cups

I got these cups for my birthday from one of my besties! They make my heart smile.

She gets me!

God made us quite alike in so many ways and I cannot ever thank Him enough for that. She grounds me! She helps me to feel ok on those days I don’t. She reminds me of who I am and how God made me. She laughs at me when I take myself too serious. She offers a hand when I need picking up. She listens to me when my heart hurts. She sees the best in me when it feels hidden from me. She calls me “Sweet Melissa” even when I am not.

She gets me!

Are there girls in your life that get you?

According to Huffington Post, community provides support to individuals “who are impacted by the daily stress, struggles and chaos of modern life.” Reference.com adds that, “Communities are important because they allow people to interact with each other, share experiences, develop valued relationships and work toward a common goal.” A sense of belonging is found in community. CNN.com states, “Belonging is primal, fundamental to our sense of happiness and well-being.”

That’s what we are all really looking for – the place where we belong.

A place we are free to be who we are.

A place to stretch and grow.

A place we feel safe and invited.

A place we are welcomed and wanted.

A place we can learn to like ourselves because, afterall, they like me so I must be ok.

It took me a long time to find my girls. I traditionally did not have good friends growing up – they didn’t get me at all. They were not loyal and did not care for my heart well. I remember girlswatching Bride Wars years ago and crying my eyes out at the end of the movie. If you haven’t seen the movie, it opens with a scene of two little girls playing “marriage”  – life long best friends. I have always wanted a best friend that has known me all my life and the things about my story that broke my heart and delighted me. The stories of triumph and of defeat. The stories that hold me back and the ones that make me better. All the stories that shaped my heart and the person I am today. So not having that, like those two girls in the movie, broke my heart. I cried an ugly, hard cry at the end of that movie. Thank goodness I was home alone on my own safe sofa!

It wasn’t until I was in my thirties that God saw fit to knit my heart with other women who would and could cherish me! So although I don’t have a lifetime of shared memquote 2ories to draw from in these relationships we are making them now. Fifteen years or so in we have some history now. We have some funny moments that still make us laugh hard. We have some heartbreaks we have walked and carried each other through. We have seen each other’s ugliest and each other’s best.  We have heard the deep losses and desperate desires of each other’s hearts. We have witnessed the small steps towards victory and overcoming. Today, we have stories.

We belong to each other!  

The girls in my life are the treaures of my heart! This life would not be same without each one – each brings a uniqueness that only she can bring, a picture of God’s heart that only she holds! I am the most blessed woman on the planet because I have the best friends ever! Thank you ladies, you know who you are, for loving me well, for being community to me, for accepting me, for “getting” me!

Find those girls that get you! It’s important!

fence

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.