wherever we are, we are together

Tonight i need to blog about a few of my best friends.
and when i say best friends i actually mean kindred spirits.
Karly Kenyon, Meredith Hawkins, and Meredith Dunn.
Over the course of a long eventful summer at New Life Ranch i was honored with the opportunity to form a close bond with these girls and lets just say that Jesus was in control of our friendships.

i wanted to take this chance to tell my world of 8 followers about these girls and in turn remind myself of how truly blessed i am that the Lord would put such amazing people into my life.

1. Karly Kenyon. oh boy. this girl kind of like an explosion of glitter. it reflects light(in her case the light of Jesus) and it is absolutely contagious. like glitter she sticks to people and even after you've washed your hair 1,000,000 times you still find pieces of her...this is just a really weird way of saying that she makes a lasting impact and is in no way easily forgotten. also like glitter she is beautiful and inspiring, she takes things from boring and ordinary to exciting and shiny. i have never heard anyone talk about Jesus so passionately or joyfully. she is contagious. i got to be co's with karly the last week of camp and i have never been so delighted by someone's joy in simply living. in finding beauty in every single moment. she is truly something. she is also far away...Greenville, IL. my heart longs to sit with her and drink coffee and listen to Josh Garrels and talk about Jesus and the ocean and life. i miss her dearly and with my entire heart(every last piece). i can't tell Karly's future but i can tell you one thing, Jesus is gonna change the world through this girl...even if its only in one person's life. the world will still look different because she was a part of it. karly, it was with you that i embrace the notion that Jesus was a weirdo and i delight in that every single day. Jesus was weird. is that not the greatest thing you've ever heard? be different, cause Jesus sure as heck was. thanks for being weird with me karly.

2. Meredith Hawkins..............honestly. truly. purely. my inspiration. i'm being completely sincere when i write that mere hawk is just that, she is the one who inspires me to be more than myself. she pushes me more than anyone i know to stretch beyond my realm of comfort and expectation and set my sights on something bigger. something greater. something completely impossible without divine intervention. i don't think that she even knows that. she challenges me to dream bigger than i've ever allowed myself, bigger than i've ever been confident too. she is the most incredible encourager i've ever met and the most honest girl in the world. she recognizes the beauty in the chaos of our everyday lives and thanks God for her shortcomings. what? she is one of the most extraordinary people i know. Mere is a dreamer and a believer. i think that mere one of the few people i've ever met that fully embodies the idea of being able to be whatever you set your mind too. for a long time i have hidden behind the notion that i am simply not smart enough to be anything other than mediocre, i was willing to settle for average and leave good enough alone. meredith challenged that in me without even trying. seeing her freedom in dreams and aspirations made me realize that maybe the Lord wants to use me for more than my plans were allowing Him to. Because of Meredith Hawkins i have recognized a dream within myself that is bigger than anything i could have ever recognized without her. she is also too far away... Richmond, Virginia...a.k.a 1,142 miles away. worst. but even from afar i can still hear her voice in my head, pushing me daily to strive for more.

3. last but not even close to least: meredith dunn. i have almost no words except to say that, in short, meredith dunn gets me like no one else on this planet gets me. honestly. this girl is seriously my soul sister, i don't think anyone has ever understood my heart and thought process like her. when i think of meredith dunn 2,000 different things pop into my mind. best friends. creepy campers. braums. cafe on broadway. just to name a few. we may not have a long history of friendship but it certainly is a full history. mere is one of the boldest and most passionate people i know. she caught onto Jesus like never before this summer and ever since that day she has truly been a new creation. she is amazing. i have so joyful gotten to watch her grow in passion and devotion to the Holy Spirit and it is so beautiful. she inspires me to love Jesus more everyday and live for Him alone everyday. i think that i love meredith so much because when she talks about how much she loves Jesus and how she wants to be used by Him all i can think is "i wanna come too"(i can really say that for all these girls) i just love the way that mere communicates her heart because i can hear my heart too. only i feel that her heart is more bold and willing to love than mine is and that challenges me in so many good ways. in so many ways i want to be like meredith dunn. plus she is the most humble person i know because i don't think she gets how great she is, but thats the beauty. she's not quite as far away...but its still too far. Stillwater, Oklahoma. go pokes. go jokes. sports.

i wish i was joyful like karly.
i wish i was a dreamer like mere hawk.
i wish i was bold like mere.

this is why they are my best friends. i see Jesus through them and as a result am pushed to be more like Him.

karly, mere hawk, mere. thank you. for being yourselves. thank you for being the face of Jesus in my life. i miss you, but in the wise words of meredith hawk "wherever we are, we are together."

-ab