One of the things I like best about being a woman is that when we get together with friends, we share our hearts…and our calories! We enjoy sweet fellowship.  And we want more.  When the friendship is established, we not only grow together, we grow each other.

Oh how I have been blessed by older, and not so older, women who have opened their hearts into my life! I think of Peggy, Doris, Connie, Marquita, Vicki, my mother-in-law Maxine, and so many more. It is not the number of years that matters as much as the mix of maturity and wisdom from many different experiences.  When there is love, trust, and respect, our stories blend together making each one stronger than if we had never met.  It is also not always about ‘being together’, although that helps. It encourages me to think of friends I have made across the years. I am refreshed and renewed just by the memories.

Because of my friendships with women, I also love to dig into the lives of the women in the Bible. Have you ever wished you could talk to one of the women in the stories of the Bible?  How about Eve, Mary, the mother of Jesus, or Sarah?  They would have so much to tell, and an opportunity to meet with them face to face would probably change our lives. However these women can and will speak into our lives if we are open to it.

This is why I wrote The Women Speak, a chronological Bible study from the perspective of the women in the stories. I think they tell us some things we need to hear.  Women need each other and we can certainly learn a lot from these women.  I enjoy telling my stories, but now I invite you to hear their stories, with a little help from me.  For the next few weeks, my blog will be devoted to the stories of the women of the Bible.  God chose to include them for a reason, and we should allow them to speak into our lives.  I pray their stories resonate with you and as they did with me.

If you care to dig deeper, I will post a companion study guide that you can download from The Women Speak page on my home page.