Friendship Month: Celebrating Sisterhood

by LoRee Peery

Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. ~Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

I took notes for this post while sitting on my brand new deck listening to birds chirp, and a squirrel chatter at me from the oak tree. They’ll get used to me. I’m not an interloper, I’m a friend.

Next week, I’ll sit there with my two adult daughters for coffee. We‘ll chatter so much we won’t hear the creek burbling over its mini waterfall. I celebrate the fact we are friends as well as family.

Oh, what friends I’ve been blessed with over the years through the sisterhood of Bible study groups, and the sisterhood of writers. Romance Writers Sisterhood was the title of the very first blog I wrote after my first published novella. I’ve been asked how I can consider authors I’ve only met online as friends. Let me tell you, I love Delia, and countless other Christian writers I’ve yet to meet face to face.

We’re friends because of our interaction through published stories and email messages. We’ve prayed for one another. We have common bonds as lovers of Jesus and lovers of writing.

I imagine certain words create particular pictures in the minds of readers or listeners. Try it on to see what picture comes forth. Daughter. Friend. Sister. Mother. Grandmother. Grandchild. Sisterhood. Writer. Church goer.

Years ago, a friend and I created Lincoln Word Weavers, a Christian group that crossed all genres. I think it lasted a couple years. To my knowledge, no one published as a result of that critique group. However, we created deeper friendships.

I joined Romance Writers of America in 2002 and learned more about writing and publishing in six months than I had in the ten years prior. I realized immediately that I had a bond with anyone I came in contact with. The local chapter I'm part of now is Prairieland Romance Writers. We writers have a common passion (or compulsion), a synergy, that binds us together. From a local chapter to the wider American Christian Fiction Writers, I can still be amazed at the camaraderie and generosity of individuals. Whether those writers are unpublished or have a hundred best sellers under their belt, they share whatever they can for the common good.

The sisterhood of writers recognizes individual voice as one that cannot be duplicated. Romance writers tell the happily-ever-after with familiar themes; but always with unique qualities of that writer’s distinctive voice. Another sisterhood (and brotherhood) I cherish is the Pelican Book Group Publishing family.

Do you belong to a group where you have a like-minded bond? Sometimes, that group equals two. If you don’t share a sisterhood, pray about it, and seek out a friend to share National Friendship Month with.

May I make a last suggestion? “What a Friend We have in Jesus” was my mother’s favorite hymn. How about taking a few moments and sing it as a prayer to the best Friend any of us could ever have.

Inspirational romance author LoRee Peery strives to remember the Lord’s redeeming grace each day when she surveys her sense of place in Him and where He has placed her. She clings to I John 5:4 and prays her blended family and dozen grandchildren see that faith. Her Frivolities Series and other publications are available at Pelican Book Group and Amazon author page.

Touches of Time Amazon link


Leave a comment on every Chirp 'N Chatter Friendship post in September for a chance to win the fantastic virtual gift basket! (See the 09/01/2016 Gift Basket post.)