With you, I can be me...

A letter for my dear friend Tara.

I have been thinking alot about the last 3 years the past couple of days.  I been thinking about the funny times, the frustrating times, the sad times, the trying times and the just plain awesome times.  :)  We have talked alot about the funny times and laughed about them the past few days, but I want to talk about the times that have made a lasting impression on me.  The times that I feel we have spiritually grown together.  Let me start off by saying that I would not be who I am today without you.  God sent you to me to help mold me into the woman/warrior princess he has called me to be!  You have shown and taught me to be fearless for what I believe in, to stand up for those who can't themselves, to love myself and paint my God colors for the world!  You have shown me that love is the answer to ALL questions, and how to step out of my comfort zone.  I have learned that if you step out of your comfort zone enough, you cease to have one!  You are a beautiful example of what God has called us all to be, Jesus in human form.  And I love you for that, and thank you for being a shining star.  Okay, so for our remembering.....

I want to thank you for the night that you prayed over me in Nashville.  You prayed things over me that I desperately needed to hear.  It is so hard to be a mother to autistic children.  Sometimes you feel helpless, frustrated, guilty, and partly responsible.  You reminded me that I was NOT at fault, that God had an amazing plan, and that I was doing what God called me to do.  Thank you...

I want to thank you for dropping everything to go to Lakeland.  Watching you and the others in our small group pray over him the night before we left lifted me up so much.  I am SO blessed to have such wonderful friends who care about me and my family.  You, Andy, and Amanda laying hands and praying over him in Lakeland was something that I will not soon forget.  You will forever be apart of the chapter of Eli's healing!

Now for one of my favorite moments.  The other night when we prayed over the man on the side of the road in the accident.  After praying for him, when we were walking back to the car....We held hands on the way back to the car.  Now, I know that that might sound a little gay.  But we were both a little shaken up and it was quite an experience.  I was thinking about that moment a couple of days later and I realize how significant that moment was to me.  Here we are, two grown married women holding hands on the side of the road....like two school girl children on the playground.  I smile when I think about it because it's a beautiful picture of our faith in that exact moment, childlike.  In that moment, God was bigger than the situation and we trusted him completely.  That's the reason I love you Tara, because I feel like I can be childlike around you.  In my faith, in my silliness, in my heartbreak.  When you are away, and I feel the need to be childlike, I will remember us.  On the side of the road, walking in the tall grass, holding hands.