Better Together

I'll be meeting with a couple friends this morning. We get together once a week if we can. These aren't spectacular, perfectly-planned events--just a time to lift each other up, see how each is doing, laugh or cry together, growl a bit over frustrations. It's a time to reset our perspective for the week.

These two friends aren't the only ladies in my life who have been part of making me a better person. At the top of that list of wonderful ladies is my mother. She has always loved and steered me into the right way.

I think of my grandmothers, aunts, great aunts, sisters and sisters-in-law, and mother-in-law who are part of that good heritage.

Outside of family are friends from childhood and some of their mothers; one lady in particular treated me like her third kid. She'll always hold a special place in my heart.

In my twenties, I made friends with some other ladies close in age to me. They've become my "comfy" friends. We love each other through the good, the bad, and the ugly.

I've had friends and family go through horrendous medical problems, baby loss, infertility, t-i-g-h-t finances, and marriage and parenting issues.

To sum up this train of thought, we are an informal support group. I've never sensed competition among the ladies in my life. Instead, we cry when one is hurting, help when it's needed, share joy to brighten the spirits, give and take advice as needed.

I know women can tend to be cut-throat--trying to build up self by tearing others down. Bitterness of that sort is a poison that will corrode everything around it, and nobody benefits.

Instead, let's look out for one another. Cheer each other on. Help whoever is overwhelmed. Let others know we're thinking of them. Pray for each other.

We're better together.