woman

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Give her a share in the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the city gates.
Proverbs 31:25-26, 30-31 (NRSV)

On Sunday, I’m going to drive with my best friend and her kids as she moves to Colorado.  I am genuinely happy for her and her family as her husband takes a new call.  Colorado is an amazing place to live and puts them less than a day’s drive from their family. I am full of joy for her while carrying my own grief.  She’s not just my best friend now.  She’s the best friend I’ve ever had.

We’ve known each other for years, but our relationship was really founded five years ago in a one-on-one mentoring relationship.  We met for ten weeks to talk about faith, life, and discipleship.  From there, we began to run together once a week.  This blossomed into several half marathons.

These runs were good for our bodies as well as our souls.  We’ve run a lot of miles and processed a lot of life together, and (as she would say) all the feels.  We’ve hammered through all sorts of theology and solved many of the world’s problems. What wisdom we have to offer if only people would ask us!

She is one of the “Seven Ladies” (cue the Beyoncé music).  We’ve all known each other for years, but our community was really founded four years ago when we formed a group to read Jen Hatmaker’s book Seven.  (Search “Seven” to see these posts).

We’ve read a couple of other books together over the years, but mostly we’ve just been doing life together. In these four years, we’ve launched children, struggled with our children, gone through divorce, been married, lost loved ones, and faced crises of faith.

They are my tribe.

Tomorrow, we will celebrate our friendship as we say good-bye.  I don’t doubt that we will all be together again, but it will never be as easy as it has been.  We will continue to meet without her, but we won’t be as complete.  Our small expression of the Body of Christ will be missing a member. But we’ll still be the Seven Ladies because we are bound together by more than convenience.  Our faith brought us together and as we proclaim at the communion table, Christ binds us together even when we’re not.

These women have witnessed God’s faithfulness, love, and generosity to me.  My gratitude for them is beyond expression.  They make me a better person.  I love them as I’ve never loved other women in my life.  Thanks be to God.

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It’s Five Minute Friday, but I went over the five minutes.  This week’s prompt was “Woman,” and you can read more here.

I hope you consider checking out my new book:

Prayers for the People: Scripturally Based Prayers for Worship Prayers for the People is a collection of prayers for worship. These prayers offer the worshipping community fresh perspectives for praying the words of Scripture, using current language and references. Cross-referenced to the Revised Common Lectionary, pastors seeking to lead their people in prayer have found a relevant and beautiful source for worship planning.