This Time I Am Ready For The Sting…..

Just when the sting of the slap I received is starting to ease up…… Here comes another one!

I LOVE hanging with friends that challenge me. I need people in my life to keep me accountable and hold me to a standard I know I can rise to. It’s so easy in life to get complacent and settle for less than I know I am capable of.

So, as I have shared before, I regularly get together with a group of like-minded girls, who we have each given permission to “slap and be slapped” when we need it.

Thankfully, it doesn’t happen on a weekly basis, but I know that when I need one, each of them is ready, willing, and able to give me a dose of reality! Those times when I feel like giving up, times when I doubt myself, those moments when life just seems too hard, and I need a gentle (or not so) reminder of who God has created me to be and the amazing things he has in store for me.

To be fair to these girls, it’s not all about the slapping.  These girls are my biggest cheerleaders and are the first to celebrate my wins with me. They love on me, cover me in prayer, and provide practical help when needed. To be honest, I would be lost without them!

There is never any judgment, condemnation, or put-downs. It is all done with honor and respect and comes from a heart that only wants the best for me. This is the stuff real friendships are made of!

So as we kick off another year of slaps, encouragement, challenges, and hard-hitting questions, I am excited to see what I will achieve with these girls right behind me!

My encouragement to you this week is to find someone who knows you well, and who can speak honestly into your life. Don’t find a “people pleaser” who will only tell you what you want to hear or someone who has nothing but sympathy for you when things aren’t going right. Yip, it may be hard, it may be uncomfortable, in fact, it may be outright awkward at first but find someone who will challenge you. Someone you can be vulnerable with and someone who will tell you like it is, yet all the while loving you (and not judging you) as a friend should!

I can speak from experience and tell you I am a way better Mum, a better wife, a better friend, and all-round better person for it. C’mon, you can do it too……