Making New Friends

I’m not sure if you know this.

But my dear friend.

My God-provided, gift of a friend, Courtney.

She moved to Orlando a few months back.

 

To be dramatic, it was tragic.

It was not just her who was leaving.

Yes, she was my sweet, close friend.

But her daughters were also my daughters’ closest friends.

Y’all, we did everything together.

For, um 5 years.

Just because we could.

We have many friends, of course, dear, important, precious friends.

But this friendship was so different than most.

It was deep. And real. And honest. And good.

It was simple to see how God put us together to live this part of our lives side-by side.

 

And it is clear now that it was for that time.

At least the side-by-side part.

Court left in January.  Our sweet baby boy was born in February, then getting through the end of Kindergarten, the skies started to open up.

Whew! Those first few months of a baby’s life are awesome…and oh so foggy!

I can hardly remember a lot of it.

When I kinda “came to” I realized I needed to start reaching out for some friends.

Yikes!

Making new friends should be easy.

But in life they usually come so naturally.

At school, at work, at church.

Hm…but what about us moms?  Who are with our kiddos all day, everyday.

Not to mention three kids, one newborn.

How do you reach out to new people with all this?

Oh, and we were living with my parents.

Can’t you just picture me saying,

“Hey, come on over…to my moms house!”

AAAAAHHHHH!!!

Well, I prayed and prayed.

And asked God to give me some friends.

I knew I was going to have to work for it though.

To do my part.

I was going to make some calls, send some emails.

And maybe even introduce myself to complete strangers at the Y!

And you know what?

God delivered.

AMEN!

He RULES!

God.  He heard my little old prayer.

Begging for community.

He knows its important for our hearts.

To be surrounded by like-minded people.

To talk about Him.

To talk about our children.

To have community with one another.

This is a process, but I am thankful for doors He is leading me through.

It’s not really what I wanted.

I want my friend to be here.

And yet it may just be what I needed.

A new perspective on friendships and how God provides.

Old friendships are coming back to life.

New friendships are becoming easier.

And daily I see Gods provision.

Clearly, my Courtney cannot be replaced.

But it is so comforting to know that our Great Big God cares about things like this.

We just have to ask.

And follow where He leads.

 

How do you make new friends?

Do you even deal with this?

Small groups at church?

How do you build strong friendships when so much of your day is at work, whether at home or at the office?

Is it playgroups?