"If you can count your good friends you have on one hand, then consider yourself lucky."

I'm sitting here in my room right now, it's nice and clean because I just spent the last hour or so tidying it up. It's much more relaxing now ... before you literally couldn't see the floor!
 My lovely friend Jessie should be getting here in about an hour; I'm so happy because we don't get to see each other nearly as often as I would like, but I saw her last week and now I get to see her again. Happiness.

Now, I've blogged many a time about how lovely and wonderful my friends are and how much I love them, but I've not really sat down to write about what truly makes them so special. So I thought I'd do that now, and tell you a little about a few of the girls who keep my little world running.

I'll start with Jessie.
She's wonderfully talented when it comes to music. She plays the piano beautifully, and is learning guitar. She likes good bands like U2, and loves The Great Gatsby like I do. We have the best conversations about anything and everything, and even though there a big gaps between the times that we spend together, we can always pick up where we left off and talk as if we're picking up a conversation from five minutes ago instead of three weeks ago. She's wonderful writer. Her writing is eloquent and sincere, and better yet she can just write, lots at a time. Her blog posts are often nice and chunky, which I love. She's loyal and loving and we never get bored when we're together. She has a younger brother and no sisters, so I love that we can relate to each others stories about playing Lego or Pokemon. She's just so sweet and friendly. It's hard to find people who are just friendly to you right off the bat, because most people are so cautious when they meet new people that your first impressions are often incredibly skewed. But I've always thought Jessie to be a caring, welcoming, gentle person since I first met her. And I was so very, very right. Jessie, I adore every second I have with you, and I am so, so excited that you're going to be arriving at my door any minute! So we can create more beautiful memories that I will hold on to forever, because you are such a treasure and I really don't deserve you; I am so grateful to God for our friendship. I cleaned my room just for you hehehe. ♥

And then there's Keira. I've thanked God so often for the friendship we've built to be so strong over the past four years. We've known each other for much longer than that, but it's these recent years in which God has brought us close. He gave us something to share with each other - and so Keira is my writing buddy. We exchange passages of our novels-to-be, and help each other out with our stories as best we can. What I like most is that in recent times we haven't needed those stories to be friends; our writing may have lessened because life got in the way, or we couldn't be bothered, but we still encourage each other to keep writing and to push on with that story idea that just doesn't seem to be working. We'll get there in the end, I'm sure. But it's not the only thing we talk about and do with each other anymore, as I guess it used to be when we first started exchanging. Now we talk about anything and everything, meet different places, hang out together, and have such a wonderful time. My favorite thing to do is to just sit somewhere with her and talk. We particularly like meeting in cafes and ordering one drink and then sitting there for a good two hours at least. Time just passes far too quickly when we talk! I love every minute we spend together, and I love that we can be there for each other and pray for each other and and support one another. Keira is so lovely and is a such a beautiful writer. Keep going at it, my dearest! You are fearfully, wonderfully made by your Creator, and he has better plans for you than all you can ask or imagine; I'm excited not just for the plans he has for you, but for both of us together. ♥

 Bethie is my rock. She's the big sister I never had. I still remember the day I met her back when we were in year 5 at Club WOW. She was the person I wanted to be like; the one that set the example and respected the leaders and paid attention and was sweet to everyone. She's beautiful, really really beautiful. She's clever and has good taste in just about everything; clothes, books, music.... She's mothering and caring, and she has the gift of being able to look at someone and see all their beauty instead of their faults. So if she bags you out randomly, it just means she loves you a lot. She is steadfast in Christ and it so encouraging to see Him as the center of her life. She has such a gorgeous smile and I love it when she laughs. I love it when we talk about stuff we both appreciate, like Shakespeare or Little Women; in fact, I love it when we talk about anything at all, because Bethie is wise and she doesn't say the wrong things like I so often do.... And she's so good at comforting. And hugging. And I think that's because she was made by the God of All Comfort. So my darling, whenever things are hard, look to your God and He will comfort you. Because that's who He is. And he is the reason why you are such a beautiful, amazing person; you are of more value to Him than you could ever know. Let your love and faithfulness never leave you, dearest. ♥

My girl Katherine has the most amazing smile ever. The photo just above is proof of it. That picture just makes me so happy. Katherine brings me so much joy and laughter; like seriously, you have to play Taboo with her. I was laughing so much the other night. She gives the best hugs, and I always feel so valued when I am with her, because she's really good at telling me that she loves me, and that means a lot to me. We can do everything together, or absolutely nothing, we can talk about everything or sit in silence listening to music, but no matter what, I'll walk away feeling like the best time ever. I can't remember a day that has gone by since late October where we haven't at least exchanged a text message, save the times we've gone away somewhere. She bags me out all the time, and I diss her back, but that's just us. She's so strong in faith and love; she doesn't give up on people even when they make it hard. She's an easy person to share with, because she's gracious and generous ... and gullible... haha I'm kidding with that last one! ;) Babe you're the reason God didn't give me a sister, because he knew I'd meet you and then I wouldn't need anyone else, because we fit the same size shoe and the same size dress, so I can borrow your clothes (and you can steal mine!), and He knew I'd love you enough to tolerate you doing things like hanging your wet towel over my pajamas on camp.... I'm so excited for the years we have ahead of us as sisters in Christ, to strengthen and encourage each other and grow in our love for our Savior and King. ♥

Kristy has been my friend for the longest. We met when I was 7, and we probably thought each other weird at first, because in truth we don't have a lot in common, but friends are the people who help you with things you're not good at, who encourage you in your weak areas, show you things you haven't heard of or seen before, introduce you to things better than what you know, and complement who you are. So that's why we're so close. I love all the fun moments we share together and all the things we get excited about, like the Scott Pilgrim movie or random crazy youtube videos like Charlieissocoolike. Kristy is so clever and amazing; I wish I had her gift of wonderful hospitality. She's so good at making be feel welcome, and she really cares about how other people feel. She's wise and careful of what she says and her love for God just radiates from her. She's eager to serve Christ with the gifts he has given her, and I know that He has great plans for her because she is so willing to do good works for him. I love that we have built up such a great trust over the years; we can tell each other anything and know it is safe with the other person. Trust is something I really need from a friend, and you have never let me down, my darling. So thank you for everything you've ever done for me and all that you will do, because I know we're going to be friends for life. And that makes me so happy! You are such a beautiful friend and I am so, so blessed to be able to call you that. God is just too good to me! ♥


Most of all, something I can say about all my girls, is that they care. I'm so lucky to have people who care about how I feel and what I'm thinking; they care about the time spent with me and the time when we're apart. They care about my life and the things I do; and it leaves me breathless when I think of this, because I know I don't deserve any of you and I feel like I can't give you enough. I love you.