Faithful

Faithful, You are ever faithful to us, God
You're the song of my soul salvation
Life that cannot be taken
A solid rock, firm foundation
Never changed
You are never shaken

I don't quite know how to begin, so I'll just jump right in. Em, Case, & Beth have been my 3 best friends since freshman year. At that time, Beth & I were roommates & Case & Em were roommates right around the corner from us. Same thing sophomore year. And then began the chaos of transfers, moves, boyfriends, engagements, graduations, & weddings. All wonderful chaos, but chaos just the same.

We've come to a point where we almost have to redefine our friendship & how we relate to one another. We are 4 different people with 4 different personalities living in 4 different cities in 4 different stages of life. We're learning how to deal with that. It seems like we're being overly dramatic, but I really don't think we are...these are the 3 most dependable girls in my life & everything that was a constant has been totally turned upside down. Every change has been a great one. Adding Ryan & John to the group has been absolutely wonderful. God chose the perfect fiances/husbands for my friends & it's so encouraging to see them cultivating such godly relationships with them. Graduations & moving on to what God has in store for each of us is wonderful. Moving to new towns has been great for us. Being forced to make new friends & invest in new people has been both a challenge and a blessing.

I know that even when things are tough, these are the ones that I can depend on, the sisters that will be by my side through every stage of life.

And at that, I feel it is necessary that we take a walk down memory lane.

[DISCLAIMER: appreciate some of these pictures for the moment. The happiness & joy that is evident. Just overlook the fact that we are not looking our best in some of these...]

This is our 1st official photo together (of just the 4 of us) so far as I can find. Which is strange for several reasons: 1. Beth has ashes on her head. 2. Meaning that it's Ash Wednesday. 3. Meaning that it's at least March of our Freshman year. We should've had more before that. *This is one of those where you just have to appreciate the moment because none of us look very spectacular, but I remember that day being very spectacular [girls, I think this is when Beth & I pushed our beds together & we ran down the hall doing flips onto them?].

Chow Midnight Breakfast before exams Freshman year

Pancake nights in the Donovan kitchen!

This is the night we were supposed to go ice skating...got there & the rink was closed. At least we got a cozy, bundled up picture out of it.

Glisson, the place where so many memories have been made. Some of us went & played in the waterfall the 1st weekend of college. We were such babies then! We celebrated Beth's birthday here one year, & in September Case got engaged here!

My 21st birthday. I thought Em & I were just meeting Beth & Case, but got there to find about 15 of my favorite girls!

My absolute favorite picture of us. At the Backwaters for Em's birthday. Also the 1st time we met Johnny Boy :)

And by the next time we saw Em, she & John were engaged!

Spring Break Road Trip 2009

Case's 22nd birthday on the square in Dahlonega

Our first time experiencing Jasper's Marble Festival! That's right...we "ran" in the road race...see how official we look with numbers?

The first graduation!

Beach trip right before Em got married last summer. Such sweet times.

Em's wedding!
July 11, 2009

Sweet time spent together last weekend. I love that every time we get together, both laughter & tears are usually present.

I love you girls & am so thankful that you're in my life!

"Your love has given me much joy and comfort, my [sister], for your kindness has often refreshed the hearts of God's people." -Philemon 1:7