Friday Thankfulness

Oh, there is so much I want to say…and so much more I want to know.

Let me start here though….Ladies, we need each other’s support and friendship. We need to build each other up. We need to encourage each other. We need to be present for each other. We need to be welcoming and embrace each other. I know…I know this because I have been blessed by these very things this week, and without the women who have encouraged, supported, made time for and been friend to me I would be lost.

I have been invited.

I have had fellowship.

I have been supported.

I have been encouraged – by strangers and friends alike!

I have been consoled.

I have been inspired.

This week, I have been thrashing around some old hurts this and without the encouragement and support of other friends I don’t think I could have held on to the here and now, even as little as I did. The encouragement and support, the welcoming that I received wasn’t even directly related to those old hurts, but it was an important counterbalance to that darkness.

You know that George Strait song, I Saw God Today? I don’t know that I saw Him, but I certainly felt His presence through the wonderful women who touched my life this week.

Thank you to each of you.

How have you been encouraged this week? Were you supportive of others? Were you a positive encouragement, or did you use that moment to deride someone in need? Did you use your strengths to call others up or to hold them down?

Free Advice Friday

Whew! Has it been a day here...a few good (but busy) things that I will share tomorrow in Saturday’s success...and a few not so good things. So...It is late and I am just getting this. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

Friday...Supporting each other...

What does it mean to support someone?

Support –verb (used with object)
1. to bear or hold up (a load, mass, structure, part, etc.); serve as a foundation for.
2. to sustain or withstand (weight, pressure, strain, etc.) without giving way; serve as a prop for.
3. to undergo or endure, especially with patience or submission; tolerate.

Reading this reminded me of our first weeks here in Law School Land, when my husband and I attended a breakfast for law students and spouses. The pastor who spoke that morning talked about how a submissive wife is a pillar holding up her husband rather than being held down. Being supportive is an active role that takes strength, determination and courage. Each of the definitions about ties back to this idea, as well.

I know, as a friend, this is not something I do well, but I am blessed to have friends who live and breathe this! My friend Chrissy is right there. She listens to every vent, she hears every complaint AND she builds me up, she encourages me. I see her do the same thing with her girls. She uses ever correction as a chance to build them up and teach them. She does freely for those around her. She gives from her heart, always.  When I see her succeed, it makes me want to try harder. When I watch her give (and not just to me – but to everyone) I want to give, too. When she shares hospitality, I want to offer hospitality to her and others. She is an encouragement and an example.

I am I like that? When I am “supportive” of others do I help them to become better or do I just try to make myself look good – or worse, do I just try to make myself look better than the person I am helping?  Is my first priority to make myself look good or is it to be helpful?  How can I better hold up a friend?  How can I be an encouragement?

 Okay that turned into some deep introspection...but really how can we support each other? How can we as women, mothers, and friends build foundations of support for each other? How can we bolster each other? How can we endure for each other?

We are all at different places in our lives and we all need different things, but there is certainly some universality amongst our needs – a friend to listen, a friend to build us up, a friend to encourage us.  As Friday quickly fades away into the weekend,  it is my goal to help others through encouragement. I want to notice my friend successes and celebrate them – whether they are two steps behind me or ten steps ahead.

There is so much to learn from you....my friends...