Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimmie Lewis.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I always thought I knew who I was and what I wanted. As I get older, I realize I never had a clue, truly. I grew up in the church, a preacher’s kid, and kind of became burnt out on church very early on in life. I spent my childhood in a perpetual state of loneliness and rejection. I never could really figure out what it was that I was purposed to do. I had temporary desires that I tried to make long term but I could never really finish anything that I started and if I did finish, it was a drag to the finish line. I was never able to find fulfillment in any one skill, talent, or passion. I didn’t feel purposed in anything I was doing. Nothing had meaning.
I grew up in small country towns (Beaumont, TX & Jasper, TX) and always knew I wanted to move to the city. So as soon as high school was over, I left and moved to Austin, TX and attended the University of Texas at Austin. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do at all. Getting this college degree was not fueled by passion or desire, it was just something I needed to complete and it was a drag to the degree, honestly. Being transparent, I actually walked the stage a year and a half before I got the degree. Upon graduation, I got a really great job but felt empty in it and unfulfilled in it. I couldn’t commit myself to something I hated so much and I lacked the wisdom to know that I needed to persevere through things that I did not want to do in order to grow, I never wanted to go through a process. I didn’t recognize that the process was necessary. I quit the job and uprooted my life from Austin to Dallas and started a business, which also fizzled out.
I found myself in a space of frustration, not knowing what my purpose was or what I was called to do. In 2017, I decided to quit my job in Dallas and move to LA and within two months, I had made the move. Three days after moving to LA, God really began to reveal himself to me in new ways. After being away from the church for over five years, my relationship with him really gained depth and intimacy. I had been saved my whole life, but I was never following and walking with God in this way. Getting to know God truly gave me knowledge of myself that I had been searching for my entire life. He began to download purpose and passion within me for him and his people. I realized that there was a reason that I never fit in and that none of the things I’d previously tried could fulfill me. He was always meant to be my fulfillment and he was always my purpose, spiritually and vocationally. I had been told my entire life that I had a call of ministry on my life but I never took that to heart until 2017. I have since recognized that my entire life, I was searching for my God-given passion and my God-given passion is the church and to pour into his people.
Growing up, I had a really hard time with understanding my emotions. I have always experienced intense emotions, sometimes volatile. I felt this made me weak. After I started walking with God, I kind of expected that this part of me would go away, but of course it didn’t. My emotions became more intense actually. After realizing that I felt I was called to ministry, I still wasn’t sure what exactly I was passionate about or what God has specifically called me to do but I knew I was on the path to finding out, but I often saw my emotions as a roadblock on the path. After a series of events and courses at church I found myself wanting more of God’s word on a deeper level, I wanted answers to questions that I was unable to find, and I wanted an understanding of the gap/disconnect between what I know about God and the reality of my experiences/emotions. As a result, after the encouragement from leaders around me, I started seminary at Talbot School of Theology studying Spiritual Formation. This program really began to highlight exactly the things that I felt called to in the arena of emotional healing. I began to realize that my passion was to see and help people out of bondage and into their God-given inheritance, like Joshua. In this, I realized that the thing that kept me from my own path of purpose was extreme emotional immaturity and a lack of emotional healing. So the following year, God put STRETCH. On my heart to facilitate a space for women to walk through this experience with God in community and step out into the things he’s called them to do.
Has it been a smooth road?
Doubt is the number one thing that causes us to sit still. When I first got the idea to start STRETCH. I sat on that idea for six months. I had so many doubts and insecurities come up. For one, I felt so unqualified to do so. I couldn’t fathom why anyone would want to hear what I had to say about these topics. I felt like I was jumping the gun. I didn’t think people would see it as something legitimate. I was worried about what people would say. I would ask questions like “Who would ever want to hear what I have to say about emotional healing?”, “What experience do I have?, or “Who is going to support something that I’m pursuing?”. I said all of these things over and over and doubted myself into inaction. I stopped thinking about the idea and soon forgot about it for six months.
There have been many struggles along the way but I would say my biggest struggle thus far has been doubt. Doubt has been my biggest enemy. I would often get into the mindset that I’m not qualified nor am I good enough to be doing the things that I know God has called me to do. I would even go into brain spaces where I’d doubt that God has even called me. This would always lead me to seeking affirmation and validation from people in authority who I respect and look up to. I would feel small, insignificant, and unimportant in the grand scheme of things, I still struggle with that at times. What I’ve learned is that these insecurities have no real power, they are a smokescreen. So often we tell ourselves and others to “stop being insecure” but the truth is that is easier said than done. My approach to these insecurities, doubts, and fears has been to do what I feel God has called me to do not in the absence of these things but in the face of. Do it anyway.
Please tell us about STRETCH.
Early 2019 God put on my heart the idea to host a women’s emotional healing retreat/workshop where we can sit, pray, and talk about real feelings as they relate to our lives and to our relationships with God. It made sense to me in that emotional freedom and emotional healing are topics that I am very passionate about. As I mentioned above, for six months I sat on the idea because of doubt and insecurity. Finally at the end of 2019, in November, I decided to step out in faith to get this started! I reached out to a few women, shared the vision, and they attached themselves to it as if it was their own. We held the first gathering on November 30, 2019. It was truly amazing and transformative. Through this time, God touched every woman who was present, ignited new journeys of vulnerability, healed, set free, and delivered. This first gathering also provided a bigger picture to what God would do through STRETCH.
We set out for the first gathering to be small, intimate, and cozy. We wanted to create a space for women to share, be vulnerable, and experience emotional healing. What we realized is that it is much bigger than just an event. STRETCH. Facilitates spaces for women to experience vulnerability (being your 100% authentic self, 100% of the time, no matter who is around) which breeds a life of freedom. Through vulnerability, women can engage in emotional healing and foster genuine friendships. We facilitate a number of spaces that allow women to talk about things that they would never normally discuss such as the ins and outs of faith, friendship, sex, childhood trauma, anxiety/depression, brokenness, and so much more. We really will talk about ANY and EVERYTHING. The ultimate goal as we gather is that each woman would be STRETCHED into who God has called her to be and that they would walk boldly into everything that He has promised them.
A few of the things that we do to foster growth and maintain connection are virtual and in-person retreats, open discussions where women can ask anything, we have what we call “STRETCH. Conversations” where we have intimate conversations with different women about topics that are not often spoken about, which are available via podcast, and we do bible plans together as a community.
STRETCH. is growing and evolving into something unimaginable. God is moving and changing things constantly but we are so excited to watch it unfold. As we grow and begin to see women being transformed through the internal work they are doing, we plan to begin duplicating into other spaces. We want all women to experience what this journey is like and the freedom that it can bring. Currently, we have STRETCH. members all over the country but we only have in-person retreats in Los Angeles. As we grow and receive more funding, we will begin hosting these retreats in other parts of the country as well as doing some overnight retreats in various locations across the world.
There is no way to know exactly how God will grow and transform this ministry, but our hearts are open and we are ready to do whatever it is he’s asking.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I believe that Los Angeles was the perfect place to start this ministry, mostly because it’s where God asked me to start it but also because in Los Angeles there is social culture of hiding what’s really going on inside in order to make it. People go about life here having never really addressed the things that they might be facing, trauma they may have experienced, and feeling things they feel would be rejected. This culture really exists all over but I came to notice it here in the industry setting. I think STRETCH. will help women in this environment to overcome and truly live out the best that God has for them.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.stretchforwomen.org
- Phone: (213) 342-1501
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stretchforwomen/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stretchforwomen/
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