well geez, louise! if that smile doesn't just say "wanna be friends and share this cupcake with me? and then i will make you feel loved and valuable all the time because i have a heart of stinkin gold" then i don't know what does.. (:

but seriously, friends.  this one's got a heart of gold.

this is my dear friend, syd, and she LOVES Jesus and is always always letting her heart be shaped by Him and she has a passion for people to know Him, especially high school kids, and she reminds me of truth and points me to beauty and she watches documentaries and reads about women's rights and she wheezes when she laughs (: and she loves beyonce and she's a fan of patagonia and french press and just people in general.  i wish so badly that everyone could know her!  but if it's not possible for everyone to know her, i am honored to be one of the ones that gets to be touched by her life.

getting to know her heart is one of the biggest honors for me.  i do, i feel honored to learn more and more pieces of the heart of this incredible human. 

Friends, it is time you met this dear one to me.
This is Coral, and she has a big place in my heart.

Featuring friends on this blog of mine is often a weighty task for me, because how do I express with words these people that mean to me more than words can express?
But I will try, because I want you to be encouraged by the fact that such beautiful people exist. 

Coral loves deeply.  She loves to a capacity that just could not be without Christ giving it, and without Him being within her.
And because Christ is within her, I have seen her heart take shape after His own more and more, every day.
Every day her heart grows into His likeness!

She invites me to tea and asks about my heart. 
She offers me beef jerky (:
She teaches me how to honor God with what I own and how to be thankful for it.
I know she will tell me, in love, when I am missing it.
She will sit with me and just be.
She makes me laugh and is always real with me and I know I can share anything with her.  I feel safe with her knowing my heart... even the ugly parts of it.
She has this amazing ability of making anywhere she is a home.

I know God loves me because people like Coral exist and are in my life. 
What an honor to be loved by her and be called her friend.

mwen remen ou, Coral.

Friends,
It's about time I tell you about this person right here who is so so special to me.  This is Angela, and she is one of the very first friends I made at Eau Claire.
 
I remember having a bunch of orientation stuff to go to as a little freshman on the first week before school started.  I was walking up the hill, back to my dorm room, tired from it all and just wanting friends and missing home, and she was there at the top of the hill, passing out watermelon with other people from Intervarsity.  Meeting her and other beautiful people there that day made me think, "yep, I can do this college thing."  I saw love there that I just clung to and wanted so deeply.  I felt so welcomed, I can't even tell you!  I still remember calling my mom that night and describing Angela and how I knew the love I felt from her, specifically, was from Jesus!  There was no denying it.  And I kept going on and on about how wonderful those Intervarsity people I met were! (:

And so here I am, a Junior now, deeply rooted in this beautiful community, with a deep friendship with this beautiful human being and I couldn't be more grateful for it.  She is still loving me and others just like that day, with a love that goes deep.. a love straight from the heart of Jesus.  Angela is close to my heart

Sometimes I think about how my life might be different if I ended up choosing a different school.  One thing I know is that I wouldn't have known Angela and I just wouldn't be the same.

Hi friends!
I think it's about that time you all meet Ariel.

She is soo special to me.
She is one of the most gentle and kind-hearted people I've ever met, and she's always smiling at me!
A couple weeks ago, when I was going to paint in front of Intervarsity's large group and I was scared like the dickens, a group of us were praying over the night and the whole time Ariel held my hand.  That just meant so much to me!  I felt peace instantly.
That's the kind of person she is... full of love and full of light!  I learn so much from her about how to love and how to know God.


I thank God, often, for this bright light.  What an honor it is to be her friend.

Hi there!
So, I always want to be celebrating the people who are so dear to me on this blog of mine, because if you can't meet them in person, I want you to know and be encouraged by the fact that such beautiful people exist (:

This here is Holland.
and she wears dresses and says "wOw!" and sings with the most beautiful voice you've ever heard and she loves cozy things and she talks with an "er mer gersh" voice and poor Spanish pronunciation just to be silly and she affirms people almost every minute and she makes me laugh and she makes my days.  Her existence alone will literally make my days...

I thank Jesus for her, because she is a gift right from Him.  And oh, she loves Him so!

I LOVE Holland.

A couple of days ago, my dear friends Angela, Marissa, and Trent stayed at my house for the night before they went to go serve Jesus around the world. (I feel like I always say "dear friends," but gosh, I just don't know how else to put it! ha, they really are SO DEAR to me! ...but I'll work on trying to find a new phrase haha).  Trent and Marissa are going to Kolkata, India, and Ang is going to Mexico City. 

I was surprised at how refreshed my heart was by their presence and love.  Sharing a meal with them, talking with them about their trips, watching the way they interact with my family and each other, watching the light in their eyes as they express genuine contentedness... it's Jesus.  They make me want to love Jesus more, because of the way they live.  I really don't know how else to say it.  They are making Him known.

Three of the most beautiful souls I know, changing the world with their love for God.

Hey, friends!  One of my favorite things about living life is that I get to do it with so many beautiful people.  I get so excited introducing them to you, too, because I wish every single person could know them and their love.  They are my daily reminders of God's presence in my life.  What a glorious thing!  I love how He uses them.

& This here, is Rachel.
If there is anything I want to say about this person, it is that she loves.  I know God is in her because of how she loves.  How she sees people, how she serves them.  She is real and authentic.  She loves purely and whole-heartedly.  She calls people "dear" (: and empathizes with their emotions.

We share a mutual appreciation for moving lyrics, Charlotte the soundboard (:, Erbs & Gerbs ham sandwiches, and desiring God on a deeper level.
I think I would be different without knowing Rachel.
She's probably one of my favorite people.
And, oh, Jesus loves her a lot (: