I met another member of the riding sisterhood this week. Hallelujah! I was in a jewelry store and mentioned that my friend (who works at the local Harley dealership) referred me to their store. She knew my friend and said that she bought her bike from the dealership.

“You ride? That’s great because I’m always looking for other women to ride with!” Her sentiments were the same… we exchanged phone numbers… looking forward to riding with her this summer!

I don’t have many girlfriends that ride so it’s so exciting to meet another woman that has her own bike and knows the adventure of the road!

We all need girlfriends that will reflect the good in us and will call out the bad in us. They will encourage us to laugh and to cry… they know all our flaws and like us anyway. They aren’t jealous of our success but rejoice in it with us!

I like to shop… I’m not a shop-aholic but shopping with a true friend is like walking a fine line between hearing the truth and hearing what we want to hear.

A true friend is one that will tell you the God’s honest truth when you try on an outfit… she’ll either say “That is so hot! Your husband won’t be able to keep his hands off you” or she’ll shake her head and say “Um… no… your butt looks big in that”.

Real friends will be there for us when we get married, build a house, send a husband overseas, get that promotion, bury a child, win the state championship, jump out of an airplane, get divorced, or even buy our first Harley.

I realized this weekend that I don’t have enough girlfriends that I can call “sisters”. Sure… I have friends but none that really know me transparently… sincerely… intimately…

Being known this way is scary!! It means I’m vulnerable… exposed… defenseless to their opinions of me…

However, I envy women who have bonds with other women whose sisterhood has weathered the storms of their lives. Whatever didn’t conquer them, only made them stronger. They truly love each other as “sisters” only can. I want that…

Just as my first question to my new riding friend was “You ride?”, what should I be saying to my girlfriends that will open the door to a deeper sisterhood?

• “How ARE you?”
• “Tell me about your dreams… your struggles…”
• “How can I be a better friend to you?”
• “I’m so excited to share this with you… can we have coffee?”

Are you missing out on deeper “sisterhood” relationships because it’s easier to live on the surface where there are no expectations? Do you feel safer, more protected, by not letting anyone into the deeper meaning of you? Is there a secret that you want to share but you’re afraid to tell because of what a friend may think of you?

Believe me… there are countless other women that feel the exact same way! I love this quote by Thomas Jefferson – “A candle loses nothing when it lights another candle.” This week, open yourself up to vulnerability as you may find that your “surface friends” are feeling the same thing. You can be the first to reach out and light her candle… and understanding that you have the same insecurity in common, you can start a deeper relationship called sisterhood!