there’s something about friendship built during the college days

She and I became great friends in college. I can’t remember exactly how we met (Julia, can you? Was it that Speech class?), but I am pretty certain one of the first getting-to-know-you conversations took place in her car. I remember that I just really liked her from the very get go. She is super sweet, but the girl can pack a punch (figuratively speaking). She’s got some spunk in her! I could always count on her to get “worked up” whenever I told her how someone had done me wrong. She may have even uttered the words, “Girl will make me lose my witness” when faced with an encounter of someone who had hurt my feelings. It’s a good feeling to know you’ve got friends like her in your corner.

Maybe we both have some spunk in us…

 

She went with me to adopt Trinity. She actually encouraged me to do it. I am really grateful to her for pushing me because I can’t imagine not having my little Trin. A year later when Julia and I moved in together she and Trinity formed a special bond though Trinity would never admit it. Trinity would curl up in Julia’s lap and pass out, but the second I turned my key in the front door she would spring up and act as if she had been waiting by the door for hours. Julia and I used to joke about it. 

Julia, Beth, and I lived together for two years and it was fantastic! It was so wonderful to come HOME to friends who felt more like family. Julia was a wonderful roomie. She was patient, honest, kind. She cared for me when I was sick and kept me company when I was lonely. We had so much fun together and I will always look fondly on that and part of me will always miss that time in our lives.

Julia brought the party to my bachelorette weekend. Allow these pictures to do the talking...

She and her mother came to the bridal shower I had in Tampa. I had no idea they were coming and I cried when they walked through the door.

 We each were bridesmaids for the other. 

One thing I will never forget about Julia is that she was always Andrew’s biggest fan from the very beginning. Not that my other great friends weren’t, but they were a bit more careful in giving their all out approval in light of the things I had been through. But Julia loved him for me right away.

Julia and I only get to see each other about once a year. I am hoping that will get to change soon as we will be moving closer. I know that I don’t tell her enough how much I miss her and how much I value her friendship!

This week was Julia’s birthday week. I hope you felt very loved and celebrated dear friend! I love you. Happy Birthday!

happy birthday, friend!

I met Rachel through Andrew. Her husband, Brian, and Andrew went to law school together. She and Brian were an answer to prayer! I had been praying Andrew would find good friends while he was in law school because, hey, law school is rough! Andrew being a One L was tough enough, but I ended up in the hospital during his first semester. I was 4 hours away and Andrew had a hard time because he couldn’t be with me. Rachel and Brian invited him into their home on a regular basis and introduced him to one of the dearest church families EVER! They all really helped him through and made what could have been a really difficult time a pleasant one. 

I remember the very first time I met Rachel. It was actually over the phone. I was laying in a hospital bed. Andrew called me while he was at their house and I ended up talking to her, too. I instantly liked her. I thanked her for feeding him dinner every now and then, and I let her know how much she and Brian meant to me though we’d never met. 

The first time we met face to face we abandoned the boys and were in the car on the way to the mall within the first 10 minutes. I knew we’d be good friends. 

She is a wonderful friend. She threw me an amazing bachelorette weekend and bridal shower. She and Brian were both in our wedding. Every year for the last 4 years they have hosted us for an entire week while Andrew goes to a conference in the city they live in, which is always so much fun and so very generous and hospitable of them! They have 2 little boys who are ADORABLE and we have grown to love them quite a bit and enjoy spending time with them just as much as their parents. 

Rachel is the type of gal who has never met a stranger. She instantly makes you feel at ease and welcome. She is the most positive person I know. I honestly have a hard time recalling her complain about anything. I have a lot to learn from her in the attitude and use of speech department. She is stylish and classy. She can do it all -- amazing mama, great wife, good friend, successful business woman, decorator extraordinaire, and she can cook and sew to boot! I love spending time with her and I am so glad God blessed me with her for a friend.

 Happy Birthday, sweet friend! Love you!

oh, to be two

A couple of years ago I met the most precious baby girl in the world. The picture above was snapped as I met and held her for the first time. Ever since she has completely stolen hearts. Mine included.

When Cutie Pie was just 4 months old it was clear that she had a big personality. As she has grown she has made me laugh and marvel because there is nothing sweeter, more fun, and more precious than watching a baby/toddler experience the world around them.

I love her SO much! She is the cutest, funniest thing on the planet and I am so glad I am her aunt. She is one smart cookie. She is polite and sweet, too. I can never sneeze without hearing “Bless you, Sha Sha!” quickly after or say “ouch!” or “oooh!” without her asking, “You okay, Sha Sha?”

She is a girl after my own heart, even at just 2 years old. She loves trying on my shoes and always notices the shoes on everyone’s feet. She really loves books too. I am seeing shoe shopping dates and trips to Barnes and Noble in our future together.

Her mama threw her an intimate and sweet birthday party last weekend. She did a fabulous job decorating and planning. It was absolutely perfect for a 2 year-old party.

 

Cutie Pie really enjoyed it when everyone in the room began singing to her. She kept looking around at all of us with the sweetest expression on her face.

Then came the end of the song and, as most two year olds know, it was cause for much elation and celebration. {I can barely stand it. She totally melts my heart. Look at her and just try to tell me that she isn’t the cutest thing ever!}

And then it was time to blow out the candles. Which was done with a bit of help.

Is it normal for me to think that every single thing she does is completely adorable?

Uuuuummm, could those pants or those curls be any cuter!?

Cutie Pie,  I am so glad the last two years has been filled with play time, skype dates, approximately 15,000 photos, stories about you, and watching you grow. Happy Birthday, my sweet niece! I love you to pieces!!!

she's growing up

She was born when I was 13 years old. I remember the morning I found out I was going to have another little sister. I was just waking up and still laying in bed when I overheard my parents talking softly in the hallway about how they would share the news with Kellie and me. I leapt out of bed, opened my bedroom door, and let them know I had heard and was excited.

The picture above may be one of the only pictures we have of her between the ages of 2 and 4 in which she’s actually wearing an article of clothing. Luckily, she grew out of that stage.

She is a lot like me. We are social butterflies. Both of us could talk your ears off. We are both perfectionists to a fault. {Insert panic attacks and crying sessions here.} We love working with kids. We have killer dance moves and can tear it up on the dance floor.  Our favorite is Jesus and we both love Him.

She is amazing. She is an A student in advanced classes. She is an incredible artist. She volunteers with the children’s ministry at church. She is an awesome friend and a fabulous sister.

The proudest moments I have had of her are just watching her come into her own. She doesn’t give herself enough credit. She is the epitome of awesome. I will never forget her leading the children in song and worship one Sunday morning. She was on the stage in the main sanctuary in front of the entire congregation full of poise, confidence, and contagious joy. I might have shed a tear or 30 watching her.

I think Stacey enjoys making and giving gifts to others more than receiving them herself. Every Christmas she spends hours making treats, art, jewelry, etc. for friends and family. She is so generous and sweet. The picture below is a sampling from about 4 years ago.

And here are a couple of samplings of her art work these days…

I went away for college when Stacey was only 5. We wrote letters and talked on the phone, but I still feel like I missed her growing up and getting to know her. So this last year when I took the year off from teaching one of the greatest blessings I gained was spending more time with her. I picked her up every day from school and got to help out with school projects and homework. We had old fashioned sleepovers and just had fun together.

I tell her often, but I still don’t think she knows just how proud of her I am. She has grown into a beautiful young lady from the inside out. She celebrated her 17th birthday this week!

Happy Birthday week, Stacey! I love you more than the world!!!

what has God been teaching you lately

My friend Jenny is someone I miss spending time with greatly. We went to UCF together, but after graduation she moved to another state and though we've kept in touch it has been years since we have been able to sit down in a coffee shop together. The reason I bring Jenny up now is because of a particular question she always asked me. It always came after we were settled in our chairs with our warm cups in hand. She would look at me and say, "So, what's God been teaching you lately?" I miss questions and conversations like that.

If Jenny were here I'd tell her this...

There are days when I take the time to sit at His feet, listen, reflect, and process in order to apply. There have been far too many days when I have chosen other things instead. The days in which I have chosen to learn, God has been faithful to reveal Himself to me, and I am grateful He hasn't held my frivolity and faithlessness against me.

For months I have felt the tug and gentle whisper on my heart to focus a good deal of my time on the study of prayer and the study of words. I finally began those journeys this week. I read A Praying Life by Paul Miller about a year ago, but I read it quickly. I decided to re-read it and really camp out among the pages to hear what God has to say and to reveal about my approach to Him in prayer.

As far as words go...I think I am careless with them. I think I talk too much and often too soon. I think I say things without thinking. I won a print from Naptime Diaries awhile ago and I chose the print with Proverbs 15:4 for a reason...I need the reminder. I am going to spend some time learning more about what He has to say about the power of words, reflect on my own, and I am going to do my best to apply what I learn. My mannual will be God's Word and my guide and teacher will be the Holy Spirit. This lesson is going to hurt. To be perfectly honest, it scares me.

Nothing huge. No major revelations or profound thoughts. Just pursuing things that I know I ought to.

Jenny, I miss you and I wish I could process some of this with you over a cup of joe!

hillsong united live

 

Last Saturday morning we received an invitation to the Hillsong United Live concert. When Andrew said the words, I literally shot up from the couch and asked him, "For real?" I heard about it on the radio months ago, but because money is so tight I didn't think we'd actually get to go, so I put it out of my mind and tried not to think about it even though I really wanted to go.

Hillsong United Live is popular for their worship songs and albums. We sing many of their songs at church and some of them have come to mean a great deal to me personally. I wanted to see them perform live, but I had my qualms. Their music and lyrics are so reverent, so joyful, so real. How would they measure up in person? Would they be cheesy, speak too much Christianese, or worse, be phony and make the concert all about them? After all, I had come to respect them and feel a camaraderie with them as I sang and worshipped along with them at home and in my car. Would going to the concert disappoint me?

We arrived Saturday night and the arena was buzzing with excitement. We found our seats and settled in. My youngest sister, Stacey, called to tell me that she and her friends had picked up the tickets they had been given from the will call booth and they had amazing seats. They were downright giddy and I could hear the excitement over the line. Floor seats, front row. She and I text messaged like crazy so that we could locate one another among the thousands filing into the arena. This big sister felt comforted knowing exactly where she was even though there were 3 levels separating us. Soon after we waved like crazy to each other, the lights went dark and the crowd cheered and screamed.

The performers came onto the stage and the music filled the space. My qualms were relieved. This night would only be about One Person's glory and He wasn't one of them wielding a guitar or microphone on that stage, but He was in the room. This must be called a concert because there are performers and there is live music, but other than that the connotation that goes with the word concert ends there. The lyrics came up on two big screens for those of us who did not know all the words by heart. This was a worship service. A 3 hour long worship service and it was amazing. The band was humble and gracious. They were fabulous musicians and singers. They led the arena in song very well. And it was all about Jesus. And my heart was full.

I looked down at Stacey often and saw her singing her heart out with raised hands. It was beautiful. I teared up on more than one occasion.
  

At one point the band left the stage for the night. I had no doubt that they would return for an encore. In the meantime, while the arena was dark, the whole audience continued singing the chorus to the last song they had sung. The WHOLE audience. A Capella. It was incredible and I never wanted it to end because it felt like I was peaking through a slit in the doorway of heaven. A vast multitude of people singing to King Jesus. It felt perfect and right and good.

I look forward to the days ahead when those "nights" are the norm and not the exception. It reminded me of the famous C.S. Lewis quote, "If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world."

The link below is a play list of Hillsong United music and much of it we sang on Saturday night. I hope you will take a listen and enjoy.

YouTube Playlist

like jonathan and david...

 

She was my first real friend in college. We were both enrolled as Theater Majors and looking back now our friendship was the only real reason for that. She and I were fast friends. Kindred Spirits right from the start. We navigated the waters of independence that college gives to youths fresh from their parents’ homes. Together we explored campus, attended different campus ministries and churches, ran our errands, and just plain processed this new life we were experiencing over meals and car rides.

We lived together one year and it ended on a sour note. We still had a lot of growing up to do at that point. Oh, we were so young! Then, as only the truest of friends can do, we got over ourselves and realized that being friends was far more important than pride or being right. We started really being real with one another and found that sometimes in order to heal the deepest hurts in life, you need a best friend to share them with to help carry the load and see you through. So we did that. A lot. 

And we moved back in together and this time it worked out great. We still had our moments every now and again, but who doesn’t? They are just moments. We watched Dr. Phil every single day while we ate dinner because back then watching Dr. Phil and eating cereal for dinner were both acceptable behaviors. We ran errands and attended campus ministries and church together. We had a wall in the kitchen that we used to randomly put up Bible verses to encourage each other and by the time we moved out it was full and beautiful. Over the years we watched each other make some mistakes and grow up quite a bit. I was there the night she met her husband. She was there when I started falling in love for the first time and heard all about it. 

 

When I look back on my college experience {which I often do}, I cannot help but think of Beth and the many memories we made. The Lord undoubtedly chose us as friends long before we knew it. He molded me and helped me to grow in my faith and in my relationship with Him through much of my friendship with Beth. She will always and forever be dear to my heart.

For 5 years we have lived in different cities and it’s been really sad. In those five years she has had two adorable little boys whom I love very much. This Fall we will be in the same city once again and I hope and pray it will be that way for a really long time. 

The pictures below are from a cruise we went on with her very sweet and generous family. We had an amazing time! We cruised from Boston to Maine to Quebec to Prince Edward Island. We even toured Green Gables, THEE Green Gables! Here are some of my favorite pictures from our trip.

Midnight Chocolate Extravaganza…I can clink my milk carton to that! Cheers! Beth, let’s do this again with our families some day…

 

Today is her birthday. Happy Birthday, Beth! Love you, my friend!