when talking about the marriage bed

{image credit}I have this group of friends. They are some of the craziest, most amazing women I have ever met via the interwebs (although we have now all met in person). They are sassy and adventurous; they are all in differing places in life, but they all love Jesus. And there’s something else special about them.Have you ever been in a conversation with (other) women about sex? Is it just me, or is the tone more often than not a total downer? I feel like never once had I overheard or been part of a conversation like this without a general consensus being alluded to: us women could do without it. It’s almost as though we pretend to be above all that. Our silly husbands still have carnal desires, but us wives? We are further evolved. Jabs and underhanded comments are made about frequency and husbands’ “needs”. It is not a pretty picture and it is not edifying.But these women I was telling you about? They are the fresh wind of the Holy Spirit, even on this topic. Weird, you might think, that friends would be vulnerable about this with each other, but I don’t really think that it is. If I’m guilty of holding flippant conversations joking about the marriage bed, why shouldn’t I be regularly talking about it with those who would be encouraging and honest instead of bitter and stereotype perpetuating?And so we do. These women, we encourage each other. We talk about how life gets in the way, about the hurdles (O, man. Having babies: If ever married sex had a foe it were you. #irony) and yea, we talk about our strategies to avoid the hurdles. We brag. You hear that? We brag when things are going well. We also blush a lot. But it is so worth it.No, this isn’t the only thing we talk about (wouldn’t that be a weird friendship?) but it is an open conversation and I am so thankful for their perspective. They are the sisters I never had and their refreshing attitude is something I would wish for all women if not to have for themselves (yet), to have a sister friend who can speak it to them.