4.23.2013

Build 'em up: Friendships

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Today is another Build 'Em Up link-up! The topic for today is friendships. Immediately when I think of friendships I remember sitting in a circle in my Brownie troop & singing that friendship song. "Make new friends, but keep the old...." Please tell me I'm not the only one who now has that stuck in my head?!

Friendships change so much with every new stage of life. I am lucky to still keep in touch with so many high school & college friends. We may not talk on the phone all that often, but when we do, we always pick up right where we left off.  

When Ben & I moved to Nashville as newlyweds, we knew no one. I began teaching 1st grade and was so lucky to work with a great group of girls. They quickly became some of my best friends. 

I decided to quit teaching & stay at home when Grayson was 9 months old. I had the entire summer to hang out with my teacher friends. Then, all of a sudden, they went back to the classroom & I had to figure out how to meet other friends.  I needed people in my life that were in the same stage as me.

 

One of the first things I did was find a playgroup. I had heard about Meetup & that is what I used. I found quite a few playgroups in my area & joined one. I was a member for about a year & met so many other moms with kids around Grayson's age. I'm still friends with quite a few! It was so much because there were activities Grayson & I could pick and choose from each week. It was a great way to meet moms & kids AND learn about fun places around town!

 
Another way I met some awesome friends is joining MOPS. MOPS has been such a blessing in my life! It's a Christian organization for mamas that have young children & they have them nationwide. You can go on the MOPS website & look up groups in your area. My group just happens to meet at our church & it has been such an awesome way to meet other people in our church.  The friends I have made through MOPS are friends that I can share my heart with & they won't judge me. They hear the good, bad, & ugly of motherhood and they love me through it. I could go on & on--but MOPS is a seriously awesome organization! Grayson also loves it because he gets to spend 2 hours with some of his favorite kids! 

One thing I have learned since having kids is that you can definitely keep all of your friends, but you also need to find friends that can relate to you.  How do you find friends as a mom??

Make sure you check out Courtney, Erin, Kelly, & Jennifer's blogs today!

6 comments:

Stephanie said...

When we moved to Texas, I joined both Meetup and MOPS to help meet people and gain some new friendships since I don't know anyone here. It's been great so far!

Courtney DeFeo at Lil Light O' Mine said...

i have never done MOPS but heard such great things about it. i had a few friends with babies the same age and we just did life together before i moved. now, i'm meeting moms through my girls classes and enjoying those relationships so much. and the blog world of course! thanks for linking up.

Natasha said...

I was part of a MOPS group in Edmonton (where we lived before we moved a year ago) and I found that it was pretty cliquey because a lot of the women went to the church where it was held. I think MOPS can be great and I know that every single MOPS group is different, but it was rather frustrating for me and I just felt more isolated.

A Wedding Story said...

I just love MOPS friends!!

Jennifer said...

Love this! I need to find a MOPS group now that we've moved, we didn't have one in our old town. Thanks for sharing!

Stephanie said...

Would love to have a MOPS or MEETUPS group in my area. Having friends in your "season" of life is so important, but so hard to find. I am living in a small town that I have only been in for the past 4 years. Neither my husband or I are from here, which makes it very difficult!