As I sit here waiting for the right words to come to me, I find myself reflecting on the woman’s conference trip I took over the weekend. You see I am an introvert by nature or maybe it was by nurture. Maybe the circumstances of life pushed me further and further into myself and I began to hole up and hide away from the world. Yet I found myself, out of my comfort zone, filled with feelings of anxiousness and fear. Fear that I would not be accepted or maybe that I’d just be too awkward and weird. Maybe I just wouldn’t quite “fit in”. Yet what I found was something so much more precious, Friendship.

In the middle of the Mountains of North Georgia with no cell service and a group of women, that I had known for some time now but had not spent any real time with, feeling cut off from the world, from my safe people, and left with no other options than to depend on God. I spent so many hours of that trip praying for help and reminding myself not to fear. I felt the enemy whisper his lies, “They won’t accept you.” “They will never let you be in the group” I could feel the fear creeping up my spine each mile we drove away from the safety of my home. Yet God had bigger plans for me than fear and rejection. He had plans of victory, plans of love, plans of growth, and plans of building bonds between women that love God! He even pointed out where I was useful amongst a group of women that I was sure had no need for someone like me. And then he showed me his love, acceptance, and kindness through those very same women.

We all want friends and often we have many different types of friends throughout the different seasons and walks of our lives. Yet godly friends are such a blessing to the soul. They leave you feeling warm, full and loved. They leave you doubting yourself a little less. Proverbs 27:9 Ointment and perfume delight the heart, and the sweetness of a man’s friend gives delight by hearty counsel. The sweetness of good friends can bring one joy and soothe our souls. Friends are the warriors on the battlefield that when you need help, when you need prayer or if you go down because the burden is too hard to carry, they are there to lift you up in prayer to God. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Imagine how powerful the faith and prayers of 200 plus women together united and in agreeance can be and even the small number of 11 I was blessed to have the privilege of getting to know and bond with.

I was so blessed on this trip. A trip about unity among women. A trip about how God loved us first. A trip that every step showed me the deepness of God’s love, the wonders and perfections of his plans. Each minute spent with these women reminded me of the friendship I have with God. I watched as they poured their tears and prayers over each other. I watched as they poured their love into one another, laughed, cried, hugged and held one another. I found myself reaching for that connection, for that warm light that just exuded off each woman. The light of Jesus just pouring out of these women! And when I touched it, when I seized it for myself, instead of warily watching from the sidelines, I found a joy and a peace like none other. I found strength and courage. I found a love for God that went deeper than I could imagine and a thankfulness for all the wonderful women at the conference and back at home in my safe area that God had blessed me with.

I pray you each experience the joy and preciousness of friendship. But most of all I pray each of you finds the amazing relationship that you can have with God. I pray that you find yourself searching, reaching, talking, and running towards an amazing, loving, God who can change your life, fill your heart, and give you the greatest gift of all, Salvation. May each of you be the friend you would want and give the love God gives us daily. I pray for those in seasons of solitude that when God says it’s time you find the wonderful gift of godly women who speak the name of Jesus over you! And remember of all the friends you can have Jesus is the best one!