Gotta have Faith...

I hate going more than a day or two between posts, but the last few days have been pretty jam-packed.  I'm happy that we'll be able to just veg around the house tomorrow, because I'm completely drained and in need of a lazy day.

But that's not what I really wanted to talk about tonight.  Tonight, I just wanted to pay tribute to one of my favorite people on the planet.  She's honestly one of the kindest, sweetest, most considerate people I've ever met, and I'm proud to call her my sister-in-law.

For those of you who don't know, this is Faith.

Isn't she gorgeous?  As I think I've shared here before, I've coveted her naturally perfect red hair for as long as I've known her.  And, as we've been friends since we were 4 or 5, that's a whole lotta coveting. :) When we were growing up, Faith was incredibly shy and quiet.  I think my crazy, bubbly personality was probably a bit overwhelming at times, but she took me in stride (and eventually grew into one of the most social people I know!), and we remained close even after I moved out of Wylie schools in middle school. 

It speaks volumes that our only real fight in over twenty years of friendship happened in seventh grade, when she told the boy I had a humongous crush on about our "secret language."  (Let's just gloss over the fact that we even had a secret language, shall we? It's a wonder I had any friends at all...)  And that fight was relatively short-lived, as I quickly recognized that maybe we didn't actually need to be saying things like shawm-be-doo-be to each other.  But that's a conversation for another day... :)

In a nutshell, we just click. And we always have clicked.  She's my oldest friend, and her sweet, gentle spirit has always been such a constant in my life.  And her faith was always an inspiration. God definitely used her and her sweet family to pull me closer to Him in numerous ways throughout the years.

Unbeknownst to me, Faith had a huge crush on my brother throughout high school, while he was busy making some really bad relationship decisions.  At some point, though, he realized what a catch she was, and they started dating a few years after we graduated high school.  I can remember thinking that I would absolutely kill my brother if he broke her heart and ruined our friendship.  But I couldn't resist the idea of them falling in love -- I kept thinking about how amazing it would be if they got married and she became my sister-in-law. 

And because God must really love me, she did!  My brother made the smartest decision of his life and proposed, and thankfully she said yes!

I honestly couldn't ask for a better sister-in-law.  She doesn't bat an eye when I drop by their house without an invitation to sneak kisses from their little girl.  She loves my family and fits in perfectly.  And, God love her, she loves my brother with reckless abandon. She's the only one who really knows how to handle him -- she's a Georgia peach, but she's got enough spark to hold her own when he starts spinning out of orbit.  To put it bluntly, she's the best thing that ever happened to him (along with Stella, of course), and, thankfully, he knows it.  (And I have to admit - she's pretty lucky too.  My brother has grown up into an amazing, strong, honorable man, and he's always, always there when I need him.)

So this one's for Faithey.  I love you, girl.  Thanks for putting up with me all these years.  I'm honestly not sure what I'd do without you. :)