Podcast Episode 120 - Who else wants close friends?
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Do you struggle with believing in yourself?
Do you have a friend who sticks closer than a “brother,” or do you feel like a lone wolf?
Do you have a dream but going nowhere fast?
Today is for you:
If you desire to live life to the full!
If you need help believing in yourself.
If you feel alone and need a friend…or two or three.
Friends, we all need them.
We weren’t meant to do life alone.
I struggled with friendships for years, and years, and years and…you get the idea.
It all started in the sixth grade when my best friend of three years and another friend turned on me… three times. I got new friends in seventh grade.
But that friendship pain marked me. No one could easily penetrate the wall I built to keep me safe. It took over three decades to tear down that wall.
Several years ago, I became friends with Donna. We met at a Bible study. Donna’s moved away now, but we’re still close friends, and we FaceTime every Friday to have our own private Bible study together! It was that friendship that helped me begin to break the wall down. I began to be myself; I began to trust.
Then I was introduced to Lethia Owens and Women of Audacious Faith, a business women’s group where we mix our faith and business.
By this time, I thought I’d teared down that wall of protection. Nope. But through my friendships with Jackie Trottmann, Becky Michael and Kat Schudel. That wall I hid behind crumbled for good.
My life is not only better with them, but I’m also stepping more into what God’s called me to do because of their friendship. I couldn’t do life without that ladies and wouldn’t want to.
Friends bring so much value to our lives that it’s worth working through the pain and breaking down the wall.
Here’s the A, B, C’s plus D, E, and F’s of friendship:
Accountability:
We hold each other accountable to our dreams, purpose, priorities and character.
Belief:
True friends see gifts and potential in us even if we struggle to see them in ourselves. If this is you, borrow their belief until you believe in yourself.
You also get to believe in your friends and hold space for them to learn how to believe in themselves and what God’s called them to do.
Camaraderie:
We gain mutual trust and friendship as we spend a lot of time together. It’s quality, but it’s also quantity.
We can’t get to know someone once a month in the lobby at church. We need to spend time together to cultivate camaraderie and trust.
Dedication:
Friends stick it out through thick and thin. They’re like the dogs in our lives that can’t wait to see us walk through the door again, even if we only walk out to the mailbox.
Encourage:
As friends, we pick each other up when we’re down, celebrate the wins and speak life over each other.
Foster:
According to many studies, including by the Mayo Clinic, friendships foster a sense of well-being and even reduce health risks.
How about you? Do you have friends like that? The kind of friends who help you be yourself, reach your goals and be your best self?
I know that’s God’s best for you if you don’t. No matter what you’ve been through, quality friends are waiting. Next Podcast, we’ll talk about how to find these friends.