This past spring, my neighbor-friend and I co-led a Bible study for the ladies in our neighborhood on “Building Rooted Community.” We did a topical study on obeying the “one another” commands in Scripture: love one another, pray for one another, build one another up, encourage one another, be hospitable to one another, etc. One of the ladies who joined us suggested doing something tangible to welcome new neighbors who move into our development. It was such a great way to use the theme of our study toward a service project: something we could do together in our home, that would be kind for “one another” in our neighborhood. Enter: The New Neighbor Welcome Basket! The best part is that it cost less than $10 to make each basket.

I’m sharing this because I’m coming out of a tough 18 month season of friendship, and while I know my worth is not found in my friends, I can’t deny it’s wounded my pride some! I hope you’ll find encouragement, too!

A friend shared with me this quote from “New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional” by Paul David Tripp: “Most of what we call fellowship never really rises to the level of the humble self-disclosure and mutual ministry that make fellowship actually redemptively worthwhile.” Recently at the Mothers Ministry, we discussed meaningful friendships and building our village: a fellowship of moms, and women, rooted in Scripture.

I sat down to write this post no fewer than four times, and each time I came up short. The myriad of lies we believe as moms, as women, as sisters, as children, as friends, all ran through my mind. Some of them were so beautifully articulated already in this collaborative series by my friends Mikenna, Amanda, Lily, and Katie.