It’s good to stop and smell the roses!

Never take your women friends for granted.

I need to remember that every now and then. I need to take a break and connect with other women.

On the spur of the moment I sent a message to a dear friend, to have coffee together at a local cafe. Our lives float by in similar circles but we rarely spend one on one time together.

As we sipped our coffee, I am grateful that she gives me the ability to just talk. It is with abandon and freedom to let all my emotions, thoughts, pain, dreams, worries, struggles, and happiness swirl about the air in our vibrant and effusive conversation.

Women are Created to Relate.

So, it is a gift that we had coffee together, a three-hour coffee conversation to boot!

Women do that!  We can and I would even argue, need that kind of relationship.

As married women, there is hopefully, the close relationship with your spouse. However, since he is a man, he is by his nature a very different kind of communicator than your women friends.

Even if your husband happens to fall into the less common realm of being “particularly talented in the art of conversation,” the talk is different. I have found it never reaches the same places as those priceless conversations with a women friend. Not necessarily better just different, right?

Having time with a woman friend is a kindness to not take lightly.

It is often in the small things we share so freely.  We open up, we thank, we rejoice, and we cheer each other on all while supporting each other.

We women are created to be relationship oriented, such that we can bring our personal relationship with Jesus into our conversations with ease and an unspoken resonance.

I love that!  Okay, I need that!

My Homeschool Women Friends are Extra Special.

My women friends come in to me in varied means and in varied relationships. Most of my best friends though did not come to me until I began homeschooling. They came once I took the leap to homeschool and have been with me as we journed togther through our homeschool lives.

We are all grandmothers rejoicing together in the fruits of those very hard years.There was an instant kinship, an instant understanding that sustains and remains to this day!

One of my dear friends continually relies on my calling her. Yes, she can call me but rarely does. Actually, it is worrisome if she does call me because it usually means a sadness has occurred in her life and she cannot wait for my call.

She has been a rock for me and an inspiration and no doubt I am more indebted to her than what she gets from me.  Not that it is about “getting” that makes for the friendship…BUT this friend, is different in that we are connected spiritually before all else.

I do not begrudge her this quirk, that I have to do all the calling.  It is almost a running joke between us. It is a true test of love. We take each other as we are, as imperfect, as silly, as unreasonable, as different and just love each other above all else.

Do you have such a friend?

It is rare and only occurred only a few times in my life!

I believe I heard that Aristotle says that you are truly blessed to have one or two such friendships.  He is oft quoted, “Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies.”

Taste of the Friendship with Jesus.

The gift of our women friends is small taste of the friendship we can have with Jesus. We need that relationship not only for our spiritual growth but for our families as we nuture their relationship with the Lord.

I have been a witness to this amazing beautiful relationship in a special place we created recently in the Catholic Homeschool Community. It is in our Community PLUS membership where women either meet weekly to pray, to huddle and work together, or to just be there for each other week in and week out. It is truly a blessing and an honor to provide this safe haven.

This weekend we listened to the readings and gospel, that related the stories of vineyards and taking care of them and how they relate to our relationship with Jesus. Like this from the responsorial psalm.

R. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
Once again, O LORD of hosts,
look down from heaven, and see;
take care of this vine,
and protect what your right hand has planted,
the son of man whom you yourself made strong.

Do you have a Vineyard to Cultivate?

Our pastor talked about making certain we all had a vineyard in our lives, both interiorly and exteriorly.

He emphasized the importance of taking time each and every day to cultivate a safe haven for rest and healing. Interiorly speaking it is important to have a spiritual vineyard, that safe place you meet Jesus face to face, heart to heart.

But is is equally important to have a place that we can physically heal and restore each day. It can be a room in your home, or simply a chair, or your women friend as you sip coffee together.

Time to stop and smell the roses in your life!

If you are looking for such a place meet me there in the Community PLUS, CLICK HERE.

Now it’s your turn, tell us about your special women friends!