Tea Time and New Friends

 

The timing was perfect! The last meeting for the women’s book club was the day before Valentine’s Day and the “tea” theme (based upon the book) was lovely!

 So it was that I spent a beautiful afternoon yesterday with a small group of women whose book club had just finished reading my fiction book Elizabeth: A Holy Land Pilgrimage. They were so welcoming! What a wonderful group of women!

 It was a very relaxed gathering as they asked questions about the book and shared their own epiphanies while reading it—or their own personal experiences that mirrored Elizabeth’s (the main character). The conversation ebbed and flowed and, as can be expected when a number of women gather, covered a wide variety of topics! LOL!

There is something very special about the sort of bonds that women share and yesterday was a gift from God as I sat with these women and enjoyed a cup of tea, some yummy cookies, and had a chance to be part of a conversation that truly was blessed.

 

Thank you, women of St. Joe’s, for inviting me into your lives—into your hearts—and for what will always be a special day for me!

The Five Friends A Woman Needs

Recently God brought into my life a woman who I now call “friend.” I spent some time with her recently where we enjoyed a cup of tea and chatting. As I left I was buoyed by our visit. It got me to thinking how perfectly she fit into my life and reflect on the question: What sort of friends does a woman “need” in her life?

I know lots of women: the mothers of all the friends of my sons; women with whom I’ve worked and those with whom I’ve worshipped. There are women neighbors and there are women relatives. I’ve been blessed by meeting women at speaking engagements who have touched my heart.

But friends?

I have but a few.

I remember once being told that at the end of your life, if you can count on one hand your true friends, you will have been very lucky.

I guess that was the secular way of saying you have been very blessed.

At 54 years old, I see that I have been very blessed.

If we’ve got one hand to work off of, I believe these are the five friends each woman needs:

1. A woman needs a friend with whom she can pray. Not just words over a meal but the sort of prayers that erupt from the depths of the heart and soul.

2. A woman needs a friend with whom she can laugh. Not just a chuckle but a belly laugh—or better yet, the giggle of a little girl released and loved.

3. A woman needs a friend with whom she can cry. Not just tears that rim the eyes but the painful cry that seems to have no end but is met with kindness and compassion.

4. A woman needs a friend to whom she can expose her weakest self and still be loved. Not just the superficial “I’m not perfect” stuff but the real, true self who has been to the edge and back.

5. A woman needs a friend for whom no judgment exists. Not just in offering non-judgmental words to a dilemma but someone who simply could not see her friend through any eyes other than the eyes of Christ.

The thing about these five friends is that God gives them to us when we need them, if only we ask. Like my new friend. We may not be on the phone everyday but somehow I know she is just a phone call away.

There are seasons in which friends come and go.

And that’s okay.

I had a friend from my teen years that I’ve tried to connect with here and there even though we have nothing in common—other than having gone to middle school together. I liked the idea of saying we had been friends for 40 some years; but I’ve since realized that friendships aren’t marked by the length of time but by time they are in our lives.

Friendships from God

Sitting with Bishop Hebda at Dave and Claire's home on Old Mission

Deacon explaining the wine making process at breathtaking Chateau Chantel

Bishop Bernard Hebda from Diocese of Gaylord, MI is kind enough to stop by and say hello and visit a bit with us, the pilgrims.

Me and Teresa on the balcony of Chateau Chantel  overlooking the beautiful vineyard and Lake Michigan.

From front left around table to front right) Dinner: John, me, Dave, Claire, Julie, Time, Father Libby, Teresa, Dom, Laura, and Dave

John and I standing in front of the iron work which proclaims and reminds; I am the Vine and you are the branches.