Girlfriends

Today, I had lunch with some of my girlfriends...
Girlfriends...
When I think about the word girlfriends, it reminds me of jr. high.
I was your typical awkward, emotional teenaged girl, trying to understand all the changes that were happening in my life. Not only was I growing up and really starting to like boys, but I was beginning to notice and feel the effects of catty girls.
I didn't have a lot of friends before then. I had one best friend, maybe two, and we hung out mostly at church or school. But it seemed like I had no friends in jr. high. They had all either gotten all into their looks and spent hours putting on makeup and talking about boys, or they found cooler, smarter, prettier friends to spend their time with, and I was forgotten about.
I remember one day in particular that my mom had taken my sister and I out for pizza when I just broke down. I started crying and asking my mom why I didn't have any friends. I just felt so lost. She told me it would just take time, that all the catty girls would eventually grow up, or that I would make new friends.
In my experience, the catty girls never grew up... Well, they did...but they never grew out of the catty stage. They just got older and did even more catty things, with other catty girls they met along the way. So, that left me with the option of new friends.
I met some amazing girls in high school, one of whom is still my best friend to this day. I keep in contact with a few others, but mostly, I have lost contact with a lot of the people I knew then. Sophomore year in high school, I remember looking back on jr. high and smiling at the sad memory of myself crying in the pizza place. If only I'd known back then how much better life was going to get in just a few years.
Of course, I still had plenty of run-ins with catty girls through high school...and beyond. But at least I had other girls on my side, girls who liked me for me, whether I wore makeup and cute clothes or not. Girls who saw me for who I really was...inside...and not just how I looked or who I liked.
College brought many other friends...some of which I still have and cherish so much (another best friend came from that time in my life as well). More changes took place and I started valuing my friendships so much more. I started to understand the importance of having women in my life, not just to hang out with, but to truly pour into my life, as I poured back into theirs.
And now, having been married for over two years and having more women in my life that I consider friends, I understand what my mom and so many others meant when they said they had "girlfriends". Because being married or seriously dating someone is fun, don't get me wrong. I love spending time with Josh...growing closer to him, learning more about his quirks, overcoming obstacles together, and just learning what it means to truly love someone. But I need females in my life, too. I need girlfriends. Not just for hanging out or going shopping, but to talk to, to connect with, to vent to, and to laugh with.
My girlfriends mean so much to me. Those women in my life who, whether we see each other all the time or not, we can get together and it's just like old times (thanks, Amy G., for putting it into words so perfectly). Those women who, even if we haven't known each other very long, I can talk to about important things in life, and we can learn so much from each other. Those women who, even if we aren't close in age, I have so much in common with, and we can share our journeys in life, no matter how different they have been.
I have never been popular, I am not super pretty, I don't wear the latest fashions, I don't have it all together, and yet, I don't care. None of those things matter to me, and they don't matter to my girlfriends, either. It's a beautiful thing, being able to be yourself and not worry about how long it's been since you've shaved your legs, or gotten a manicure, or bought a new pair of jeans. My girlfriends love me for who I am, because they love me the way Christ loves me. And that, is the very best kind of girlfriend to have.