Time for Friends
In the beginning God created one good thing after another. He says that over and over in the first chapter of Genesis:
. . . And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25
When He created people, He called us very good.
After the first sin, God kindly warned us about many things that were not good; but even before the first sin, God said that one thing, and just one thing, was not good. It was not good for man to be alone.
God created us to need Him and to need other people. He wants us to love Him and love others. Jesus taught us that God and people were the two most important things. When Jewish leaders asked Him what commandment was first, Jesus told them two. He said:
“The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord;
and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’
The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Mark 12:29-31
It is true that God created woman as a companion to man, but He never said that a husband and wife would never need anyone else but each other. I believe that Jesus establishing the church is one of many proofs that God understands our need for each other.
As important as her relationships with her husband and children are, the wise woman does not limit her relationships to them, but seeks out other women as friends.
Homeschooling can be a lonely lifestyle and it is for many women, but it doesn’t have to be so. A blog reader recently called Notgrass History with a curriculum question. She had recently written an email to me, so when I got the message to call her back, I recognized her name and asked if she was who I thought she was. I’ll call her Cynthia. As we chatted, Cynthia shared with me her own need for companionship. She also shared an idea that she thought you might like to hear, too.
I am a bit sheepish (there I go being sheepish again) about sharing it because it involves buying something from us, but it was a good idea, so here goes.
Cynthia purchased three copies of my book Daily Encouragement for Homeschooling Mothers and gave them to three friends for Christmas. The book includes one devotional a day for one month. The idea is that you can read the book again and again, reading devotional five on the fifth and devotional sixteen on the sixteenth and so on. Cynthia is reading the book each month with a different friend. They read the devotionals separately and then text one another about how the day is going. I thought it was a sweet idea and I was happy to share it with you as she kindly suggested. Thank you, Cynthia.
Writing about this has reminded me of another way to connect with others. When we were in the early days of homeschooling, Ray used to stay with our children while I met regularly with a friend in the evening.
Friendship takes time and work that are worth the effort. The problem is that you are doing so many other things that take time and work, too. I hope that sharing these two ideas will help you think of ways to have meaningful fellowship with one or more friends on a regular basis. Having spent many lonely times in my own life, I know that this is much easier said than done. I am sympathetic and I care.
Oil and perfume make the heart glad,
So a man’s counsel is sweet to his friend.
Proverbs 27:9