I loved this, Lisa. I am sitting on a plane getting ready to head home after speaking at a retreat where I was the youngest person in attendance. I cannot tell you how insecure I felt when I realized I would be speaking over the course of three days to a group of women who were all older than me ... I joked how awkward it was to be the designated speaker when I clearly had the least wisdom in the room. But not one person made me feel dumb 💛 If anything, the older women in the room were *so* encouraging, telling me over and over again how much they appreciated what I shared. I’m much more comfortable in the “big sister” role than the little sister role, but I’m learning I have something to offer and gain in each of those positions.
“We need to extend the invitation because God has invited us in, not because we will feel really cool if a bunch of people want to talk to us. We need to invite because we need to practice welcoming others…” ❤️
Thank you so much for writing about this! I’m 27 and my husband and I recently moved away from a place we lived for 5 years while he was going to school. We struggled with building friendships in this place due to a combination of living there during the pandemic and people frequently moving away (college town). I also had this idea that my friends had to be my age. I couldn’t have been more wrong ☺️ In the last couple of years, I started leaning into friendships with women twice my age! I would say these friendships started because I had asked them for advice on different occasions - they were both music teachers like me. I realized that we had so much in common and I loved spending time with them. When I was finally able to let go of the notion that my friends have to be my own age, these women became some of my best friends. Advice asking started going both ways and I truly believe that our friendship meant just as much to them as it did to me.
As I’m settling into a new, more long-term community, I’m looking forward to the friendships I will build with women both older and younger than me!
I loved this, Lisa. I am sitting on a plane getting ready to head home after speaking at a retreat where I was the youngest person in attendance. I cannot tell you how insecure I felt when I realized I would be speaking over the course of three days to a group of women who were all older than me ... I joked how awkward it was to be the designated speaker when I clearly had the least wisdom in the room. But not one person made me feel dumb 💛 If anything, the older women in the room were *so* encouraging, telling me over and over again how much they appreciated what I shared. I’m much more comfortable in the “big sister” role than the little sister role, but I’m learning I have something to offer and gain in each of those positions.
“We need to extend the invitation because God has invited us in, not because we will feel really cool if a bunch of people want to talk to us. We need to invite because we need to practice welcoming others…” ❤️
Thank you so much for writing about this! I’m 27 and my husband and I recently moved away from a place we lived for 5 years while he was going to school. We struggled with building friendships in this place due to a combination of living there during the pandemic and people frequently moving away (college town). I also had this idea that my friends had to be my age. I couldn’t have been more wrong ☺️ In the last couple of years, I started leaning into friendships with women twice my age! I would say these friendships started because I had asked them for advice on different occasions - they were both music teachers like me. I realized that we had so much in common and I loved spending time with them. When I was finally able to let go of the notion that my friends have to be my own age, these women became some of my best friends. Advice asking started going both ways and I truly believe that our friendship meant just as much to them as it did to me.
As I’m settling into a new, more long-term community, I’m looking forward to the friendships I will build with women both older and younger than me!