My love language is hands down words of affirmation. I often feel a prompting to tell a friend how much she means to me, what makes her beautiful, or ways I appreciate her. Sending encouraging cards, emails, or text messages to my friends comes naturally to me. And it means so much when friends speak […]
My friend Malinda is a wife, home-schooling mother, and writer who strives for authentic faith, intentional living and thriving relationships in all she does. She writes about friendship, and my favorite post that strikes a chord in my heart is Deep Friendships Are Hard. Malinda quit her day job a year ago, and her best […]
Do you ever feel like there are seasons where you do more of the giving in your friendships? When we give so much of ourselves to our friendships, we are bound to get our feelings hurt, and it’s not always easy to see the good in our friends. It’s not easy, but it’s always a choice. I’ve been hurt […]
I was on a trip with Courtney and Destiny one summer, staying at Courtney’s family’s vacation home in Celebration, Florida–Second Star. We would meet Megan the next day. We had just finished our second year of teaching together on the same special education team. Courtney, Destiny and I stayed up late, sharing our stories, and getting […]
I’ll never forget our first dinner together. It was the first time we made plans outside of school. Not only did I discover a new gluten-free pizza place–I found a group of life-long friends. I called my mom on the way home and said, “I can’t believe this is my new team! We talked for hours […]
Crystal Stine is a straight up community builder. She loves connecting people through fitness, faith, and friendship–online and offline. She’s been overseeing Write 31 Days for the last several years, and has brought together thousands of bloggers, encouraging us and leading the way. I met Crystal last year at a conference, and she is one […]
True friendship is a sacred, important thing, and it happens when we drop down into that deeper level of who we are, when we cross over into the broken, fragile parts of ourselves. We have to give something up in order to get friendship like that: our need to be perceived as perfect, our ability […]
My friend Joy has a gift with words. She encourages women to embrace their stories and live out their purpose with passion through writing, coaching, and speaking. She is a beautiful example of grace, transparency, and creativity. I asked her what authentic friendship means to her: To me, authentic friendship is both anchor and sail. […]
I was getting ready for brunch with friends one Saturday morning. I had been looking forward to getting together with this group of friends for weeks. We are hardly all together in the same room anymore, and it was the one thing I couldn’t wait for! Adam forgot that I needed the car, and he […]
I met Lottie online a couple years ago, and then in real life at a conference last year. We were in a blogging mastermind group together–so fun! Lottie is a single girl in her mid-twenties who shares her journey of navigating adulthood and making a difference with her story of health and healing. I’ve always […]
Hi, I’m Ali. On this blog, I write about my journey of living a full life with food allergies, overcoming the comparison trap, and cultivating authenticity. Enter your email to get free stuff and future updates.
