Did you happen to hear the chatter about sorority recruitment this year? I don’t think I’ve heard this much about it since my daughter went through it herself a couple of years ago. While we can thank TikTok for popularizing this type of content online, I also believe there’s a bigger reason we’ve been paying so much attention to it.   

Humans are hardwired to seek connections with others. God created us for community. Science even recognizes that we are shaped by our social environment, and we instinctively feel threatened when we experience loneliness or relationship challenges. Making friends in college and beyond is about more than wearing matching T-shirts and sharing traditions. It’s a part of our survival as humans. Nurturing our social circles is especially important during hard times, and we all know how the past few years have been. 

Knowing that, it’s no surprise that watching a group of beautiful, bright-eyed, young women find a sense of belonging through their respective sorority chapters appeals to us. We all desire to feel known and valued in our communities at every stage of life. But our recent obsession with these girls’ rush stories also begs the question ‘what about the ones who didn’t receive a bid?’ 

In addition to hearing all about the celebrations over the past few weeks, I also heard a lot of stories about women feeling crushed and unwanted. My heart breaks for those who even resolved to switch schools if they didn’t receive bids from their top choices. It sends a message that we only have specific opportunities to find our people, and if we don’t fit in during those exact moments, we’ve blown our chances of belonging anywhere. 

What these girls are about to learn, and what I also think we all should remember, is every moment can become an opportunity to connect with others. Even when the outlook is different from what you were expecting. In fact, when what I’m expecting doesn’t match what I’m experiencing, I know those are prime moments to be watching for what God does in place of my assumptions. It’s my chance to align with his desires instead of my own. 

I have had plenty of these opportunities come my way over the years. Being the new kid at a different school every year till I reached middle school, finding friends at each new MLB city as Kevin’s job changed, attending couples events by myself because my husband was out of town eight months of the year … each an unavoidable challenge to break from the familiar, or desired, and find connection with new people God would place in my path. 

Throughout my life, I’ve continually been surprised at where I’ve found community. None more so than when I accepted an unexpected invitation to start my direct sales business. That simple connection to one new person, a stranger at the time no less, led me to grow my own community of incredible women with shared values and professional goals. Read that again. One person. One new connection. To someone who wanted me. It all led to a chance. I seized that chance to build, and to grow, and to love, and to challenge, and to nurture, and to encourage a group of (mostly) women who now hope, flourish and aspire … together. All it took was that one new connection. 

Remember that we never run out of chances to find our people. We just have to be open to the invitations that come our way.  

Consider this my invitation to you! My door is ALWAYS open – feel free to drop me a note!