Two of my closest friends are about twice as old as I am.

Despite the age difference, I love these two people. I met her first, when Katie was two months old, almost ten years ago. I knew almost instantly that she was someone I wanted to pattern my life after: ambitious and energetic, creative and feisty; street-smart and crafty and slightly devious, but Godly and walks more closely with the Lord than almost anyone I know.

At almost twice my age, she can work circles around me… and does. And THE MOST generous person… there is NO ONE who has come to her needing help who has left empty handed. I love that about her.

One of our first conversations we had was about the Bible Study we both attended ~ Bible Study Fellowship ~ which has been woven into the fabric of me since I first met Jesus at age 14 and began being a part of a discipleship group with five of my closest friends where we were taught Bible lessons based on BSF. I went to BSF myself for seven years ~ its amazing ~ so the fact that my friend attended BSF too was huge. I admired that about her, because BSF is no easy thing to do.

And then, I found out about her cancer story, and it gave me chills: diagnosed with cancer and given five months to live, she prayed, turned to God, and trusted Him to heal her… and HE DID. Everyone diagnosed at the same time died quickly, but God healed and saved her. Her life is a testimony to the power of God.

When Annie was diagnosed, I went straight to her for her wisdom and advice and she prayed and cried with me every time I needed her. She’s always been a source of wisdom and strength for me.

She’s attended my kids’ birthday parties, Katie’s baptism, and came to see Annie in the hospital the day she was born. She was the first friend I called when my world began to unravel two years ago. I knew she would know what to do. She is one of my ONLY friends who has known every sordid detail from the beginning, because I trust her: there is no question she’s a loyal friend.

It wasn’t long after I met her that I met her husband. He is in my top ten… no, top five… funniest people I know. We go to dinner often, the three of us, and he keeps us laughing the entire night. We’ll spend three hours at dinner listening to his stories and laughing until we cry. The same stories we’ve heard for the past ten years never get old because of the masterfully dry way he tells a story.

The last time we went to dinner at Mario’s I decided I needed to write down the funny one-liners that cracked me up so so that I could remember them and laugh later.
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Very down to earth with ZERO pretense, he talked about meeting a doctor that day who introduced himself as “Dr. Larry Smith,” to which he replied, “Well, not around here you’re not; around here you’re just Larry.”

About my dating life he advised me to hold out for the best, saying, “Let the bad ones go. They’re just like buses; there’ll be another one in thirty minutes.”

When the musician stepped onto the stage, he said, “Oh Lord. Its time to go. He’s greasing up the horns and greasing up his lips. I still have my hearing and don’t want to lose it because of some d*mned old horns.”

We talked about what he would do if his wife died first, and he informed us he’d find a much younger woman. “I’d have a real show dog,” he said.

And there were others — lots and lots of others — but you really probably had to be there to get the humor.
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I’m so grateful to have these two friends. I’m grateful that I get to hear about and learn from their unbelievable life experiences. They’re almost like a second set of parents for me… but not really. They’re much too fun to be compared to parents (no offense, mom and dad). They’re loyal friends like no other, and I’m unbelievably grateful that God put them in my life.

I want to be just like them when I grow up.