Lay Down Your Weapons

Community among women isn't always easy.  To begin with, we all have our differences, our opinions, our personality quirks, and our past hurts that influence how we handle the women in our lives today.  As I near forty, I have heard many say, "I have enough friends; I don't have time for the drama of new ones."  I believe this statement to be true to an extent. Our lives are busy and full and rich with family and friends we've known for years and can count on. . .but by turning our back on the newer people who come into our lives, we may be shutting the door to an opportunity God is gifting us: the chance to hear someone else's story, to grow or learn from their experiences and to add a new person into our mix.

Wounds can be hard to overcome.  Women can wound each other with their words, their preconceived notions, their indifference, or their gossiping.  What we all so desperately need in the form of community can quickly feel like it is turned against us as we are assaulted with the what-ifs that a woman may bring to the table.  And that is if we even allow or invite that person to sit with us at the table in the first place!  

Those same insecurities from elementary and middle school exist in the hearts of  many women to some extent.  And every women pulls a band aid off at one time or another which in turn stirs somebody else's pot. Friendships aren't always easy, but they can enrich our lives on so many levels.  As I look at the girls in my life during this season, I am pleased to see their diversity; they are working moms, stay at home moms, single, married, loud, quiet, funny, serious, homeschool mamas, public school mamas, Catholic School mamas...SO many differences but we all have something in common.  We are a community of women who believe in a mighty God who has brought us together despite ourselves, in spite of our differences.

I find it exciting to see the ways He is working out the details, the way He is intertwining our lives, the way He is using our experiences to help or guide each other in a similar struggle. The way we have the power to build each other up or break each other down with a single text, remark, or look. Women have power and our worst weapon is sometimes ourselves: our past hurts, our past struggle, our past experiences, our past distrust.  Ladies, lay down your weapon and love each other. 
All you need to do is LOVE, like He has first loved you. 

 Little eyes are always watching.