Connections & Reflections: The Sarah Society Newsletter - May 2022

 Learn more about The Sarah Society (sister group to the Samson Society) here.  

CONNECTIONS & REFLECTIONS The Sarah Society's Monthly Newsletter

Welcome to the first edition of the Sarah Society newsletter!   We are so thankful for you and your participation in the Sarah Society, whether that be through online meetings, engaging in our communication platforms, and/or attending the retreat. Our growth and reach is because of you.    We are so excited to be launching this monthly newsletter and want to emphasize that this is YOUR newsletter. If you have any poems, artwork, or short stories that you would like to share via the newsletter, please send it to us and we will be happy to share it - whether anonymously or via first name attribution.    We are excited to see how God continues to bless this group. If you have any suggestions or ideas to help facilitate the growth of the Sarah community, your leadership team would love to hear from you! Feel free to reach out personally, if you feel comfortable doing so, or email us.    - Your Sarah Leadership Team (Barb, Bonny, Brandy, Bretta, Celayne, Corrie, Dawn, Erin C., Erin S.) UPCOMING EVENTS

Disclosures 101 with Lyschel Burkett June 9, 2022 at 7 p.m. ET What is a full therapeutic disclosure and why in the world would anyone want to do that?!  Join us to learn more about this topic in a special 2-hour zoom session with Hope Redefined's Lyschel Burkett. Register for this FREE event today!

Women's Weekend Intensive  October 21-23, 2022 Using a comprehensive approach, this 3-day intensive addresses both the trauma of betrayal and specific steps toward personal healing, and provides the equivalent of 8-12 months of weekly counseling. For more information, click here.

The Gathering at the Lodge April 14-16, 2023 Mark your calendars to join us for our second annual retreat, lovingly named The Gathering at the Lodge, at Five Star Retreat in Nunnelly, Tennessee on April 14-16, 2023. More details to come.

Resources to Help You On Your Journey Each month, we will share resources that may help you on your journey of healing.   This month, we are highlighting the podcast Hope For Wives featuring Bonny Burns, Lyschel Burkett, and Pam Blizzard. This podcast dives into all things betrayal and comes up for air with hope for all wives struggling with their husband's hurtful behaviors due to their problematic sexual behaviors.

SARAH SOCIETY SHARING GUIDELINES Safety for all of our Sarah Sisters is our number one priority. The Leadership Team reserves the right to remove any Share in Marco Polo or Slack for the safety of our groups. No sharing of our husband’s/partner’s property, such as his phone, social media accounts, notes from workbooks, etc. No men may address the group within Marco Polo or Slack. This is a sacred, safe space for women only. Please refrain from husband/partner bashing or "just venting." Instead, try to describe your problem, share what you’ve tried so far and ask for specific input from others on how they solved a similar problem. If you “just vent;" and leave it at that, you may be asked specifically what you've done so far, to deal with the situation you are upset about. There is no judgement here for staying in or leaving your marriage/relationship. Your journey is your own. Please use safe language, giving no details of behaviors. You can generalize by saying “Acting/Acted out.” If in a triggered state of mind, please refrain from sharing in our main groups. Please do share in a more private setting or with a prayer partner. By not sharing when triggered, you may not feel the need to delete what you shared. Then, when logic comes back online, please share in our main groups! We are a peer led society. Please understand that some situations require therapy/coaching/professional assistance that we cannot offer here. Please use “I” statements as much as possible when sharing. For example, "I felt really sad when he said that.;" "In my situation I ended up journaling about my feelings.;" "When I had a similar problem I decided to go outside and ground myself instead of yelling." You are seen. You are heard. You are loved. You are capable. You are worthy. You are brave. You are amazing. You are strong. You are beautiful. You. Are. Enough.

Sarah Sister Contribution Letting Go By Chrissy A life created for beauty and fullness, but instead cut down with pain and brokenness. A life meant to know happiness, but only seen sadness. A life meant for love and compassion, but only know pain and deception. A heart created to love so deeply, yet only experience brokenness and rejection. But what was cut down can grow again. What was broken can be mended. What was stained by tears of sorrow can be washed clean. Let go of what tried to break you and believe you are stronger. Let go of the darkness that tried to drown you and swim towards the light. They saw your strength and it brought them fear so they tried to take you down. But the power inside you is stronger than anything on the outside. Rise above lovely one and know you are not broken, You Have Been Transformed Into A Mosaic.

Interested in Hosting a Sarah Meeting?

Do you find yourself exploring the possibility of facilitating a Sarah meeting? If so, please consider attending our monthly meeting facilitator orientation on the second Monday of every month at 6:45 p.m. ET - no strings attached! The meeting link can be found in the Meeting Links & Times channel in Slack.   As our community grows, so does the need for more meetings on different days and times. If you choose to step into a bigger role within the Sarah Society, know that your time and energy will be helping other women start to heal. The more meetings we can offer, the more opportunities women can have to experience the power and freedom of a safe space. Current Meeting Days and Times All times given are in Eastern Time zone. Please adjust accordingly to your time zone. Sunday, 7 p.m. Monday, 1 p.m. Tuesday, Noon  Tuesday Prayer (1st and 3rd Tuesday of every month), 8 p.m. Wednesday, Noon Thursday, 7 p.m. Friday 8 p.m.

The more women we are able to reach, the more we can help women recognize that they are not alone. Please consider partnering with us by donating a monthly gift to Samson House, the parent 501(c)3 of the Sarah Society and the Samson Society. You can designate your gift by typing "Sarah Society" in the notes section of the donor form. Donate Today