Oh, How We Need Each Other …

Yesterday it was sixty-five degrees and sunny outside. The kids were home from school for a teacher work day. We threw open the doors, lifted up the windows, shouted for joy and burst forth in song because for one day it actually felt like Spring! It was nothing short of glorious! Maybe this bunny under glass is my way of trying to capture that feeling.

On Saturday I took my daughter to the first ever General Women's Meeting for our church. This meant that all over the world, the women and girls of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were gathered in churches, homes, and conference centers to hear messages especially prepared for them. I kept picturing in my mind millions of sweet sisterly voices singing and praising God at the same time. It was a unique and spirit filled event. I was so happy to be there with my daughter.

There were many things said that touched my heart and spoke to my desires to live a righteous life in accordance with my Heavenly Father’s desires, but one thing keeps sticking out in my mind and it is this simple line: “Oh, how we need each other!”.

Does that seem strange? It’s not an overtly religious statement. But it is a statement that has proven true in my life time and time again. I am strengthened by my interactions and friendships with other women. It is one of the reasons I write this blog. I feel a desire to connect with other women. We understand each other. We comfort and lift one another during hard times and help each other laugh through the craziness.

I cannot count the times in my life another woman has been a mentor, a friend, a partner-in-crime (not real crime, of course), a co-leader, a shoulder to cry on, a kind critic or a teacher EXACTLY when I needed her the most. It is no coincidence that our paths have crossed when they have. I know that God knows I need other women to help me grow and learn.

This is not in any way meant to discredit men and the important role they play in the lives of women. I will go on record right now as saying that I am pro marriage between a man and a woman. I am for husbands and wives being the very best of friends and confiding most closely with one another. I am anti man-bashing and completely unconnected with the idea that “I’m a woman and don’t need a man to be fulfilled, successful, empowered, complete, etc.”

But there is something in the female relationship – that bond of nurturing hearts and tender feelings – that draws me to seek out relationships with other women. This desire to know and be a friend to other women has filled my life with a catalogue of best friends I could not live without! For example, I just said goodbye to my best friend from Eighth Grade/College Roommate again as she left Maryland to move to Kansas! Our paths keep crossing because we are meant to be a part of one another’s lives. I am always so blessed to be around her. She has helped me to grow and change in ways I cannot list.

Tell me you feel the same. I hope you know that we need each other! Thank you for reading this silly blog about nothing. When I write it, I imagine I am talking to a dear friend who understands me and knows my heart. That’s you, by the way! Thanks friend, for being such a good listener.

And Oh! How I need you.