Maybe my daughter will put this on her Xanga..

Little Tori came to her the other day: "I hurt my feelings!"
April: (knowing by now what she means) "Where?"
Little Tori: (pointing to her toe) "Right there."

I've hurt my feelings, too, only it's not right there.

Today's Sunday School lesson is "Cultivating Noble Friendships". Of course, I'm going to emphasize BEING a noble friend.

We as women smile a lot and feel hurt if people don't smile back at us. We have intuition and can perceive 'the person' and don't know how we can. We just can.

We are nurturers. Physically we are equipped to carry babies under our heart and nurse them at our breasts. Emotionally, our hearts are full and can stretch beyond full for one more person.

But there is the dark side of being crazy-glued. We have this uncanny ability to draw circles and leave people out. We keep them tight and we could even be disloyal to dear friends to keep a circle intact.

The feminine sex deserves the reputation for back-stabbing. Men can be nasty, but women are vicious in words and actions. True, we can make ourselves vulnerable in relationships but then we also have more to tell.

As a Christian woman, are you driving your friend to God or are you roping them in to yourself?

There are times to be silent, but there are times to speak up. Are you holding the hand of your friend while they are plunging over the cliff? Maybe they are considering abortion, suicide.. maybe their marriage is dissolving..

These are some random thoughts that I've gotten from some notes I've kept down through the years.