through that gratitude, discover greater joy.

  5. My voice is for those struggling to use theirs. I spend most of my time teaching English learners, who have trouble expressing themselves in English and helping them learn the language and the culture when it is so different from what they know and are comfortable with. I’m also living in Mexico, where I’m learning Spanish and struggling with a lot of the voiceless feelings that my students have. As I teach and learn langauges I see SO many connections for how we grow in our spiritual lives, learning the language of grace and mercy and love which replaces our familiar language of sin and brokenness.

    • rachel – this is beautiful & full of courage! thank you for sharing your voice with those students & with us!

  7. Love this! My voice is discipleship: love, honesty, wisdom. For almost a full decade I asked God for someone to mentor me. He’s used that deep desire to turn my heart around and pour into the women just a few years behind me. We all grow together when we open up our hearts and watch Jesus walk in.

  8. First off, I love what is happening with the Allume blog! My voice is a voice that encourages women to move away from dead religion and into an authentic and abiding relationship with Jesus Christ!

  9. My voice is to encourage and equip women in their roles as wives and mothers.

  10. My voice is to encourage families to serve together and love the people around them and around the world. I’m looking forward to seeing more of what you will be sharing!

  11. My voice is a transparent one…hopefully one that inspires others to grow with the Lord as I process my faith journey out loud. My latest dream is to have a greater impact through the written word.

  12. My voice is to encourage people to take the time to develop intimacy with God by reading His Word, and honest prayer and that it is a worthwhile use of their time. I have learned this over the past several years as God has met me in my own struggles.

  13. my voice is the loud, bright one that says, ‘if it ain’t God..!” and i just love to call people forth from all that busies and buries them…to incite and invite them to take the less traveled path of being slow, silly, soulful… i thank God for helping me find my voice and training me in the use of it still… well, ain’t it just like our God!

  14. Fabulous community! My voice still has an edge occasionally as I learn to speak authentically. I’m passionate about loving women in the trenches of legalism into the freedom offered in truly knowing the heart of God.

  15. Hi, Caroline! My voice is the one saying, “Look over here. Can you see? God is working in your life!” But my blogging has been stifled by some nefarious minions. I’m counting it all joy and looking for God in it during this Lenten season. AND I’m visiting my friends’ sites. So good to see Allume up and at ’em again!

  16. The Lord is so good and is working in me a heart that craves to live out his design for me as a woman. I am so excited to be a voice that shares stories, truth, tools, and life to encourage women to live out their calling in their spheres of influence (even when that means exposing the messiness). Excited to connect and learn from others too 🙂

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