3. We treasure authentic friendships.
I don’t take for granted the offered hand of friendship, because I’ve lived enough places where it WASN’T extended.
I truly value the friends who’ve given me a glimpse of their hearts and lives.
I met several women at a homeschooling group when I lived in D.C., and we decided to get together for a weekly book study. Honestly, when I look at it now, it’s somewhat shocking how quickly we bonded over the few months of study, coffee, and talk.
I believe we all crave real, authentic friendship.
If you’re in a season right now where this isn’t the case for you, hang in there and hold onto hope that you will find your own community. A study from UCLA notes this about our need for friendship:
…[Friends] soothe our tumultuous inner world, fill the emotional gaps in our marriage, and help us remember who we really are. By the way, they may do even more. Scientists now suspect that hanging out with our friends can actually counteract the kind of stomach-quivering stress most of us experience on a daily basis.
Could this be any truer than for military spouses?
Since our normal, everyday stressors are usually up there, I submit that our need for authentic, real friendships is higher as well.