“I invited this girl, Sarah, to go camping with us. Then you can meet her and invite her to everything.” Abby smiled knowingly.
She wasn’t wrong. I’m the social butterfly of my friend group. I invite people and plan things. At this point, my friends intentionally get me in the same room as someone they want to be friends with knowing I’ll get their number and invite them to go hiking with us or organize a game night or something. Most of the time, I don’t mind. I enjoy connecting with people and connecting them to each other.
But when I first got sick, slowly that ability disappeared. I could no longer participate in normal social events. When you have a health challenge, people eventually stop even asking, assuming that you won’t be able to participate. And it hurts. All of it: both the lack of invitation and the necessity to turn down invitations even if they come.
It’s sad, even if you aren’t an extroverted social butterfly. It’s lonely and it’s isolating.
I’ve served the chronic illness community for years, and I used to try to be a lot more eloquent in my encouragements. But as I’ve engaged with hundreds of people with chronic illnesses and health challenges, I have found that so much of our heart struggles with chronic illness boils down to one factor: we feel alone.
One of the biggest goals of the Diamonds conference is to let them — let you — know that you aren’t alone. Far from it!
And today, I want to invite you to be apart of helping people with health challenges know they aren’t alone. I want to invite you to send invitations again. I want to invite you to help people dream again. I want to invite you to be part of something with a bigger purpose.
It only takes 5-10 minutes a week, but this is a powerful way to help those with chronic illnesses find connection and community and life-giving encouragement.
You see, we’re looking for people to join our street team. Basically, we’re looking for people who are excited to share their excitement with other people. We’re looking for people to send someone with a chronic illness their first invitation in who-knows-how-long. And it’s one they can engage in even from a hospital bed.
Once a week, we’ll send you an email with a short task. Something like, “add the study guide as to-read on Goodreads” or “post this graphic on social media” or “comment on this post” or “visit the merch shop.”
It’s short and easy, but together makes a HUGE difference in helping this event and message get into the hands of those who need it.
Some perks of being a street team member:
- Participation in weekly team challenges
- Behind the scenes look at our conference
- All Access Pass discount
- Merch shop discount
We would love to have you. Comment any questions below!
P.S. Having a social media account is not a requirement for joining the street team! 😉