My Girls

As we prepare to leave Orlando in 2 weeks, I am sad to be saying goodbye. Over the last 5 years, this Central Florida city, with all its quirks and transplants, has become quite a home for us. Among the people who I am the most sad to leave are my girls. I met Rileigh, Rachel, Audrey, and Ashley (they are pictured in that order from left to right) when they were in 6th grade. I began volunteering at youth group when they were in 7th grade by going on a retreat. And when they were in 8th grade, I started to help lead a small group. It has been 3 years that we have been meeting at Subway, Starbucks and my house. These 4 girls have truly become my best friends down here and I can hardly think about leaving them without crying. I used to drive them around and now they are driving me around. They brought me decorated diapers when Harrison was born and last night they gave me a teacup with a beach scene in it saying that whenever I was homesick or missed them, I could have a little bit of "Florida in China". They are the craziest, most life-giving teenagers I have ever met and I will miss not being able to walk through life with them their final 2 years of high school. They each have a unique and perfect personality...cheerleader, shy, boy-crazy, sarcastic, smart, and beautiful are just a few words to describe how precious they are to me. They are truly the hardest friends for me to say goodbye to. Last night we went to get frozen yogurt and I barely choked out how much they meant to me. They have ministered to me more than they will ever know and I hope that we can be a part of each other's lives for many years to come...

And I can't talk about them without mentioning a woman who poured so deeply into me starting in my 9th grade year. Precious Kay shared her life with me and Elizabeth (from previous post). She took time out of her busy life to spend Tuesday afternoons with us all through high school. We spent lots of time in the bride's room at Northside UMC praying for our future husbands while eating Mrs. Fields cookies, and spent much time at Fellini's and Caribou. I remember asking Kay some extremely hard questions and she stood by us, prayed with us and for us, and I still, 15 years later, cannot take a trip to Atlanta without seeing her. God has used her to change my life and I love her so much. I pray that my relationships with "my girls" will stay as strong as my friendship with Kay over the years. I am so blessed with great friends, which makes it so much harder to leave.