Girls’ Club by Sarah, Sally, & Joy Clarkson

“We are a distracted society living in a largely virtual world. We operate our daily lives increasingly in the presence of the internet, our screens drawing our attention and experiences away from the here and now into an anonymous, unresting, unrooted space. Social media provides connection of a kind, but it is not replacement for the gift of present, vulnerable, face-to-face friendship.”- Sarah Clarkson, Girls’ Club 

This quote sums up a major concern I have with our modern world. Is it just me, or does it seem that with all of our modern technology and busyness that it is becoming more and more difficult to make and keep genuine friends? 

I deeply value friendship and want to be a good friend and have wonderful friends, because I truly think that friendship is one of God’s greatest gifts. In this past year, I have been through a serious illness and hospitalization and a cross-country move, neither or which I could’ve handled well without the help of some wonderful, loving friends. I reflected upon the value of friendship in this post. 

This desire to understand friendship better led me to read a new book, Girls’ Club, Cultivating Lasting Friendship in a Lonely World, by my favorite author Sally Clarkson and her two daughters, Sarah and Joy. I’ve deeply enjoyed this book and learned so much! And I think that you will love it, too.   

“I am of the opinion that in friendship, as in romance, even the most magical of connections will wither and fade away without intentional cultivation.” -Joy Clarkson, Girls’ Club 

Girls’ Club covers real-life issues such as loneliness, being a faithful and hospitable friend, and owning the responsibility of being an initiating friend. But probably my favorite part of the book was chapter 5 called “Saturday Mornings: The Girls’ Club Prototype.” In this chapter, Sally describes how she and her daughters formed a Girls’ Club that did something special together every Saturday morning. It was during these meetings that a deep friendship between the three of them was forged, and they credit their current closeness to the special memories that they made during those years. 

I was so inspired by this idea of forming a Girls’ Club  that my girls and I made our own club using some of the ideas shared in this book. We make a point of going to their favorite coffee shop once a week (or as often as our schedule permits), and we talk about life and discuss one chapter from a book that we’re reading called Beautiful Girlhood (I’ll write about that book soon; it’s wonderful!). We have really come to look forward to these club meetings.  And I am seeing our relationships grow as true friends, and I am so thankful for this. 

And sometimes we are even fortunate enough for Grandma Denise to join us, too. 

So, please check out Girls’ Club! Like me,  you’ll learn or be reminded of how wonderful and important the gift of friendship is, even today in our over-connected, yet disconnected world.