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Renee Swope

Encouraging and equipping moms to parent with God's grace and confidence.

Confident Heart Friendship Gift Pak

“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another…”
Hebrews 10:25a

I sometimes wonder if I am one of the “some” that are mentioned in this verse. Oh I go to church. I worship, take notes and hang out in the lobby chit-chatting. But somewhere along the way I got “in the habit of not meeting together” with friends as much as I think God wants me to.

I didn’t mean for it to happen. Each day just seemed to fade into another. I couldn’t keep up with everything as a wife, mom, friend, daughter, neighbor, and working/ministering woman.

Time with friends was the one thing I could afford to miss. Or so I thought.

But then I found myself with an craving for connection that I was trying to fulfill with a white screen and black alphabet keys. Yet no matter how many times I checked email or Facebook, it was never enough to satisfy my craving.

Maybe you can relate. If so, be sure to read my “Craving Connection” devotion over at Encouragement for Today.

As I think about my craving for connection, and God’s emphasis on the importance of us “meeting together,” I can’t help but believe it’s because He created us to need it. We were created in His image after all, and God is always in community – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Always has been.

But it won’t just happen because we need it. So, today I wanted to share a few ways we can get creative and intentional about spending time with friends:

  • Plan a monthly girl’s night out
  • Invite a friend over for lunch or coffee
  • Find a hobby you both enjoy
  • Get away together for a day or weekend
  • Carpool together
  • Run errands together
  • Clean your houses or do laundry together
  • Prepare dinner together
  • Serve someone in need together
  • Reach out to a neighbor together
  • Start a Bible study or book club together

One of the things that encourages me is to have spiritual purpose to my friendships. I love doing a book study with a friend and meeting to talk about the questions at the end of each chapter.

I wrote A Confident Heart with that in mind, hoping friends will read it and encourage each other with the truths God put in it. We need that spiritual encouragement and transparency in our friendships, don’t we? So, this week I’m giving A Confident Heart Friendship gift pak away to one of you. Here is what it includes:

Confident Heart Friendship Gift Pak

One advanced copy of my new book A Confident Heart
to read and share with a friend.

$10 Starbuck’s Gift Card to share with a friend while you connect face-to-face and heart-to-heart over coffee, tea or dessert.

To enter to win — share this post with your friends via Facebook, Twitter, your blog and email. Let me know you did and then tell me one friend you will encourage with a call today or an email letting them know you’d love to get together. I’ll announce the winner next Monday.

Lord, You created us with a need for friends. Yet, we find ourselves rushing through our days with little time for face-to-face and heart-to-heart connections. Help us to seek You first as our ultimate Friend, and then reach out to others so we can have and be a close friend. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.


This post is part of my Encouraging Words Wednesday.

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Comments

  1. It is so easy to turn on a machine and look for companionship from an e-mail. We need to strive for real conversation and to make time for visiting our friends. I plan to call my Aunt Sharon in Virginia this week and just talk. Maybe we can arrange a lunch when she comes up to MD. She is a fan of Proverbs 31 too.
    Cheryl

  3. I loved your post over on Prov 31 today..reminds me it's okay to crave time with my girlfriends in the midst of investing time in the rest of my life! Today I'm meeting up with a friend to have breakfast and I want to put together a care package for my best friend who is finishing up college since we can't hang out 🙂

  4. Renee,
    Your devotional really hit home today.I truly miss seeing my friends face to face. I am making a point today to call one of them and see if we can get together. All of our lives are so busy, but we need to purposely carve out time for this. Thank you for the reminder…

  5. Good Morning Renee! Thank you for a beautiful post and your devotion was absolutely what I needed and went hand in hand with what has been weighing on my heart since last night! I was thinking about you yesterday when I heard you on KLove yesterday morning, and was delighted to see a post on my feed this morning! I tweeted your giveaway and mentioned you in it (@kmstreeter12509), I don't have a facebook but if I did it would totally be on there. I mentioned it in this blog post: http://bit.ly/frxRdL – as well as, e-mailed a couple of friends and family to share.

    Last night I was just thinking about how much I crave some time with a girl friend sitting, drinking coffee and catching up on life. It's one of my absolute favorite things to do, however, haven't done it in quite a while. But it's something I just need. So, I'll be calling up a friend today, one that God picked out just for me 6 years ago at a church conference and we have been best friends ever since. Have a blessed day Renee!

  6. Your devotional today is so meaningful to me and such a good reminder. I will share it via email. I also commit to reaching out to my friend Carolyn in person.

  7. I'm a single child so from an early age I began acknowledging the value of good friendships. Those precious friends have played the role of sisters and they are dear to my heart.
    When I left my country of origin that was one of the toughest things, leaving friends behind.
    Little did I know that 4 years later, my best friend also left the country and now we live minutes apart from each other. I always say that the Lord has spoiled me that much!

  8. What an insightful post! Of course Jesus had friends, I just never thought of it that way! I moved to another state 8 years ago and have slowly let my closest friendship dwindle away. I'm going to send her this post and call her today 🙂 Thanks so much for nudging me to make that connection. Have a blessed day!

  9. I don't do facebook but I will share the message contained in your devotional on P31 with a good friend who is so busy caring for a sick family member that she doesn't take time to connect with firends and I am going to urge her to take that time for us again. We need to share the hard times as well as the good times and just pray together if that is what she needs. Donna [email protected]

  10. Your devotional was challenging on many levels! I was challenged to email an old friend I seem to have lost contact with, hoping to meet up soon; emailed new friends I'm going to be getting together with over breakfast; and emailed colleagues I hope to become even better friends with.
    And yes, we can't get enough of meeting up with friends, as far as I'm concerned (http://wordsfromgodfortoday.blogspot.com/2011/04/friends.html)

    And it was also challenging to respond in so many electronic forms! It was quite an effort, but I managed to link on facebook, Twitter, the blog AND email! Phew! Now I have figured out how to put a link on facebook, I thought the idea of ArmyMomx2 of posting a link to all your devotionals was just brilliant!

  11. Renee,
    Your blog has been a wonderful blessing to me! Thank you for letting God use you to touch others!

    I will be calling 2 of my dear friends today to chat, something we have not done in awhile.

    much love,
    natalie

  12. Wow! This really spoke to me this morning. I am one who has given up on meeting together. Email is my main connection with my friends and that makes me sad. I do truly wish to have a confident heart and connect with my friends on a deeper level as well as make new friends. Thank you for sharing!

    Brandi

  13. Thank you for today's devotion. What a reality check that was for me. I find myself doing the same thing – repeatedly checking that email when in all probability it is just more junk mail or a quick "Hi..just checking in to say hey" email from one of long lost friends I have lost contact with. After reading your devotion, I knew that there was a small group of friends that I needed to share it with.

  14. Renee~
    You certainly nailed me on this. It is nice to hear I am not alone in my somewhat obsessive e mail checking, but yet, how sad it is to replace friends with it. Thanks for the challenge to meet up with someone in person. I look forward to getting that on my calendar!
    Blessings,
    Heather

  15. Thank you for this devotion. I too have suffered a lack of in my friendships. Seems all are busy with everyday stuff we cant seem to find the time for each other. Weve been reduced to a text, a forwarded funny email and nothing more. Lonely is the word that comes to mind. I recently reconnected with a high school friend and am hoping to refresh that once upon a time beautiful friendship. God Bless Melanie [email protected]

  16. Hi Renee
    This is my first time on your blog but I do see you on FB and comment every once in a while. Anyway as I read this in the a.m. it encourage me and I have an elderly mom that I take care of and sometimes that can make things busy. I have a few friends at church but they are married and are busy and I am single so it would be good to connect and get some new friendships going and spend time with others and encourage them as well. Thank you for the encouragement you gave us this a.m.
    I shared it on FB also on Twitter
    Carol

  17. Thanks for the ah-ha moment this morning. I think sometimes we get so wound up in our day to day lives that although we may feel something is missing, we can't pin point it. I realized I needed to get some face to face time with my girlfriends. I will be sending emails like crazy today! Can't wait to read your new book!

  18. This devotional spoke to my heart. I have already forwarded this message on to my closest pals. I try to send out handwritten cards to 3-4 ladies that God has laid on my heart that day, to encourage them. I get together with my one special friend at least two times a month. We live about an hour away from each other and that face to face contact makes a big difference in our friendship. Thank You for all you do.

  19. Thank you for sharing your heart in today's devotion. I have recently felt the void of female friendship in my life, so your words spoke to my heart. It is so important for us as Christian women to encourage and lift each other up. I posted the devotional on my Facebook page. I am going to encourage a dear friend of mine who is going through a lot in her life as a wife and mother. She has a child who has special physical needs and I know it is hard on her. She is a beautiful person and needs to be reminded of that, like we all do.
    Amanda

  20. Shared this on FB, blog, email.A friend I will encourage today is one I just met. She suffers from depression and is disabled, and alot of her "friends and family" have seemed to dissapear out of the picture since her disability. She isn't able to drive herself and isnt able to get out much, and so I want to invite her out for coffee/tea and a chance to get to know her more and love on her, and show her there are people that DO care about her and her life! 🙂