We’re going to play an alphabet game today. 

Think of the women around you. 

Start with someone whose name starts with the letter A, B or C and then keep going. 

Do you have your list started? 

Mine has been going for a while so let’s keep this part going as we move along. 

This is a circle of women who are around you now or who have been around you in your life. 

Are the things they have brought to you starting to come, as well? 

Perhaps it was a moment that connected you to them with a smile across a room or walking to a bus stop. 

It could be when you learned your names were similar or exactly the same. 

Maybe it was when you walked the halls of a school and you needed to remember what the combination of that lock was together. 

Was it the time of raising a child who needed help on a playground or on a sports team? 

Think about why and when these women and their names are coming to you. 

A circle of women has been around me for decades.

A circle of women has been around me for decades for a reason, a season or a lifetime. 

That may be another bit that you have heard, as well. 

There is a poem about this that has brought me new awareness and clarity recently.

Each of these parts of life are important and delightful when they are with us. 

It is when I was a step away from each part that I was able to see something new. 

That’s the way it goes and perhaps you can see it with me. 

There are reasons to be with a circle of women for reason.

There are reasons to be with a circle of women for a reason. 

For me, there was a time that I was looking for others who were wanting to create resources for children with disabilities. 

To create new support for families in this realm and to attend meetings with policy makers as funding was requested. 

A few then a bunch of people gathered together to create this. 

Then our children grew up or lives changed in ways that became unimaginable. 

That reason changed and our gatherings did, as well. 

A circle of women can stay powerful and connected in a different way.

The one I knew still does. 

This has led to the next piece of friends for a season. 

Can this be similar to how the first group worked for me? 

Yes, and yet different. 

Do you still have your alphabet list going?  

This is where I have a long list of women who are in a season with me. 

A circle of women can be near and dear for a season and always on my list of ones that I can tell you about. 

These women are the ones who’ve had a positive impact on me. 

They’ve taught me, changed me for good, helped me learn how to be still and then run like the wind. 

I hold these women in my circle.

I hold these women in my circle. 

There are five who will always be gently and tenderly given space in my soul for what they gave to our Tall One. 

These women did what others did not think was possible in a space that some said was not doable. 

Bravo to you! May your blessings be counted into eternity. 

My counting fingers are wiggling right now with who they are. 

Joy, peace and hope are alive!

Do you have a circle of women like this that make you dance with who they are? 

Have you gotten through more of the alphabet with your list? 

Keep going, my friends. 

They do exist. 

You may have noticed a circle of women that I placed today. 

Can I tell you that I love this piece from Guatemala? 

The circle never ends. 

Women of all types are here and are right next to each other. 

Every one of them is included, and a part of the circle.

There are no edges for someone to slip out. 

It captured my heart from the first moment and helped me become a little less unraveled.

This time of year is about right to be more mindful, take a breath and let the next step come into play. 

Being playful is the best place to be when looking at the women who have been here for a lifetime. 

Who can that be, anyway? 

People in my family, friends since childhood, women I’ve worked with since the beginning of time. 

I do have all of them. 

They have been wonderful. 

Wondering what a circle of women can mean today.

This is when I get my thinking skills going along with wondering what a circle of women can mean for me today, as I want to become more than I thought possible. 

The Tall One, who always had grand people around him, taught me that there is more to everything than what I can see. 

Here is where my alphabet game is leading me.  

I will continue to pay attention, be aware and be mindful of the circle of women around me. 

It is okay that the reason and season changes with life.

Pausing to know what I get to do next is joyful, powerful and sometimes perplexing. 

Sounds like life.  

Join me in looking for who the circle can include next!