I had the blessing of celebrating a college graduation with 2 very dear friends this weekend. To say I am so proud of them would be a gross understatement, but I am so, SO proud of them!
Kristy JOY is one of a kind...amazing, beautiful, gifted, sweet, funny, JOYFUL...and she encourages me so much. I have spent 4 years with Kristy...she got here when I did basically! We have spent that time laughing, crying, ministering, encouraging...walking through life together. She has served in our student ministry for these 4 years & has been loyal & unwavering. She has been with her small group girls since Day 1 as 7th graders...in two weeks, they will be Juniors! She is so faithful. She loves God SO much & you can see it. She is a very dear friend & sister to me. To add to that...she loves on & encourages my guys greatly...Jim & Jesse's lives are richer because of her too. I had the privelage of acting as a ministry coach for her degree...which also means I got to brag on her througout a bunch of evaluations too...and I got to nominate her for the Christian Leadership Award...to which she won that honor (this is the first year YBC has done this...she is the first recipient of this honor & to have her name on the plaque that will go in their new library). I just can't say enough about this girl...except that I am beyond excited & thankful that she is staying here in Billings!!! I get the blessing of continueing to minister with & to her!!! What a great thing!
Andrea...what a beautiful girl! I have spent the last 2 years with her, which has flown by. She is tender-hearted & sweet...very gifted as well...so hard working. Even when everything is NOT going the way she would want...she always turned in to Christ as an opportunity. She loves God & is quite humble. She exudes a maturity beyond her years. She has also been so faithful with working with our students & has had a great impact on them as well. It was a joyous, yet sad occasion to watch her graduate...because I also had to say goodbye. She has moved back to Michigan already...but with promise that she will be back...just needs to take this step to take care of business, so to speak. It hurt my heart to say goodbye to her...she will be deeply missed.
Even just writing about these girls puts tears in my eyes...my life is better because of them & what a blessing these sisters of mine are to me!
