Blessed by Friends

 This month I have had the privilege of participating in the launch team for a new book, called Girls' Club: Cultivating Lasting Friendship in a Lonely World. The book is a joint effort of several of my favorite influencers: Sally Clarkson and her adult daughters, Sarah and Joy. I've gotten to read the first three chapters, and they are in part an ode to the beauty of friendship that the Clarkson women have experienced in their lives.

Starting to read the book has gotten me thinking about the ways that I have been blessed with friendship in my own life. In honor of the book's upcoming release on February 5th, I want to describe (anonymously) some of the friends who have made a major impact on my life:

Two of my friends, a married couple, always go significantly out of their way to help my husband and me when we are in need. They notice, for example, if we're ever missing from church, and they text to ask if we're okay. They have brought us food on numerous occasions, taken me grocery shopping when we had no car, and visited us in the hospital. We feel like they're always looking out for us, and they have helped us in some major ways to make strides toward financial independence.

Another of my dearest friends is always ready to listen and give me support and encouragement. We text each other every day to make sure that we've done our daily meditating--which is the reason I've been able to meditate so consistently. Whenever we get a chance to talk or even see each other briefly, I feel so refreshed and encouraged.

I have another best friend who has an amazing ability to understand how I feel in any given situation, and is always a step ahead of me in the wisdom needed to work with my feelings. This friendship has been one of the most surprising and incredible blessings to me in recent years.

There are also numerous people who have prayed for my husband and me and even given us financial help through our various trials. These people delight us whenever they say hello, or ask how we're doing, or tell us glowingly how happy they are about Ariel's new job. It's a wonderful feeling to know that so many people care about our well-being.

We also have a couple of friends who have bought us countless meals and given us hours of both heartfelt and hilarious conversation, and two others of our friends have spent many hours at our apartment playing cooperative, campaign-based board games with us.

 All of these friendships give me glimpses of what Sarah Clarkson describes here, from Girls' Club:

The Clarksons' book has inspired me to thank God for the blessings of these relationships, and also to think about how I can further invest in being an "instigator of friendship," as Joy Clarkson has called it.

If you want to look more into the book, you can find it on Amazon at this link: Girls' Club on Amazon. I've pre-ordered it and am really looking forward to reading the whole thing!