You Find Out Who Your Friends Are

To appease my best friend Maddie's wishes, I am posting tonight. Although I am sleepy after multiple four-hour sleep nights, I will write :) I mean who am I kidding? Hubby's at work, and I won't get a wink until he walks through the door anyway!

Lately, I have really noticed just how great my friends are. My family has always been spectacular, and I think that is rare. However, friends that are spectacular can be even harder to come by. I have noticed that my attitude about so many things has changed because of what I have seen in my friends.

 First, I'd like to mention my simply amazing friend Tianna. Facing an eight month long deployment is not easy for anyone.... facing a pregnancy is not easy for any woman... and facing both ALONE is downright unbearable. But she's going to do it and seems to be only hopeful. THAT is just one example of not letting your circumstances get the best of you but truly relying on God for hope in the coming days. Side note- their baby is going to be ridiculously gorgeous. 

I also have a friend named Maddie. And although she is quirky, she has a heart like no other. A heart for all kinds of things like ART, children, her massive family, hurting friends, and more than anything to please the Lord. Her passion is contagious and her goofiness is timeless. From making odd videos in the middle of the night to praying with me before my wedding, Maddie has been a true companion and has shown me just how important loyalty is. Also, Maddie has a new passion for a boy named Blair Jaques whom she will marry in just a few short months. :) Praise Jesus! However, we will ALWAYS be cookie and sanchez and nobody can change that. NOBODY.

Now for Melissa :) While we argued like crazy the first few months we knew each other, those arguments only grew into wonderful discussions and TONS of laughs later on. I already wrote a little about Melissa, but there is always more to be said. Melissa is truly the most caring person I know. She would do absolutely anything for you. Like sneak out right before curfew checks just to get a movie and ice cream so you'd stop bawling about the love of your life back home. I feel bad because I know in a lot of ways I could have been a much better friend to her than I was because I was so focused on missing Andrew. Melissa would also do things like jump in a pool in the middle of winter just to earn $5... I mean FIVE? oh Melissa. Melissa's love for the Lord and for people will take her to places she never thought she'd go.

I have tons more great friends I could write about but I must stop for now. Please know that good friends (hopeful, loyal, and caring) are hard to come by. And while I have not done so, treat them like precious treasures, for they really are. Also, each of these ladies has a mixture of every characteristic I listed, and that is incredible.