a sappy post about my net.

it's sort of interesting, i can scroll through instagram and facebook and any other random type of social media out there and see groups of friends celebrating, sharing, loving, and doing life together.  

there's pictures and status updates and posts written about their love for their friends.

God created us women with this need, this craving, for friendships.  for connecting.

some of us like to connect with just one or two, some of us want a bigger number in our circle, and some? might be happy with a room full of their people.

moving from a small town to a mid sized city for college allowed me to keep my childhood friends, and add college friends.  most of the time those two circles could intercept.  there were mutual friends, life long friends and new friends all in my pot of life.

then we moved. 6 years ago.

we moved to a new city.  just me and my man.

we spent many evenings, in our first year here, devouring awkward amounts of chips and salsa from the mi ranchito across from our appartment.  we made friends with the bar tender, who typically gave us both discounts on our meals, free espinaca, and wouldn't always charge us for our dos equis.  

then, we would walk back to our apartment, dreaming of our life that lay ahead of us.  silly little 22 and 23 year olds.  just the two of us.  it was a good year.

during that year we found a good group of friends.  friends who were in our season of life.  friends who enjoyed our love of wine, grilling out, camping, you know.....all those things you do before you have kids :)

however, most of that group has moved away. sniff.sniff.

then crazy things happened.

we became parents and i quit my job.

did you know how lonely being a stay at home mom can be?

i think i had more of a relationship with my laundry than i did any other female for about a month.

but.  i put my big girl boots on braved what shouldn't of been feared in the first place, our moms group at church.

i didn't go for about a month because i wasn't sure what to wear.  i wasn't sure what how roman would act, or if the other moms would mind when he refused to let me put him anywhere but next to me.  i wasn't sure what they would really be talking about, or if i, a mom of one little 1 year old would even fit in.  i mean, lots of them had been in this momma gig for a while now.  i was just a newbie, scrambling around trying to figure out what my new daily schedule would like as a mom that had no where to go.

but then i went.

and it was wonderful.

any judgement i feared was non existent.  like, never ever even there.

any status quo for how to dress? nada.  you could forget to put a bra on and show up in sweats and still be greeted with smiles.

a clingy kid? i don't even think anyone noticed.  

and oh........ the wisdom that was shared, the knowledge i began to receive, and the presence of Jesus that radiated the room was astounding.

though most of these girls i already knew, i was new to their "mom group".  i was anxious and overwhelmed in my role of momma.  but i was welcomed, as they welcome anyone, with open arms, ready to embrace, support, listen to, encourage, and love.

it's been such a beautiful gift from God, to look back and seem my relationship with these girls, these women, these mommas, continue to grow.

it's blossomed into a sisterhood.

with having no family close by, and being the people person i am, i crave a net of friends.

these women are my net.

whether it's emails of encouragement,

texts to share what random shenanigan a child has done,

lonely calls when husbands are working late, 

wednesday mornings as we engage at bible study,

or winks, nods, and looks of "i'm thinking of you, but my kid is running around like a madman and we need to go get him lunch" on sunday mornings, 

they are doing life with me.

and they are loving me well.

and i am so grateful.

we all have different situations, different family make-ups, different stories.

but we have one thing in common:  we all love jesus.

and when you love jesus, like really love jesus, you radiate with compassion, encouragement, and love.

and for women who are in this season of motherhood, those three things are like oxygen.

i am so thankful that my heavenly father has given me this group of girls.

in the midst of a somewhat insane season of life [36 weeks preggo and moving in 2 weeks] God has truly supplied me with all that i need.  and these girls are a big part of that supply.

thank you jesus.

[some of the girls in our group, showering me with cheese cake, coffee and a gift for baby #2]