Sister-Friends. Soul-Mates. Super-Heroes.

Every body knows that most women wear many hats. Most of the time, we don't get paid for our many talents - but we could put many professionals to shame with our skills. Women are often highly adept at (but not limited to): negotiating, litigating, fixing, budgeting, advising, listening, counseling, preaching, teaching, delegating, solving, creating, and the list could go on an on. Women could literally run the world's best international business. In other words, women just rock.

Perhaps, the biggest job a woman can ever have is motherhood. Much honor and respect is due to women who have mothered  children - either biologically or through adoption (be it official or not). I am so glad that there is a special day given to all Mothers out there (I love you Momma)! But, I think there is another role that many women play with little or no recognition -and that is the role of Sister-Friend.

Sister-Friends have been the life-blood of many of us over the years. They've laughed with us. Traveled hours to see us. Sent us birthday gifts (maybe a little belated sometimes). They've invited us to their Mom's house. They've slept over (or vice-versa). They've lent clothes, cars, and cash. Planned vacays with us. Dated us when we were single. Shopped with us. Talked hours with us. And cried with us.

But Sister-Friends have done more than just mere human action. They have been us when we didn't know who we were. They've carried us when we've fallen. They've loved us when we weren't very likable. They've encouraged us through our fears. They've corrected us when we were wrong. They've put up with our mess, and helped us clean it up. They've protected us. They've held us down. They've held us over. They've held us up.

Sister-Friends are indeed the best part of us. As I've come to grow and mature, in my 29 years I have seen the measure of God's perfect love through the relationship I have with my very own Sister-Friends. We have saved each other from ourselves many times. We have interceded in prayer on each other's behalf. We have counseled. We have cried in grief together. We have rejoiced in celebration together. We have laid hands on each other and received healing. We have prayed for each other and watched blessings manifest. We have fasted with and for one another and watched God move mountains. We have been the best women we could possibly be, because our Sister-Friendship pushed it out of us.

So, even though your girlfriends just seem like normal women - pause for a minute and think about who they really are. They are Sister-Friends. Soul-Mates. Super-Heroes. All wrapped up in one amazing package. And God made them that way, so that you would know just how much you are loved.

I can't thank God enough for my Sister-Friends. Half of Shekinah Rocks is my dearest Sister-Friend. I am so glad that our relationship is not comprised of Starbucks and gossip. Instead, it is clothed in garments of salvation from our own vices, robed with righteous conversation, and adorned with jewels of wisdom and worship. My Sister-Friends are very much a manifestation of the Holy Trinity. They have unconditionally loved me. Sacrificed for me. And guided me along the way.

It is my earnest prayer that all you of reading this...every woman out there would encounter the beautiful relationship I've described. The simple fellowship of Sister-Friends brings refreshing for your soul, restoration for your spirit, and renewing for your mind. For this reason, SheRocks is having an intimate Sister-Friend Nite-In here in Nashville next weekend (9.21.2013). We pray that whoever is able to make it will be sharpened and strengthened in their faith; and, even if you are unable to attend, we pray that your Sister-Friendships would be ones that leave you better than they found you. Ones that bring you closer to God. Ones that you never want to live without.

Dedicated to the best Sister-Friends a girl could ever ask for: Sharon, Dossier, Lana, and Candy.

Dance Moms

Lifetime airs an amazingly popular show called Dance Moms. This show chronicles the life and times of 7 special little girls who are wonderfully talented gymnasts/ballet/dancers. However, it is kind of a task to focus on the talent of the girls when you are bobbing and weaving yourself through the dramatics of the Moms coupled with the antics of the dance teacher.

Upon watching this show, you see immediately the mind games, belittling, and scare tactics the teacher uses to effect the girls in certain ways. She threatens them. She beats them down. She questions their love for dance. She uses every low blow and trick in the book to mold the girls into the caliber dancer she wants them to be. And the Moms, with some fussing and fighting, actually put up with it. They buy into it. The buy her nonsense in exchange for her teachings.

Seems ridiculous doesn't it? But I wonder how many times our own Moms have been in a similar position. Not in taking us to some extra-curricular activity like basketball or dance. But in taking us to the one place we should feel safe...church. In the years since salvation, church has been engrained in me (and Sharon too) - but both of us have seen Pastor's who abuse their position of 'power' in berating the members of his congregation with the Word of God. Not to develop members in their relationships with God, but to force-feed religious tradition down their throats.

I wonder if those little girls on the show feel a special passion for their talent. Do they have a connection with dance out of desire/motivation or because they've been coerced into it? Do they long for more because they genuinely want it or because they've been trained in it for so long? Do they feel that their teacher cares about them as people or that she only cares about them when they are dancing up to par?

As we get older and grow in our walks with God, I hope that we will make sure to nurture the youth and young people around us. Nurture their relationships with God. Spend time WITH them in the Word of God. Instead of relying on our Pastors to teach them how. You never know when you will run into leaders in the church who believe in hell, fire, and brimstone methods similar to the dance teacher mentioned above. Let's be more than just Dance Moms. Let us be the Moms/Sisters/Aunts that show their kids how to dance.

Proverbs 22:6 (KJV)
"Train up a child in the way in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

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