Surgery #9 has been one of the most painful recoveries I have ever had. Having two little kiddos has definitely made this recovery extremely tricky as well. While laying on the couch (which is basically all I do right now) with my foot propped up on a pillow, I have watched my friends care for my kids, changed countless dirty diapers, vacuumed my house, do my dishes, dust my entire house, change my bedding, do all the laundry, everyday they have transported Jett to and from Pre-K and just whatever else needed to be done. We have not had to make dinner for the last 9 days and this coming week, we have even more meals coming. I have had to sit on the couch completely helpless but more importantly, very humbled.
With social media, many of us have hundreds of friends but still, we feel lonely. An online friend is NOT the same thing as a good friend who can sit on your couch. Up until about a year ago, I only had about 2 really close friends. Close friends that I felt comfortable opening up to and being raw with. I started to pray asking for God to send women my way that I could cultivate a strong friendship with. My goodness, did He ever answer that prayer! I have been so blessed over the last year with so many good, strong friendships. Women that I know love the Lord, want a strong marriage, want to be a Godly Mama and also, want to work at building friendships with me.
So often, we may make a new acquaintance and instantly hit it off but not really follow up with that person and soon, we forget about them. It takes work to build a friendship. Its uncomfortable, its scary and we can put all the work in and still, the new friendship goes nowhere with that other person. That is where I had been for several years. It sucks when the other person acts all friendly and gets excited to meet up later but then consistently backs out the day of or, just never shows up and then never returns any communication. I have lost track of how many times that has happened to me. It is so easy to give up and think, no one wants to be my friend, I'll just be lonely the rest of my life.
I learned that the feelings I had were a lie from the enemy. Satan wanted me to give up, he wanted me to quit trying. I went for a long time where I did not ask anyone over or to go hang out because I was just so tired of being turned down. I was so tired of doing all the work to maintain the friendship and never be asked in return to hang out. I know I am not alone with these feelings. It is hard when you move somewhere new, you don't know anyone and it feels impossible to build strong friendships with others who already have their close circle of friends because they have lived here their entire life.
Mama's need friends. We need others to talk to, vent to, laugh with, cry with and just have someone to give you a hug when life is so hard. I am so glad that I started praying for friendships. I honestly do not know how we would have survived this recovery without my friends. I have been so humbled this last week while so many have allowed themselves to be inconvenienced so they could help. So many have prayed and I sincerely appreciate it all. I assure you, not one ounce of generosity has went unnoticed!
Do you feel like your inner circle of friends is lacking? Do you feel lonely and wish you had just ONE close friend, let alone 10?! Pray about it, nothing is to small or to big for our God. He cares about you, He wants you to have strong friendships that encourage you and draw you closer to Him. Pastor Craig says, 'Show me your friends and I'll show you your future." We need to surround ourselves with friends who draw us closer to God. Our close friends need to keep us accountable and encourage us to grow deeper with Christ.
Jesus surrounded himself with close friends, his disciples. If Jesus needed friends, so do we. Life is not meant to be done alone. I am so blessed to have a circle of friends that care about me and truly want to help during this extremely difficult season of life for us. I am so excited to finally have a strong group of friends who want to hang out and invite me to do things with. Life is so much more fun with friends!
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