I’ve been getting a notice from my hosting service that my blog domain name is up for renewal. That means I’ve been blogging for almost a year. Thank goodness it renews automatically, or it might be one of those things I put on my to-do list — and forget to do.

One of the first topics I wrote about last fall was starting a women’s book study. In our hectic, fast-paced society, it’s hard to find time to develop close friendships with other women. But we need to.

If we spend all our time teaching our kids, hauling them around to lessons, shopping for family meals, working around the house, and volunteer/ career activities, we’ll eventually burn out. We need to spend time with other women who are going through the same things we’re going through — and who can laugh and cry with us.

Online friendships are great — and I’m so thankful for the few I’ve been able to develop — but nothing beats hanging out with local friends. For one thing, my kids are still young enough that most of their close friends are the children of MY friends. I’m picky, and I won’t let them go home with a family I don’t know very well. There ‘s too much to risk. My children’s innocence means more to me than popularity.

Lisa Ann Cockrel wrote a great article called The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Real in this month’s TCW magazine. I haven’t read any of the Yada Yada books yet, but Lisa explains:

The chick-lit series authored by Neta Jackson focuses on 12 women from different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds who are thrown together at a citywide women’s conference in Chicago. Against all odds, this motley crew forms a bond that lasts beyond the weekend as its members continue to “know and be known to each other and to God”—the Hebrew meaning of the word yada.

Do you have any type of Yada group where you can get real with people? I know, personally, I’m very different online than I am in person. I’m not willing to say anything online that I wouldn’t mind being read by hundreds of people — and there are some things we share in our small group that only stay within the walls of the room.

In two weeks, our preschool moms’ group starts up again. I can’t wait! We meet once a week in a church, which provides FREE childcare. For most of us, that’s the main reason we can go. I used to be in a church that had a large number of homeschooling families. Our weekday morning women’s ministry provided a special room for homeschooling kids to meet and do their schoolwork, overseen by a paid college student.

Oh … what a refreshing relief it was for us moms to get together. Plus, it was fun for the kids. After a couple hours of schoolwork, they got to go outside and run around on the playground together. My son always accomplished so much more on those days — because kids who didn’t finish their assigned work (assigned by their moms) didn’t get to play!! It worked!

If you’re not already part of a book club, fellowship group, or looseknit group of friends who get together and hang out, this article includes eight tips from author Neta Jackson on how to start your own Yada Yada group. If you’ve recently moved, it might be up to you to reach out and start your own.

Isaiah 43:19 says, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” It’s almost fall, the perfect season to start!