Soul food for the sisterhood.

This week has been a blur of activity. A whirlwind of busyness. A virtual non-stop list of things and chores to do and accomplish. But you know what? I wouldn’t change a minute of it! Because it is all leading up to something I have been craving for some time now.

Soul food.

The gathering together of like-minded girlfriends who, for all of our vast differences and interests, are forever bonded by years of tried and tested friendship. Years that have brought changes, presented challenges, and caused us to up our game just a few more times than we might have liked. One friend coined us her “inner circle”  – because she found strength within our group that allowed her to be all she needed in the other roles in her life.

As years have passed, we’ve all taken our turns needing that inner circle. We promise to catch each other, and we do our best. Sometimes we mess up. But sometimes we hit it out of the ballpark. We’re a work in progress, always changing, growing, learning from the experiences life is granting us. Along the way new friends join in, and its the strength of the old friends that reaches out, embraces, and gladly widens the circle. Because we’ve all discovered something. Friendship is best when multiplied.

“The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense.” – Proverbs 27:9

Soul food.

Time with the women in my life who teach me more and more with every passing year about this thing called friendship. Women who are amazing mothers, loving wives, and staunch caregivers who all radiate beautiful auras around our friendship circle. Women who have diverse backgrounds and common values. Women who love God, their families, and each other. In that order.

Friday evening my friends will begin to arrive for the weekend and I can hardly wait. I have a whole plethora of things I want them to experience during these two days in my new country home. The quietness of our back deck, uniquely surrounded by deep woods, a wide expanse of meadow, and the occasional glimpse of cows or deer. The quaintness of my new town, with its delightful antique shops and a tea room with just enough nooks and crannies to feel as though it were made for a group of girlfriends to giggle and catch up in. And – last but certainly not least – the deep tranquility my soul is finding in the simple life.

While I have a carefully planned itinerary for the weekend, I’ve hosted enough parties and get-togethers to know that nothing ever goes quite as planned. That’s exactly what makes these times so wonderfully special. You just never know when one story will spark another, and then that story creates spontaneous laughter that could end in either snorting or sobbing. Either way, emotions will have been tapped and that amazing thing called sisterhood will once again have arrived and wrapped her willowy arms around us all.

Soul food.

Friendship is a gift from God. True friendship, the kind that sticks around when the going gets tough. The kind that loves even when it may not always like. The kind that is a part of our very innermost being and makes us feel like a bit of a better human being simply for having experienced it. If love makes the world go ’round, then surely friendship is the seatbelt that keeps you safe on the ride.

So while this weekend may, in fact, turn out to not resemble the vision I have for it in my mind, I know it will be everything it needs to be. Years from now my friends may not remember the backyard dinner I prepared for them. They may not recall the exact stories told, who started what, or even when and why we got together. But I pray that they will remember that there was laughter, and lots of it. They’ll recall the warmth of the conversations, the hilarity of being honest and real. And they’ll remember the love of the inner circle.

They’ll remember the soul food that was served.

I can hardly wait!