Stand Up For Your Sister

Hey y’all!

How’s life treating ya? We are less than a week out from Thanksgiving and I absolutely cannot wait. I need this break desperately.

I wanted to share a little bit about an event my school had a few weeks ago called Stand Up For Your Sister.

The whole idea behind Stand Up For Your Sister is to see how many of your friends, classmates and sisters in Christ are struggling with things that you may also be struggling with.

Everyone anonymously fills out a questionnaire with hard, serious questions. These questions look like:

Have you ever compared yourself to another person?
Have you ever experienced divorce or separation in your family?
Have you ever experienced debilitating anxiety?
Have you ever been physically and/or sexually abused?
Have you ever experienced depression?
Have you ever intentionally not eaten or starved yourself to lose weight?
Have you ever had suicidal thoughts?
Have you ever intentionally hurt yourself?
Have you ever kept any of these topics to yourself?

These are just a few of the 40 questions that were on the survey.

After answering the questionnaires, we turned them in and got someone else’s paper. When I received someone else’s survey, I began to look over their answers and was filled with emotion. My heart ached for this person. They had circled “yes” to many questions. The amount of pain and trauma this person has experienced was heart-breaking.

Each question was read aloud and if the paper you were holding was marked “yes,” you stood up. The scene was overwhelmingly powerful. Almost every girl in the room was standing for some questions. There was not a single question where no one stood. My eyes filled with tears. For some, answering these questions honestly put them in an extremely vulnerable position. However, knowing that you are not alone in your struggles was very comforting.

The physical act of standing up is a whole-body movement. Standing up for your sister isn’t something you do passively. Standing up for your sister takes intentionality.

The main thing that I took away from this event is that your past experiences DO NOT define you. You are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God. He intentionally formed you in your mother’s womb to become the beautiful woman that you are today.

Some people may judge you for your mistakes, but the only opinion that matters in the end is the one True King’s. If you have asked for forgiveness, that is all that needs to be done. You are truly forgiven.

While this event was anonymous, you could go the extra step and tell someone you trust what you’re experiencing. Who knows, they could be struggling with the same thing!

I absolutely loved this event and would highly recommend doing something like this at colleges all across the country. Especially at a Christian university, it’s easy to think that you’re the only one who struggles with something or have made a certain mistake. We tend to shove all of our trauma and baggage deep down and never let it come out. We’re supposed to be these perfect Christians who never struggle with anything, right? This night proved that 100% wrong.

Please know that if you’re struggling with something YOU ARE NOT ALONE. I promise that even though it may feel like everyone else has it all together, that’s not the case. You are loved. There is hope.

If you want to learn more or organize a Stand Up For Your Sister event at your school, visit their website: https://standupforyoursister.org/home/

Your sister,

Alyssa