In this episode, we interview Maxine Higgins about her journey to discovering Sisterhood and how she’s utilized her story to transform her life and the lives of those around her. Her raw honesty forces us to confront the true cost of building Sisterhood and how it’s exactly what Jesus wants for us. We encourage you to listen!
Maxine Higgins is a spiritual powerhouse that is living her truth by telling her story. We were honored to have her as a special guest.
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Summary
by Lexxy Dayao
Let me just start off by saying that Maxine Higgins is pretty amazing. It takes a lot of courage for someone to be vulnerable and share about painful experiences and past trauma. I think a lot of us can say that we’ve been hurt by someone we love, or we’ve been broken by how cruel life can be sometimes. It’s hard to put together the broken pieces of ourselves or fix the damage from broken trust or lies that have been engraved into our minds. I used to be the type of person that cringed at the thought of being vulnerable. I had been deeply hurt by my best friend of 10 years. I decided I was going to build walls and keep everyone at arm’s length because I refused to let that happen with someone else. I thought to myself, “Why would I subject myself to that pain again?” I was carrying my burdens by myself, and the more I tried to do life on my own, the more difficult it became and the more depressed I felt. Innately, we crave connection and belonging so it made sense why I was struggling so much. Much like Maxine, I had to realize that I was believing a lie that caused me to distance myself. I believed that I was too difficult to love and people would give up on me because of what had happened in the past with my best friend.
“I was trying to protect myself from pain but didn’t realize that I was also preventing myself from experiencing healing.” - Lexxy
I wanted to have someone that could pick me up when I fell down, or just be there when I was having a bad day and that could only happen if I let my guard down.
Maxine talked about sisterhood being a safe place for women to share their story. You may have never had the opportunity to share your voice or if you did, people didn’t listen. Maybe you’ve felt a void or an emptiness and couldn’t figure out what was missing. As an “architect of Sisterhood”, Maxine understood that she had something to share with others and healing was possible when women felt seen and heard. “ “As I began to open up and as I began to share my story and as I began to hear other women’s stories and connect, I realized this was the missing piece. This was the piece about God that I didn’t see.” You can look at a woman and think she has it all together but deep inside she could be crumbling from loneliness, depression, anxiety, shame, you name it. Our stories may be different but there’s power in knowing that you’re not alone. Your feelings are
valid and you deserve to be loved. There is power in your testimony.
My hope and prayer is that you find a tribe of women that will lift you up, encourage you, call you higher, and help you walk with God. No one is perfect, and some of our closest friends will hurt us but when that friendship is built on honesty, authenticity, and vulnerability, you can overcome anything together.
Sisterhood is a way of life and when other women see how real it is, how full of love and understanding it is, how safe it is, they have hope and can’t help but want to be a part of it. The thing I love about Jesus is that he never calls us to do something he hasn’t done himself. Community and friendship are non-negotiables for him. He did life with people. He didn’t just teach us what it meant to live a life faithfully to God, he showed us. People hated him, spit on him, punched him and his very closest friends abandoned him when he needed them the most and he still thought that all of them were worth dying for. “If Jesus thinks it’s still worth it to have community, then that should say something about the way that I live my life.” God knows we need one another. Just ask Him, and He will put you in the right place, at the right time, with the Sisterhood you need. Sometimes finding that Sisterhood calls you to do something that scares you or to do something that feels too hard. What we don’t see is how much work God has already done and he just needs us to take that first step, to be obedient and to trust him. We can be tempted to say no but imagine what could happen if you dared to face your fears.
“This world and my experience of this world is not meant just for me…that perspective makes God too small.” “I know that there is something on the other side of my yes.” “I’ve seen God do the impossible…I have that faith, I had that knowing that God has got me.” - Maxine
When we’re obedient to God’s voice, he will provide and come through every time.
Thank you for reading and for showing up - Lexxy
Takeaways
We all need a safe place to use our voice and share our story.
If God is calling you to be an “architect of sisterhood”, have the courage to do it knowing that God’s got your back. There are results when we are obedient to God’s direction.
Jesus lived his life with and surrounded by other people, and that’s the blueprint he modeled for us and our friendships.
Remember that your story may be the testimony someone is in need for. Pray about it and let God lead you to a safe place or special moment to share your story.
Don’t just be transparent, be vulnerable and allow yourself to start healing from the pain, trauma and hardships that have been hard to process.
The foundation of a Sisterhood is vulnerability, consistency, honesty, and authenticity.
We’re all a mess and having a Sisterhood that will help carry your burdens and make you feel seen and heard is something we all need.
It’s not all on you to create a Sisterhood. Remember that God is allowing you to steward something that is His and He’ll be with you every step of the way.
You might need Sisterhood if you spend more time judging than empathizing.
Homework
Share your high, low and growth moments with a friend today.
Pray for God to lead you to the women that you can start doing life with.
Obedience to God can be terrifying. Think of what way God is calling you to be obedient and pray for the courage to start doing it.
Exercise - How to Tell Your Story
Write about a difficult time in your life, and how you overcame it.
Talk about a funny moment, that changed the way you think and felt about something.
Share something you learned that changed the trajectory of your gifts
Related Scriptures
1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
1 Peter 4:8-11 “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”
Ecclesiastes 4:8-10 “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor; If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
James 5:16 “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”