Isn't it funny how you have different friends for different needs in your life? In my last post, I shared about the encouragement I receive from my writing pals. Today, I want to give a shout out to my church sisters. Again, it is a group of women who "get" me, but on a different level than my writing buddies do. So maybe I should change the initial question of "Isn't it funny?" to "Isn't God good?!"We are knit together with so many different characteristics that one person couldn't possibly relate to them all. God was the Knitter, He knows that so He brings little pockets of people to encourage each of our attributes. Even our husbands can't relate on every level. They definitely serve a purpose and meet needs that our girlfriends can't in the areas of protecting, providing, ... and stuff. God brings certain people across our paths for a reason: to supply a need, to spur us on, to laugh with us.
I have mentioned before that my husband and I have quite the opposite senses of humor. Here is another example. We were at a church music concert last weekend. Even though we have watched this group, The Joint Heirs, many times and they sing some of the same songs each time, I tend to get teary-eyed. I can't help it. Different songs hit me at each concert, depending on what is going on in my life at that time. Well, this night was no different. Tears were running down my face, the pastor's wife handed me a tissue and I hear my husband compassionately whisper, "Quit your sniveling. We are supposed to be the rocks in this establishment." I am used to this sort of teasing so I didn't miss a lick. I whispered back, "The Bible says that even the rocks will cry out." Now, I did get a smile out of him, but my sisters would have laughed out loud!
Like my writing friends, my church sisters and I can play off each others humor very well too, but at a different level. We hang out a lot and have a lot of material we can use in our laugh sessions. I set up a Sisters facebook page and we also have a group message. After one of our humorous message sessions one of the girls decided that SIS should stand for Slightly Insane Sisters. Very fitting, I must say!
We have the younger women on there, the middle aged and the older women. The young girls in the group giggle at some of the conversations the middle-aged ones engage in, although they can be quick to throw a punchline in there as well. The older ones are usually so quiet that sometimes we forget they are there until we see a remark pop up from them, making us hope we didn't cross a boundary. Of course, we keep it clean, we just get carried away at teasing each other at times. I approached one of the older ladies at church one day and said, "I hope we haven't been offensive in our interactions on our group message." She laughed and said she loved reading them and that she still feels very young in her mind and hadn't been offended at all.
I love the assurance I have in this group of women that even though there is a time for laughter, that they will be the first lending a shoulder when there is a time for tears. We have shared many heartaches over the years on many different levels, whether it be over hurt feelings, trouble with our children and marriages, or a death in the family. My sisters are the first ones that are there for me. They listen, the cry with me, they offer advice from the Bible and from their hearts.
My sisters and I are a team and I don't know what I do without them. As our church grows, the needs become greater and I have some serious worker bees that I can call upon to help me. I love that! I love that we can work together and serve together and laugh together. This weekend we have been invited to go on a retreat with another church and five of us will be attending. A few of them have not met my sisters from the other church yet and I am excited to see the interaction that they will have. I know my girls here will bring a flare to the event that I'm not quite sure the other girls are prepared for, but I can guarantee that flare is what will make them invite us again next year! I also can guarantee that I will have a LOT more to write about next week upon our return! God is good!
