How do you stay connected with the friends in your life?

I love to read and write women’s fiction because of the strong bond women have with each other. Let’s face it. Women need women friends. We enjoy shopping together, taking walks, and going out to coffee. We share life’s adventures and we cry when the other is hurting. We send short texts and we spend hours on the phone. Women need women friends.

For three years in a row, the “Sycamore Sisters” have shared a cabin among the redwoods for the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. Lisa, Marci, Sarah, Cheryl, and I have become close friends. The conversation always flows and we laugh until our stomach hurts.

Not long ago I received a panicked phone call. “Sherry, I don’t feel good,” my longtime college friend cried into the phone. “My daughter’s taking me to the ER.” Several hours later I stood by her hospital bed. After a myriad of tests, the doctors still didn’t know what caused her pain. Several times that weekend I visited her, sitting beside her as she slept, the pain medication flowing through her veins.

Another day I heard the familiar ding of my cell phone and glanced at the screen. According to the text message, a friend wanted to meet for coffee. We’re both busy moms so our time we spend together is valuable. My fingers worked quickly as I responded to her text. It had been too long since we shared what God was doing in our lives.

Long distance, health issues, or the busyness of life can keep friends apart, but through it all women need women friends. Many times we rely on e-mail, Facebook, or the phone to keep in touch, but spending time in person is what draws us close.

I don’t know about you, but I can do better in the friend department. I can write notes of encouragement, offer a listening ear, give shouts of joy when a friend succeeds, provide a shoulder to cry on when life takes a toll, give a small gift just because, or simply have fun and enjoy a friend’s company.

Why don’t I initiate more often?

I could give you a list of excuses, but I won’t. We all have families, jobs, and responsibilities.

When I take the time to think about the special women God has brought into my life, my focus shifts. Instead of concentrating on myself, I can find ways to bring hope and inspiration to others.

Proverbs 17:17 says, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.”

I want to pay tribute to all my wonderful friends.

How do you stay connected with the friends in your life?