You Deserve Friends

You Deserve Friends

As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

We’d planned an evening out, just us moms, with no kids or responsibilities. As we gathered in the corner of a coffee shop, cups of brew in hand for a few hours of uninterrupted time, it felt so good to just sit and catch up. Most of the women around the circle I’d met at a local moms’ group, and many still had small children. As the conversation moved from the lighthearted to the more personal, one topic that came up often was how little time the women had with friends now that they had children. There was almost an undercurrent of guilt for leaving their kids for any amount of time, and putting their own friendships on the back burner during this season seemed like a common occurrence within our little gathering of women.

As the evening went on and conversation continued, it became very obvious to many of the moms around the circle just how desperate they were to connect with other women (and many hadn’t even realized how badly they needed it). Each woman left feeling heard, encouraged, and loved. We closed with prayer and a promise to get together again soon, even choosing the next date so we knew it would really happen.

You don’t have to have children to feel as though making time for friendships is sometimes frivolous, especially in light of all the daily responsibilities we have. Often our to-do lists are long, our sense of responsibility is strong, and spending time with friends just doesn’t seem like we’d be accomplishing anything of value, and so we let that go. But when we do this, we can find ourselves in a place where we are accomplishing much but feeling very lonely. To-do lists are important, but they are not more important than relationships. It may take some imperfect balancing, but life is meant to be lived with others. We strengthen one another by listening and giving wise counsel, comfort, and support. You deserve friends and time with them—don’t let your other responsibilities tell you otherwise.

— Kendra

— Today’s Act of Friendship —

Contact a friend or group of friends and plan a day and time to spend together.