Sisterhood Series // Alison

Welcome to our Sisterhood Series! It's our birthday month, and we are celebrating by introducing you to some of the beautiful women in our community. We can't wait for you to meet them.

Hi Alison! Tell us a bit about who you are and where you're from! //

Hi! My name's Alison Fram and I'm from Northern Virginia. I was born and raised in the same suburban town that I still live in, with the option to drive one way and reach farmland and cows, or to drive another and reach one of the bigger cities.

I'm really close with my family and spend a lot of time with my mom and my sister's family, including my super fun niece and nephew. I'm in my 9th year working full-time in parish ministry, overseeing college, young adult, and young family ministries at my home parish. My work brings me a lot of joy!

What is your favorite way to pray? //

I love to just come away and sit peacefully before a tabernacle or in Eucharistic Adoration. It slows me down and gives me a chance to tell God about how I'm really feeling. I also love to take long walks with my dog Daisy and talk with Him as I go.

Why is community important to you? What has it felt like when you did not have good community, and how has it felt when you do? //

For years and years, I asked God to give me good friends. Eventually I started asking for friends with faith.

For a while, even when I was working in Church ministries, I was trying to do everything on my own. I felt that lack of true community each time I realized how I filtered my words based on who I was with.

God was so good and blessed me with an abundance of great Catholic friends in the past few years, starting in college and continuing through my late-20s. To know that I can pick up my phone and have multiple people and groups to share a prayer request with or ask for support from is so comforting and reassuring.

What about something about what a friend has done in your life that has radically changed your life? //

One of those friends that came into my life a few years ago is my friend Jen. We met through our parish on a mission trip, and for a while we bonded over our shared love for our dogs, being aunts, and early morning workouts (where most of our exercise came from laughing).

It was actually through following the Blessed is She Instagram account and reading a BIS blog post about working out that we first really started talking about God and our faith.

My friendship with Jen has absolutely and radically changed my life. We trust each other enough to share the real things—the hardships of trusting in God through awful circumstances, the big challenges of being Catholic in an imperfect and hurting world, and how we just want to make being a young Catholic who loves God "normal."

She shows up for me, whether it's to deliver coffee to me at work just because, or by coming to several funerals for my loved ones. Jen's friendship has taught me to be a better friend and a better person! When we sit together at Daily Mass or at Adoration, I still feel so, so grateful that God brought her into my life.

What is the biggest quality you look for in a close friend? //

Quality time is one of my top love languages, so it's important for me to be able to just spend time enjoying life with my closest friends. It doesn't need to be fancy or a big plan; just sitting with some coffee or ice cream and swapping stories will bring me a lot of joy.

I really appreciate friends who can have those deeper conversations, too, and for me that means trusting that they're really listening! It's not easy for me to open up, so it means a lot when someone gives me their time in that way.

What kind of friend do you hope to be? //

My friends set the bar high here, so I'll list some of my favorite qualities about them that I hope to be able to reciprocate.

I hope I'm the kind of friend that makes space in my day to show up for what's really important. I want to remember what they've told me so I can show them I care by remembering a special day, or sending a text before a big meeting, or bringing their intentions before the Lord in my prayer. I also hope I can understand that my friend might be really different from me, and it's ok for us not to react the same way to everything. We can be different people and still share this special relationship.

Tell us about a time a friend led you closer to Jesus. //

I have to tell you about my friend Kara, who I met when we were "friend-matched" to be prayer partners through BIS's The Well Mentorship Program.

Kara and I live about three hours apart and spent hours each week on the phone before we ever met in person. I know that Kara is one of those friends I prayed for. She always encourages me to bring everything to Jesus.

Even more than that, Kara has done two things to lead me closer to Jesus. The first is that she writes down all of my prayer intentions and really, really prays for them. Her prayers are powerful! And second, she offers to do spiritual things with me. If I mention that I think I need to revisit a part of our Well program, she says she'll do it with me! Or if I really feel the need to go on a retreat, she right away offers to sign up for one with me.

I can't even say how much it has helped me grow in my relationship with Jesus to know that my friend Kara is walking right beside me.

Now we want to hear about YOU! Answer one or any of the questions in the comments below.

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