MY FRIEND AMY

This time of year is my favorite. It brings back memories of the time that I met the true epitome of the word friend. I met Amy 18 years ago this month as we were both starting college. We had grown up a mere 15 miles from each other and had done the same things and gone to the same places but somehow never met. Late September 1990, we met a few times and spoke in passing as we both settled into college life. One evening in early October, she had something she needed to talk about and for some reason she came to me. Our lives were both changed that day. We love to tell people how we slept together on our first date and the rest is history! OK so it is not exactly as it sounds...she told me what she needed to talk about and our relationship officially began. We ended up going back to my dorm room and laying together in my twin bed and talking all night long. Those late night(often ALL night) analytical conversations became a staple of our relationship. Most people think of a soul mate as their spouse, and not to take anything from our husbands, but Amy and I are soul mates. God brought us together for a reason. Over the years we have loved each other, hated each other, cried with each other, yelled at each other, strengthened each other, lifted each other up, and grown with each other. We have been bad together and been good together. There have been many times that we had moments and could say "this is why God brought us together in the first place." She is a part of my family and I am a part of hers. My sister can think of her as a sister, my parents can call her a daughter, my brother loves her(first because he was a teen boy when they met and she is gorgeous but now because she is family). Now we are both at a time in ours lives that we can say "THIS is REALLY why God brought us together!" About the time that I was having a renewal in the Lord-she found Him. My husband is soooo much like her and hers is a lot like me. She helps me understand him better. When her husband said their children would not be going to public schools, I researched homeschooling along with her. The Lord brought us both to similar decisions at the same time. I have started my second year of school and she has just begun her first. Her daughter is 4 months younger than Keslee. We go through the same situations with them together, they are just alike(and destined to be best friends). We live 4 hours apart but are closer than ever. God had our paths cross 18 years ago so that we could walk the same path, side by side, today. She can see God working in my life and I see His work in hers. Amy tells me that she is proud of me and looks up to me. How can someone that I look up to also be looking up to me? I am so proud of Amy! I love her! I thank God daily for her! I can not imagine my life without the kind of friendship we have, it surely would not be as rich. I pray God will someday bring my girls a true friend to grow with and share life with. I hope you all have a girlfriend like mine-that adds so much to the time we have here on earth.