Two-minute read.
Last fall, my friend Claire and I did a women’s event at her church. In a unique format, they had four different speakers. The ladies, seated at tables in groups of 6-8, would spend a few minutes discussing the talk after each speaker.
Claire and I noticed a pattern among the women at our table: half attended church and half didn’t. Those who didn’t talked about how lonely they felt, how they didn’t have any friends, it broke our hearts, but also inspired us. In 2026, we began having women’s breakfasts for the community, a way to bring people together and meet new friends.
We had our third one over the weekend, and God has amazed us. Story after story of new friendships developing with amazing “coincidences.” At the end of each breakfast, the women fill out a card with their information and drop it into a bowl. After swishing them around, everyone picks a card, and that becomes their person for the next 6 weeks to pray for at a minimum and get together with at a maximum.
Divine connections happen. Two single women have started having dinner together regularly. One mom, getting ready to move, was paired with a woman from the area she’s moving to. Quilters have gotten paired with quilters, and grandmas with grandmas. All random choices from a bowl that connect two strangers and begin a new friendship.
God created us for community; we need one another to spur each other onward. Everyone you meet has a hidden struggle. Loving people for Jesus encourages them on their walk and speaks uplifting words into their lives. In every conversation, we should look for a way to build up the other person. We have no idea the pain people hide. Walking wounded don’t tell their tales.
Call a friend. Invite them to lunch. Consider how you can spur on the people God has given you to love.
Reflection:
Who in your life could you intentionally encourage or lift up this week—and what’s one simple step you can take to show up for them?
Joy Thought:
God never meant us to do life alone.
