One of those people in my life is someone that I met when I was 6 years old. She happened to live across the road from me when we moved to Taylors, SC. We met on the front steps of my dad's church, right before VBS one night in the summer. I still remember when I found out she lived across the street. That was the moment that started it all.
Time passed, as did snow days, summer days, & birthdays. We did ridiculous things together, & made incredible memories. We didn't go to school together, but I loved getting to hang out with her whenever we had a chance.
In 6th grade, she moved to my school. For the first time, we got to see each other way more than usual, & it was awesome. We had classes together. My family was going through a lot, & she was someone who I could always talk to about it. She knew my family so well since she had spent so much time with us. It was just special. Around Christmas of 6th grade, I found out that we were moving again. At first it was supposed to be Spartanburg, but that eventually turned into Georgia when my grandmother got sick & we knew she was going to go home soon. Through all of that, I was scared. Scared to move again, scared to lose my friends, scared to leave South Carolina. So I would call her about it. We would talk about it, & it just helped. Then we moved.
Over summer, with all the changes in my family along with moving to a different state, we lost touch for a little bit. Then, the night before she started another year of school, I called her to tell her good luck & try to catch up. That was when the calls started back. I was experiencing so many new things, & she was this person who had always been around. She knew me. Everything that I was facing, I told her about, & she told me about everything happening there so I still felt connected. She knew all the names of my new friends, & just everything about everything really. And she was such an encouragement. We would talk for hours - on the phone, on the internet, through email... We wrote letters, too. She was the one person that I was really able to keep in touch with, & the one person that I absolutely needed to keep in touch with. And we did it. Somehow, we did it.
Sometimes I'd get to go back & visit, & it was just like I had never left. We would talk about everything & talk about how different it would be if I still lived across the street. We would talk about how maybe someday I could come back. We would make plans, & just have fun being together. Then I would go back home, & we'd call each other & it was still like we were together, even with over 100 miles between us.
High school passed, & was coming to an end. I was looking for a college...we talked all the time about how cool it would be to go to college together, & happened to look at some of the same ones. I never really thought it could happen though, it was just one of those "wouldn't that be awesome" things, just like the idea of moving back had always been. As time went by, & I couldn't find one, I decided one night to check out NGU, where she was already planning to go. And from that night, things just fell into place. And it happened. I moved back. I got my best friend back in my day to day life. I got to come back to Greenville.
In the less than 20 years that I've been alive, I've had a lot of changes happen. I've moved several times to different places with my dad's job, I've had things change in my family, & there is always something going on. But the awesome thing is, she's always been there, in one way or another. Whether it's been in person or on the other end of the phone, we've been through it together. And now as we face dreams and plans for the rest of our lives, it's the one friendship that I know won't be messed up when we're not seeing each other all the time anymore, if those days come again. God's plans for our lives are bound to take us many, many places, & possibly even completely different directions. But thankfully, the Lord gave me someone who is traveling right alongside me, even though not always physically. He gave me a best friend who somehow occasionally finds humor in my jokes, understands the way my brain works, & is just there to listen. Our relationship has taught me so much about loyalty, & being a real friend. And I could not be more thankful for her being in my life every moment we get to spend together, especially because I've experienced so much time away from her.
I used to wish I had a best friend that I got to be with all the time like other people at school since mine was 3 hours away. And that wish came true, & I do get to have that, at least for now. But even if I lose that part of our friendship, I know that God brought us together, years and years ago now, so that we could be there for each other through all of this that we have faced, & all that we will face in the future. No matter what He brings us to, I know that God is good, & He has proven that so many times, especially through this friendship that He has given us. And no matter what, I know one person I can always count on.
So today, Emily Greer, I celebrate the friendship that we have. I treasure the memories we have made, the ones we're making, & the ones that are still in the future. And I can't wait to experience many, many more days with you as we pursue the calls that God has placed on our lives. Happy birthday! I love you!
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