Email 
Bookmark 
Print Friends and Facial Hair
by by Rhonda RheaFriendships are a must for women. If it weren't for friends, women would have to go to the ladies' room alone. And who would offer a truthful assessment about whether an outfit makes your hips look big?
I have a Mustache Pact with my closest friends. If any one of us goes into a coma, the others are bound by our pact to come and wax the mustache of the comatose friend. We women love to share those special moments.
I shared another special moment with friends recently. Several of us were hurrying to a surprise baby shower. We were hurrying because it's tough to surprise the guest of honor when she gets to the party before the guests.
We had pooled our resources to buy "the stroller to end all strollers." It was a collapsible stroller that would stroll the baby, carry the baby, swing the baby - maybe even change the baby - I'm not sure. I thought I heard someone say it sliced, diced and julienned. It was stroller-ama!
I told the others to run in while I got Super Stroller. I jerked it into position and started sprinting. Unfortunately, about mid-driveway, Stroller-zilla realized I hadn't fully locked it into place (emphasis on the aforementioned collapsible feature). It collapsed neatly into storage mode.
I probably don't need to give you a science lesson on momentum, but let me mention that I had a lot of it working for me. The fact that the Stroller-nator stopped on a dime didn't mean much to my little sprinting body, which was immediately airborne.
Maybe you don't know me personally. Granted, you probably wouldn't want me to play around with sub-atomic particles on a regular basis, but I don't want you to forever imagine me as a klutz. So maybe it would be better if you could please picture a graceful triple axle over the top of the stroller with sort of a one-point, back-end kind of landing. I finished it off with a lovely flat-on-the-back pose, staring up at the sky for effect. I'd give it a 6.9.
Thankfully, I had my wonderful friends there to rush over and make sure I was okay. Of course, they couldn't actually ask me if I was alright since those dear friends were laughing so hard they were about to damage some internal organs! One of them couldn't even stay. She made a beeline for the house. You know what can happen to laughing women. That's another thing we love to share: laughter.
This is a little reminder. If it's been awhile since you've made time for friends, take the time and share a laugh with a sister. We need each other. There are certain matters that only women understand. Two of those are "mauve" and "taupe". Another one of those things only women understand is, of course, other women.
Call up your special bud today. While you have her on the line, you might also want to take care of that coma/mustache thing.
Rhonda Rhea also writes for Today's Christian Woman, Christian Parenting Today, ParentLife and other great Christian publications. Her "Unfinished Business" column will be debuting in HomeLife Magazine January '01. She squeezes her writing and speaking ministries between chasing her five children and running to keep up with her husband, Richie Rhea, senior pastor of Hazelwood Baptist Church. She can be reached for speaking engagements via email at rrhea@juno.com.
