2015 Texas Strong Timeline: Floods, Friendship and ‘For the Love’

2015 Texas Strong Timeline

2015 Texas Strong was all about community for me.

When I talked to a publishing consultant friend about my children’s book months ago, she told me I first needed to build my online presence.

Little did I know what was in store for this year.

In March, I learned that author and blogger Sheila Wray Gregoire was sharing my “Loving Myself” post on her highly popular Facebook page. In April, I committed to blogging more frequently and started sending out weekly “love notes” to my small but growing list of email subscribers.

Floods

In May, devastating floods in central Texas simply broke my heart.

I was no longer worried about my blog following. All of a sudden, I was scared and worried about Wimberley, Martindale, and the San Marcos community that took care of my mom until her death in 2013.

I made a shirt. I shared it on Facebook and tagged a bunch of friends.

The rest is history. But suffice it to say that we raised over $146,000 for United Way of Hays County flood relief.

The support of my online and in person communities in this fundraiser was overwhelming and incredible.

Friendship

So many friends and family members stepped up to support the shirts in a big way, and I met so many new people because of the fundraiser. The United Way of Hays County CEO Michelle Harper of San Marcos is one of those people. Her leadership, tenacity and encouraging spirit are unparalleled. I am blessed to call Michelle my friend.

Michelle truly treated me like a V.I.P. this summer, even taking me backstage to meet the stars at Flood Aid TX in Austin.

After the initial flood relief fundraiser, I was able to host additional #texasstrong shirt fundraisers for other causes close to my heart, including a purple version benefiting this year’s Hays County Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

It was my absolute joy to bring the inspiring stories of my friends Ashley Schafer, Weslea Wilks and Shoni Power to the blog, in support of Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), the American Heart Association’s Austin Heart Walk and Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas, respectively.

‘For the Love’

In June, I met Ray Benson. In September, I met my Buda neighbor Jen Hatmaker, at her house.

But it was about so much more than meeting Jen and helping launch her bestseller, For the Love: Fighting for Grace in a World of Impossible Standards.

That launch party was about finally meeting almost 200 of these amazing women from all over the country (and Canada), many of whom I’d already met and felt like I knew online. Months later, many of us are still keeping tabs on and supporting one another via social media.

In fact, our For the Love (of Writing) subgroup is my absolute favorite thing on Facebook.

I have learned and gained so much this year, I can hardly believe it was real.