More Than a MomSample

Build Uplifting Friendships

It’s hard to make time for friendship while you’re raising kids. Some days, you have nothing left over to give. But as a mom, you need community and purpose beyond your home. You need women in your corner who cheer for you, root for you, and see the beautiful truths that only women can see. Surrounding yourself with uplifting women will improve your wellness and your health. It will help you find joy in motherhood and not feel so alone.

The goal is not to find perfect friends, but rather, strong friends to journey through motherhood with: friends who bring out your best, share your goals, and stand by you through thick and thin. Single moms especially need a village, and anything you do to make your single mom friends feel loved could mean far more than you know.

It takes time, intention, effort, and courage to grow real relationships. Even if you’ve been burned by friends in the past, don’t let those bad experiences ruin your hope for the future or harden your heart. God wired you for community, and when you lack community, you’ll inevitably feel the void. This calling is so much harder doing it all alone.

So take action that moves you in the right direction. Work on being the friend you hope to attract by emulating God (see Ephesians 5:1–2). Be kind, show grace, and make new friends wherever you go – whether you’re picking up a cake from the bakery or trying out a new exercise class.

We all have struggles, and we all need friends who help us through them. Real friends will inspire the best in you and speak the truth in love. They will be a source of comfort, not a source of stress. So choose your friends wisely and make time for those friends who feel like sisters of the heart.

Respond

What prevents strong friendships? How can you make time weekly or bi-weekly to grow an existing friendship or initiate a new one?

Has a friend ever helped you through a hard day of parenting? How does God use friends to encourage moms in the trenches?

Is there an old friend you’d like to reconnect with. If so, how can you do that?

Prayer

Lord, You created me to need friends and community. Help me love my friends well and build friendships where we bring out the best in one another. Help me extend grace when a friend is struggling and choose my closest friends wisely. Amen.