"My P.I.T. Crew"

If any of you have read other blogs I’ve written, you know that I’ve experienced a fair share of loss and heartache. I can relate and empathize with my clients because of those struggles. Like King David in Psalm 13, I’ve asked “How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?”

The sufferings we experience impact how we relate… some of it not so good. Some of us take that pain and isolate…striving to self-protect and never feel pain again. We pull away from family or friends. We don’t speak up at work. We create a barrier that doesn’t allow people too close. We adopt a mentality or perspective that believes to lose someone or something we love is un-survivable so we decide to not love again or at least not love too deeply.

Sometimes our sufferings teach us the opposite…how to appreciate and love people more. We choose to be vulnerable and open-hearted with the folks who are in our lives. We reach out in our need and ask for help. We choose to trust people who’ve proven themselves trustworthy.

During the last five years, I’ve developed a “P.I.T. crew” to help me through some of the roughest struggles of my life. “P.I.T.” stands for Personal Intercessory Team. I chose six women who I knew would pray for me at a moment’s notice. These women love The Lord and love me. They are encouragers and exhorters. They are trustworthy and honest. They know when I need a hug and when I need a kick in the pants. It is not an overstatement to say that I don’t know how I would have made it through the past five years without them.

If you need support as you go through life’s struggles, I encourage you to develop a P.I.T. crew. Here are some ideas of how I did it:

1.      Start with two or three people who you know would pray. They should appreciate confidentiality and be discreet. Ask them if they would be on your P.I.T. crew.

2.     Develop a system of how to communicate. I send my P.I.T. crew an email three or four times a year, but our main communication is via texting or phone calls. If I’m in immediate need for prayer and encouragement, I simply send a text and within minutes I have responses back. Some say, “Praying for you right now,” “I’ve got your back,” or “I’ll call you when I get home from work.”  I receive Bible verses or written prayers.

And as I read or hear my friends’ responses I am lifted up from low places. The darkness stops overwhelming me and I can see light again.

Shannon Shertzer, MS, NCC