Befriending The Friends Of My Friends

Befriending the Friends of My Friends

This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.

Arriving home one evening after playing a rousing and hilarious game of cornhole with Kendra’s dance-mom friends, I decided that I wanted them to be my friends too. They are funny, smart, and compassionate—exactly the kind of women I wanted to do life alongside. They were already friends with Kendra, so I was a surprise bonus friend simply by being in Kendra’s life. And who doesn’t love a MOGO (make one, get one free) kind of deal? I have yet to meet a woman who doesn’t love a MOGO friend.

My favorite way to make new friends is by getting to know the people who are already in friendship with those I love. I trust my loved ones’ judgment of people, and their friend circles are a great way to find new people with whom I have a lot in common. To be clear: I don’t steal the friends of my friends, and I don’t cause drama. I don’t interfere in the relationships between my friend and my new friend in any way—unless it is wildly and wholeheartedly in support of that friendship.

My friends know they are always welcome to invite their friends to events at my house—and so they do. Aaron and I are in the business of building community, and that means intentionally bringing people from our various circles together over food, game nights, and anything else we can think of that will encourage new relationships between people from different circles in our life. We are called to love people in the same way Jesus loved us, and in order to love people we need to meet them.

People are desperately hungry for community, and as believers in Jesus, we create a space for community to happen—with us and with others—in our home, in our backyard, in our family. We keep our circles open, and we are always looking for new friends.

— Julie

— Today’s Act of Friendship —

Cohost a party with a friend, and invite people from both of your friendship circles who may not have met before.