A Little Inspiration, Please

"One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach. One can collect only a few, and they are more beautiful if they are few."

~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh ~

Despite living in what once was the middle of nowhere, we attend a fairly large church. Big enough that our pastor introduces a new member by saying she's been visiting for months, and I've never laid eyes on her. I always feel bad about that, because I can remember when I did know everyone. When I could tell the first-time visitors on the spot. When we were crammed into an old sanctuary so tight that you learned more about your neighbor than was appropriate for a Sunday morning. Now we have so many interesting and Godly people at our church, and I want to get to know them. Truly, I do. Still, I liked it better when I knew everyone pretty well. But, the more our church grows, the more I find that I can't keep up.

That used to bother me. I mean, I'm a small town girl. I love that the local gas station owner sells pumpkins & corn from his garden. I love that the owner of our favorite Italian restaurant(we have 2) knows me by my first name. I love that my daughter's school principal taught me in elementary school. I love that she had friends whose parents went to school with me, and that we all look out for each other's kids.

But I'm learning that I just can't be friends with EVERYBODY. I can get to know women and share with them as sisters-in-Christ. I can talk with them & pray with them. I can teach them in Sunday School or lead them in a Bible study. And I have a lot of FRIENDS. Women I love & enjoy spending time with. But God has blessed me with a very small group of SOUL-SISTERS. Women who feel like family to me. Women I would drop everything for if they needed me. Women who've done the same for me. Women who will honestly tell me if I'm straying from God's Word. Women who remind me of a Pooh cartoon I once saw, where Pooh & Piglet are sitting together.

Piglet - "Pooh?"
Pooh - "Yes, Piglet."
Piglet - "I just wanted to be sure of you."

Praise the Lord...I have friends I can be sure of!

I've made attempts to widen my circle of Soul-Sisters, only to fall flat on my face. While the thought of having many close confidants sounds good in theory, it just doesn't work in my life. If there are too many, I can't devote enough time to each relationship. I might miss births and deaths, marriage troubles and triumphs, laughter and tears...all the threads of a cord not easily broken. A bigger circle also means that I lose perspective on just how special each woman is to me. I forget exactly how much I need her & how much she needs me. I don't ever want to take that for granted.

When I focus on the few amazing Soul-Sisters God has placed in my path, I realize I'm so tremendously blessed that I don't need to collect any more. They are rare creatures, these fantastic women...and I am a better woman for having known each of them.