Spoiled Rotten

Over the years God has blessed me with really good friends. In college there was a group of us who were super tight. We were sorority sisters (hold the jokes, please!) and dear friends. After college, I moved to NYC where I had some amazing friends that I worked with. One, in particular, a roommate who endured the not so mature me and two ladies who trained me on the job. God bless their souls, there surely are crowns in heaven awaiting them. (Again, they dealt with the not so mature me.)

I moved to China where, by the nature of the beast, living in a foreign country and being a foreign student will FORCE you to bond with people- for better or worse. Friendships there were tried and true. And will be life long.

Since being married, I've found making friends a touch more difficult. Maybe because my time is not my own. Having kids allows for exactly no full conversations, unless I'm totally alone with my friend or locked in my bedroom and on the phone. And, yes, I DO fully recommend an inside lock on your bedroom door. Not for obvious reasons, but more so, that you can get a freakin' second of silence during the day.

With that said, over the past 3 years I have been involved in a small group of other moms through my job that has been AMAZING. We call it a growth group. Sounds stupid, I know. But actually, it is a gold mine. We get together every other week and we talk about areas in our lives that need improvement. Matters of the heart that need to change. Practical situations that need addressed. Tweaks to our lives and schedules that need to be made.

We've grown to know each other so well that often the growth plans ebb and flow from our discussions and are even better than the ones we've come up with on our own. We laugh. We cry. We sometimes even cuss. We are real. We are safe. We are vulnerable. We are encouraging. We confront. We change. We celebrate.

Most of us are moms with young kids. One friend is a mom with 3 teenage daughters. She is our great equalizer. When we're all, "If I have to endure potty training for one more month..." she's all, "Wait 'till they get their period." You better believe it stops us dead in our tracks and helps us embrace our reality. Then we get side tracked with funny period stories for an hour. (Hey, we're growing, what can I say?)

Some years I've worked on my complaining. Some years I've worked on my organization. Some years I've worked on my pessimism. This year I'm still trying to figure it out, but I think I might try and grow in my love for writing. A gift that God developed in me at a young age and set me on a course for during high school and college. Then I digressed.

I don't know what this means for me as far as a plan. Hopefully my girls have some ideas! I love keeping this blog as an outlet for my writing. I'm just wondering if there could be more. Is He pushing me out of the nest? I don't know. Quite frankly, it's less intimidating to think about working on my organization. Buy an organizer and away we go.

I'm thankful for my growth group. My friends. My accountability. I'm thankful that we are committed to not staying the same. I hope you have friends in your life that are committed to the same purpose.

What is an area YOU would like to grow in?