i never post here but i read this and i want to remember it.
But if I want my daughter to know how to be a good friend, I need to be the one to show her. I
need to treat my friends with respect, with kindness, with the benefit
of the doubt. I need to rise above my old and deep-set habit of passive
aggressive polite. I need to model friendship on purpose.
It starts with us, moms. It starts with a deep breath. It starts with
responding when you don’t want to. It starts with praying over our
words before pressing ‘send’. It starts with simple honesty when it would be easier to stay silent.
It starts with asking the hard questions and being willing to answer
them ourselves. It starts in our kitchens, in our living rooms, on our
phones and with our coffee pots. It starts in our own lives and it
starts in our own hearts.
I’m putting out a call to be brave. To embrace the sweetness and the
depth of real friendship. To hold ourselves to a higher standard than
silence. To become the kind of friend we pray our daughters have. This
kind of friendship isn’t easy. It’s hard and messy and can come with
real heartache. But it can come with richness and love and someone to
really do life with, too, and it is so worth it.
-Girl with a blog
"We don't learn to love each other well in the easy moments. Anyone is good compay at a cocktail party. But love is born when we misunderstand one another and make it right, when we cry in the kitchen, when we show up uninvited with magazines and granola bars, in an effort to say, I love you"
-Shauna Niequist
