When is the last time you spoke with your friends?
It can often be difficult for working women to make time for friendships, especially if you’re married or in a serious dating relationship. And if you add kids to the mix, friendships can become even harder. The truth is, as your life gets more hectic, you need your good friends even more. Surrounding yourself with healthy, supportive relationships with other Christian women will make you better at pretty-much everything else you have on your plate.
Don’t believe me?
Don’t just take my word for it! Solid research has found that friendships can dramatically improve women’s overall health and longevity, optimism regarding challenges, kindness towards others, and even job satisfaction.
But this is just the tip of the iceberg, and this isn’t brand new information either! Even since biblical times, writers have praised the benefits of meaningful friendships.
9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! 11 Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? 12 And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
After reading a brave article by Noel Piper about needing and building friendships, I began to really think about a special group of friends who have walked beside me through important times in my life.
When I first moved to Dallas, God brought these amazing women into my life. First there was Savannah, then Sue, Brenda, and Claire. We are all professional women, all Christians, and all experiencing motherhood and marriage or divorce (or both). We formed a sort of informal group and met every-other week to talk and share about our lives. It’s not a Bible study, although we often pray for one another. It really is not very structured at all. It’s a time to talk, seek advice, offer support, and learn from each other’s experiences. And over the years, it has been one of the most valuable things in my life.
Whether you already have a group of friendships or you’re starting fresh, I encourage you to be intentional and make time for solid Christian friendships. Find deep, meaningful friendships. Rushed “catch-up” conversations in the hallway after church and late-night Facebook chats from your office don’t count. Like any relationship, true friendships require an investment of your real time and energy.
Trust me, you will never regret investing in your friendships!
Looking for more executive wisdom from Diane Paddison? You might also enjoy Are You the Office “Mean Girl?”
Diane Paddison has held several executive positions for corporations, including Chief Operating Officer for two Fortune 500 companies, Trammell Crow (now CB Richard Ellis) and ProLogis. She is currently the Chief Strategy Officer at the commercial real estate firm Cassidy Turley, and the founder of 4WordWomen, a national nonprofit designed to connect, lead and support young professional Christian women to fulfill their God-given potential.
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