Women

I made a few good decisions as 19 year old who only had brothers and boyfriends, not many (any?) girlfriends. One of them was to choose to attend a women's college. I got a great undergrad education. I learned a lot about women - the kind I wanted to be, the kind I didn't want to be, the kind to choose for friends, the kind that didn't stay friends. I was a good friend to some and I was a pretty poor one to others.
But the seeds of what has become a deep and abiding appreciation for women was birthed in those turbulent years.
Within the last week I have laughed and cried as...
~ one woman friend had her children removed from her home and custody given to her estranged husband
~ I watched a red-haired woman friend push a grocery cart with her two blond toddlers in it - children doctors said she would never have
~ one woman friend handed me her 24 hour old baby to snuggle
~ one woman friend told me of the devastating medical diagnosis her child just received
~ one woman friend and I prayed for our young adult children
~ one woman friend hung up on me
~ I watched two women give finances sacrificially so that another can adopt 
~ I talked over daily life and deep personal issues with two long-time women friends
~ my carelessness caused one woman friend to tell me how she wished I'd change
~ I watched a group of mommas and babies play on the floor together, swapping diapers and snacks and mothering thoughts
~ I talked to a woman friend who lives cross-culturally and we wept over the challenges she faces
~ I watched a young woman have a difficult conversation with a friend - just because she knew it was the way to best love her
~ one woman volunteered to teach a Sunday School class this busy season just so a friend's child would feel safe
~ I texted with one woman friend whose child's behavior is unexplainable
~ I passed an envelope full of cash from one friend to another so the one receiving wouldn't know the sender
~ I felt connected to a lonely woman I met in the grocery store
~ I went to the movies with my daughter and she put her head on my shoulder

I am humbled and filled with joy....somehow. I love women.