Girlfriends

I was listening to the radio a few days ago, or it could have been a few weeks ago...I lose track of time these days....Anyway, I already digress....and I heard that women spend more time getting ready to go out with their girlfriends for girls night out than they do for date night with their husband or boyfriend.  Hmmmm.  Why is that?  Do we need to impress our friends more than our significant other?  Or is it the impression that guys are going to be looking at a group of girls out together and we need to look our best? Or is that we care more about what our friends think than our significant other?  I really honestly don't know.  I'm not necessarily putting myself into this category..by the way....I'm not a "girly girl" that needs to spend hours getting ready to go somewhere.  I can usually get what I need to get done in about a 1/2 hour.  However, I do have friends that take hours to get ready so this may be true for some.

But it got me thinking about my friends.  And girls nights out.  And how important friendships are for our self-esteem, feeling valued, feeling pretty and attractive, etc.  I mean, seriously.  Don't our friends give us more compliments at times than our significant others or family members do?  Countless times I have had a friend say "oh, you look good in that color" or "your eyes look so pretty today" or "are you losing weight?".  And boy does that make me feel good.  Who doesn't need a night out in which you laugh, cry, celebrate, make fun of your husband or boyfriend or significant other, tell jokes, act like ladies but sometimes let out a loud laugh or fart, vent about work or our significant others, discuss what's going on with our kids, gossip but try not to, and lift one another up by complimenting and praising who we are as women????

I am a firm believer that good friends you hold strong connections with will always be in your life...no matter if you move away, or if it's just contact by facebook and email..they will always be a part of your life.  They may play a bigger part of your life in certain seasons and a smaller part in other seasons.  But they will always be a part of your life.  I have stayed in contact with friends with whom I grew up with.  Are we as close as we were 20 years ago?  No.  But I've stayed connected or even re-connected.  I have also gone through a period of not talking to a friend for various reasons, only to connect later on with an even stronger friendship.  I think the people you surround yourself with at specific seasons in your life is directly related to what you are currently experiencing and also who you have the most in common with.  For instance, I am not as close to a group of friends that I once hung out with quite a bit mainly because my life has changed dramatically....I got married and now have two kids whereas they are still single and enjoying that lifestyle!  But I am still friends with them and value their friendships...we're just in different circumstances and seasons now. 

In the past few months I have started hanging out with a wonderful group of girls from my church.  They are fun, full of personality, crazy, spiritual, and striving to be the best women, wives, mothers, teachers, social workers, nurses (wow, just realized that those of us working are all in the "helping fields") that they can be.  It's been wonderful to be a part of these growing friendships and I can't wait to see what God has in store for all of us.

With that said, I am off to a wonderful girls night with some of those very girls tonight!  We are going to laugh our butts off at "Bridesmaids" and then we're off for dessert and drinks!

I hope that all women out there have the opportunity to experience strong bonds with their girlfriends....