Recently I met a lady in my homeschool group. We talked for less than 30 minutes, but had mutual friends and interests and enjoyed each other’s company. Less than two weeks later I received an email invitation to her house for an end-of-the-school-year homeschool moms’ get-together. Admittedly, I was impressed: this lady understands how to pursue friendship.
Although I didn’t know many of the other ladies included in the invitation, I decided to go—to get out and meet new people. I spent most of the evening talking to one of our hostess’s neighbors, who didn’t know anyone else there. We’d never met (and may never again), but I enjoyed our conversation and the evening in general.
Some are natural hostesses like my new friend, who gathered close to twenty ladies at her home that evening; others panic at the thought of entertaining. But whether social butterflies or introverts, we’re all wired with the need to connect.
Let’s talk about creative ways to get-together with other ladies and actively pursue friendship!
Recipe Dinner Party
Invite a few friends to your house for dinner. Ask them to bring a favorite dish and enough copies of the recipe to share with each guest. Break out your seldom-used china; get fresh menu ideas; enjoy adult company and conversation.
Book Swap
Get together with a few friends at a book store with comfy chairs and hot beverages. Everyone brings a favorite book and shares why they like it: a grown-up version of the school book report. If one appeals to you, borrow it or purchase it off the shelf. You can also do this at a home or coffee shop, minus the easy shopping.
Book recommendations, girl time, warm mugs—what’s not to like?
Curriculum Review Night
This one’s for homeschool moms, who are always searching for good resources for the kids or for mom enrichment/encouragement. Bring a few of your best recommendations and lay them out to share. Browse each other’s picks; ask questions; take notes; find treasures.
Ladies’ Night Out
I’ll move mountains to attend a Ladies’ Night Out, or LNO. Sometimes they’re planned in advance; others are the result of a rough week—a last-minute plea for some girl time. They can be hosted in a home or held at a restaurant.
Although an LNO needs no theme, here are a couple of good ones:
- Chocolate (yes, I hosted a chocolate-themed LNO)
- Prayer mug exchange (bring a wrapped mug with your name written on a piece of paper inside of it; take home another wrapped mug; pray for the giver of the mug you chose whenever you use it)
How many of you attended an (in)RL event? Show of hands! Did you talk about getting together again soon? Have you?
Use these ideas as a springboard for future get-togethers and feel free to leave your own ideas in the comments!
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Loved this Dawn! Great tips – love the dinner party and book swap ideas, especially! So fun.
I realize that we’re all wired with the need to connect, but it can be hard when you don’t have much in common with other women you know. I try to do stuff with the women of my church, but they are either older (60+) or have children & grandchildren to talk about or both.
One idea is to have a Bible Study at your house. Invite women over & do a Beth Moore, or Lysa Terkerust study for a few weeks. You can all bring snacks & drink.
Any good ideas for a late 40s with no children & living out in the country?
Beth, your Bible study idea is great. We all have that need in common. 🙂
Love the idea of the mug exchange, might suggest/ try that one at the next girls night, 🙂
Kathy, I still have mugs from prayer mug exchanges years ago and I still think of and pray for the lady who brought it when I use them.
These are such great ideas! I’m not a natural born hostess. It takes a lot of courage to feel comfortable in the role. Fun ideas like these make the thought of it a little less squigy (that’s my made up word to describe the uncomfortable-ness inside my stomach at the thought of entertainment)
Lisa, I get a little squigy, too, so I totally understand. 😉 Yes, a theme helps!
Love the idea of a prayer mug. This would take discipline and I would love to have this, but everyone seems busy.
Something struck me in this….you mentioned that you enjoyed the neighbor but would likely not see her again. What if you had never received that email invite from a 30 minute conversation? Clearly you would not have a blog post! 😉 It does take intentionality to see someone again and perhaps we can all learn to be intentional beginning with our own communities and those we come in contact with. Call the neighbor?
My (in)RL group gets together every month for dinner now. It’s a lot of fun to have fellowship with these inspirational women I would have never met if it weren’t for (in)courage!!
Brittany, that’s awesome and it’s just what we hoped would happen after the (in)RL meetups!
I wish I had a group!
Praying for the fellowship I need. I love all the fun ideas!
I pray you find it too, Wanda. I can relate. I have a husband and two grown sons. I work in law enforcement. Needless-to-say, I don’t have a lot of girl time. I have always found making friends difficult. I am not a girly girl, though I do love to dress up for an evening out. I don’t wear a lot of make up, so the Mary Kay party I tried to attend with a friend from church wasn’t all that appealing. I am part of an online prayer group which I love dearly. I have come to realize that I am different, but that isn’t a bad thing. I am one of God’s precious daughters and He and my hubby and sons love me dearly, even if I wear combat boots, lol.
Love a Godly woman who wears combat boots. A warrior for Jesus, us and her family. Blessings to you.
so very creative and inspiring – thank you ! – great ideas!!
these are good ideas. I am new in my town (relatively new) and it’s so hard to make connections in the first place. It’s a small town and everyone already seems to have all the friends they want.
Great ideas – hope to use some of these myself.
Party idea: pinterest. Each lady could bring something they made or posted on Pinterest and why they chose it.
I love larger group get-togethers, like the ones mentioned here. One of my fave ways to be with friends,though, is to get together with two or three others once a month to trade stories about what has been going on in our lives. Often, these times are marked with a blend of funny stories, real soul-sharing, and even praying for one another. Such gatherings are precious times to me and do so much to nurture my heart……
And Words with Friends! Let’s not forget about that. 😉 So grateful for you!!
Oh, I really like the dinner recipe swap idea. That sounds like fun, you eat sme great food and you go home with a cookbook of ideas 🙂 🙂 Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather 🙂
This is a fabulous post with great ideas! Some of which I’ll be using.
Janelle