How to Know When to Step Back from a Friendship

I’ve struggled with this for as far back as middle school days. From a young age, we are taught what good and bad friends look like, and when we get older, we start to learn what healthy and unhealthy intimate relationships consist of. What teachers/parents/mentors don’t tell us is that we deal with and put up with what we think we deserve. For years, I convinced myself my high school relationship was just fine and we were happy, when the rest of the world saw right through it (and eventually, so did we). The same happens with friendship.

A good example of the point I’m trying to make happened junior year of high school. My best friend of eleven years and I were drifting apart and I took it upon myself to mend things, to make our friendship what it had been before this bomb called high school hit our lives. I would call to ask if she wanted to hang out, invite her into my homecoming/prom group, ask to study with her, etc. But it was always a no. She had new friends, which was great. It wasn’t that she had made new friends besides me, it was that eventually she seemed to wonder why we stopped hanging out, ignoring the fact that I had tried to stay in touch with her. I decided during the semester I was done reaching out to her. If she wanted to hang out with me, she could come to me and ask. I was done being the only person putting in effort. Friendship is not a one-way street.

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21 Bible Verses to Empower Women of All Ages + A Valentine’s Day Message

Happy Valentine’s Day!! It feels like New Years was just yesterday but here we are, celebrating yet another holiday! We all know Valentine’s Day is generally about showing your affection towards another person. Great! Nothing wrong with that! But, sometimes (not only on Valentine’s Day) we forget to show compassion and love toward ourselves! V-Day isn’t just for couples or little kids with tiny paper cards; to me, it’s a reminder that life is full of love, kindness, and a lot of yummy chocolates.

As I spend quite a bit of time studying the Bible, highlighting and noting my favorite verses, and really try to connect with scripture, I run into some of my favorite verses that fill me to the brim with empowerment! Women of the Bible were amazing! They were strong, courageous, God-fearing, and smart beyond their years. It is a total misconception that women in the Bible were slaves to men; c’mon now, God made us all for different purposes, but incredibly equal and deserving of love all the same.