504: The Myth of the ‘Perfect Friendship’

Wire Talk with Karen Stubbs

Karen Stubbs

Christianity, Motherhood, Parenting, Parenting Advice, Religion & Spirituality, Kids & Family, Christian Parent, Faith

4.9 • 936 Ratings

🗓️ 10 February 2026

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Friendships in motherhood are rarely as simple as we expect them to be. Today Karen and Emily are continuing our friendship conversation by tackling comparison, conflict, cliques, and what to do when a friendship changes. They answer listeners’ questions about unmet expectations and learning when to lean in and when to let go. If friendship feels confusing, discouraging, or just plain messy right now, we hope this episode encourages you!

Episode Recap:

What is happening over on Wire Talk+? (4:01)
Where do your friendship expectations come from? (10:30)
How have your healthy friendships naturally changed over time? (12:56)
Ask God for what you need - even in your friendships (14:52)
Friendship doesn’t always look exactly like what we have imagined (18:02)
How do we handle conflict and tension in friendship? (18:30)
You can create space without ghosting people (21:37)
How do I make friends when everywhere around me is full of cliques? (22:00)
My friend continually brings up a topic of conversation that irritates me (25:25)

Scripture: Proverbs 17:17 (EST) “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”

Discussion Questions:

How has comparison (especially through social media) shaped your expectations of friendship?
Are there friendships in your life where proximity (distance, schedules, seasons of life) has changed the relationship?
When conflict or tension shows up, do you tend to address it or pull away? Why?
What kind of friend do you have the capacity to be right now? What kind of friendship do you realistically need in this season?
Is there one practical step you could take this month to strengthen a current friendship or pursue a new one?

Resources:

Listen to the rest of our conversation on WT+: boaw.mom/insider
Join our BOAW Moms Facebook group
Check out our BRAND NEW Bible study: How To Teach Your Kids the Bible

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to Wire Talk. Today we're going to be continuing our conversation on friendship.
0:05.2	And here's the deal. Not every friendship is a forever lasting friendship, but sometimes that's
0:11.5	hard to handle. Today we're going to talk about conflict with friends, comparison, and also
0:18.7	how to deal with a friendship that doesn't last for the duration and what to do
0:23.7	with that. Let's get going.
0:29.1	Hey everybody and welcome to Wire Talk. We're so glad you're here with us today. Last week we talked
0:34.4	about friendships and we're going to continue the conversation about how what we think friendships look like in motherhood and what sometimes the reality of friendships
0:42.2	are in motherhood, the good, bad, and all the stuff in between. All the stuff in between.
0:46.7	All the stuff in between. All of it. All of it. But before we jump into friendships,
0:51.2	let's just talk about our cute pink sweaters. Kitty's, yes. Emily said, are you going to wear something for Valentine's Day? And I'm like, oh, yes, I will. Yes. I may have worn this last year. So, y'all, if I did repeat the sweater. That's okay. Don't have all the clothes in the world for these podcasts. Do you know what movie that's from?
1:12.4	No. She goes, you're an outfit repeater. She goes, well, you're an outfit remember, which is worse. It's from mean girls.
1:18.1	Mean girls. I was going to say, wow, that's really mean.
1:20.7	Yeah, it's mean girls. Talking about friendship, mean girls.
1:23.0	Oh, wow. But we look so good with the background and the pink. We are peppy and chirpy and happy today.
1:26.3	That's right. I know. How are you doing, Emily? If I'm being honest, Mom, I slept really good last night, but I slept weird in my neck. I feel like an owl, like, or not an owl. I feel like, yes, hello, Mom. A robot. My neck is really tight and it hurts really bad. In between podcasts, she's got the heating pad on her neck and she's like laying there like, ugh. But it's okay, you know. Well, thank you for showing up, Emily, and being a professional and just being here with us. Thanks. I, you know, when people look at me, they think professional.
1:29.7	That's what they think of.
2:01.8	I bet they do.
2:03.1	No.
2:04.0	I do.
2:04.5	Oh, gosh.
2:05.1	But anyways, I am enjoying this series about friendship because friendships are fun.
2:06.2	Yeah.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Karen Stubbs, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Karen Stubbs and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.