Hey there,

 

I have to be honest. For all of my life, for some reason or another, I haven’t been very good at making friends. It must have been my total lack of self-confidence.... or the fact that the words that I want to say and the words that come out of my mouth... are completely different things.

 

If you’re my friend and you’re offended right now – what I mean is that I just have a really hard time creating and cultivating those deep Godly friendships. I heard recently to use my “mess as my message”. So that’s what I’m doing.

 

I have always been discouraged when it comes to friendship, “community”, late night talks until 2 AM and sleepovers with other girls that everyone else seemed to be having. Everyone always seemed to have their group and most of the time I just floated around. Investing into those deeper friendships has always been a struggle for me and it just occurred to me that I may actually be able to something about it. 

I’m going to be explaining this pretty in depth because I want you to fully understand my heart behind this.

 

Have you ever heard someone ask if you were coming to something? Like people are making plans and all of a sudden they turn to you and say, “Are you coming too?”

Isn’t that just the greatest? It’s such an overwhelming sense of belonging. That feeling is how I want every single young woman that goes through this process to feel. An overwhelming sense of --

You Are Welcome Here.

You Are Included Here.

You Are Loved Here.

That's why this is called AYCT (Are You Coming Too?). I want that for everyone that joins. 

 

So you’re probably wondering, what is this thing?

The “Are You Coming Too?” initiative is something that that began as a personal prayer for myself. I recently moved to Dallas and after just getting married, I have been in one of the lonelier seasons of my life. My husband is amazing and one of the best people ever – but he’s just not a girl. (Thank God, amen). Something that I have found is SO hard to do is finding new girl friends as an adult. After some time, I realized I wasn't alone in these feelings. 

How do you begin a conversation like that with a woman you just met? Why does this feel like dating? Do I ask her to coffee? Will she want to hold my hand? How do I not waste my time when it feels like I already don’t have enough? AYCT (“Are You Coming Too?”) is created out of this idea and these worries.

 

On mission to combat loneliness and isolation,

AYCT’s purpose is to facilitate deeper friendships through like-minded connection.

 

AYCT is in the business of facilitating deeper friendships. By meeting new young adult Christian women in DFW, you are presented with this unique opportunity to step out of your comfort zone.

 

Okay, that sounds great and all. But what is it?

It is for young adult Christian women, ages 18-30, in all stages of life in the DFW area. AYCT is not a small group or a bible study. Let me repeat: it is not a small group or a bible study. It is not affiliated with a church or any specific denomination. It’s a medium for young adult Christian women to meet and hopefully pursue deeper friendships. We’ve probably all been in that small group or community that felt forced and awkward. It is probably one of the most uncomfortable situations.

(If you don’t know what I’m talking about, that’s awesome and I’m genuinely happy for you.)

AYCT’s goal is to eliminate this awkwardness by a mutual agreement to just freaking go for it.

 

Okay…how does it work?

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First off, it starts with promotion. I will be promoting in my DFW circle and my promo team in theirs. Then hopefully the web of mutual friends will grow bigger and bigger.

If you were interested, you will see the link on the website of how you can join to fill out a survey.

I will contact every girl that fills out a form for a light “screening” process – just to make sure that they are indeed a “young Christian woman in the DFW area that is safe to meet”. This keeps everyone safe and keeps AYCT what it was created for.

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During each month, there will be a large group events of everyone involved. This will be a time to meet girls you may not have met before, share stories, eat good food and do other random fun things that I come up with. As the program grows, the large group does too. These will be more relaxed, really fun, and will change in their form through time. You will also be placed in our Facebook group, for day-to-day connection.

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My goal is that these meetings for you are organic and intentional. Not a burden on your life but something that you look forward to.

This will always be a chance to say “yes” to something cool and new.

I don’t believe that anyone has too many friends, right?

So I’m also challenging YOU to lead with vulnerability in this idea that I think could honestly be really freaking cool.

 

If you're in, go ahead and click above on the menu where it says "How do I join?"

Then, pass it on, tell your DFW friends & promote it within your circle! This is how we grow!

I would LOVE to hear what you think, what’s missing, and what I could add. Your feedback is invaluable.

You guys are rock stars and I cannot WAIT to meet you if I haven't already.

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In Christ,

Allison C. Schmitz