On one of the forums recently one person bemoaned the fact that since she and her boyfriend have been together she has lost contact with friends. This is what can often happen when people become part of a couple or get married, unless we make an effort not to allow it too.
We need to work to prevent this and to ensure that we maintain friendships that were formed in earlier times. We cannot afford to be cavalier with friendships and disregard them easily. True friends are a great source of blessing, help and encouragement as we go through life – in the good times to share our joys, and in the hard times to share our sorrows, and to help us pick ourselves up and start again.
If you are the only married couple in your circle of friends, then it may not always be so easy to maintain the friendships as your interests may differ. You’re no longer on the lookout for ‘the one.’ But that doesn’t mean the friendship needs to disintegrate. You just might need to make a bit more effort to find and share those things you have in common. If you don’t have the money to go out, invite friends over for a game of cards, a meal a board game, anything that will maintain the contact. Single friends usually love to be invited over for a home cooked meal.
One of the worst things you can do is try and set single friends up with your guy’s mates. Women tend to be more prone to this matchmaking effect than guys do but I have heard of some guys that do it too.
If you have to start from scratch and build new friendships, is not always easy for some people. Obvious places to make new friends are social clubs, gyms and other sporting clubs, music groups, church, or special interest groups like writing or craft. As children are added you might find ways to make friends through playgroups and later school. But why not try and hang onto the friends you have as well.
Related blogs
Laziness- Part 5- With Friends and Relationships
What I Learned from my Husband
Marriage and Your Single Friends