Girlfriends’ Christmas

Girlfriends’ Christmas

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.

“Who’s picking names this year?!”

I saw the text on my phone in the middle of making dinner. Some of my closest friends and I were planning our annual girlfriends’ Christmas, never mind that it was only late October. We all like to get an early start on finding the perfect gift for the person whose name we draw (although we always end up getting a small gift for everyone regardless, a tradition my late sister Katrina started almost twenty years ago).

I smiled as I saw the back-and-forth about whose husband would choose the names so it would be a surprise, and the reminder to “please make sure you don’t tell anyone who you have after he sends you the text with your name.” We’re supposed to keep a secret whose name we receive each year, although we rarely make it to our dinner without finding out who the others have.

Each December it’s the same: we go to the same restaurant, eat as many cheesy biscuits as possible (calories don’t count on this night), catch up on families and what everyone is up to, open presents from one another that we’ve planned all year, take a picture in front of the lobster tank, and then head off to the mall to find the wackiest pajamas we can to try on and take pictures of. We end the night completely full, with sides and cheeks hurting from all the laughter.

Do you have friends that you’ve known for years? Thank God for them. And if you do not, pray and ask God to bring you to people who could be good friends. I do not see the girlfriends I get together with each Christmas all the time throughout the year, but I know that they are consistently there for me and would step in anytime I need a hand. Reliability, loyalty, and genuine love for one another will help friendships last throughout the years, even if you are not with one another frequently. Take the time to intentionally start a tradition of getting together with friends, even if it’s just once a year.

— Kendra

— Today’s Act of Friendship —

Plan a get-together with old or new friends.