this girl.

Growing up, you have friends who you love dearly. At this young age, you don't know that it's love, but you know that you want to spend every possible waking minute with these people. You say you'll be friends forever. And you really do mean forever. Only at your young and tender age, you have no idea how long forever is, and absolutely no clue about all of the other wonderful people you will meet over the course of time. You have no concept that it is just not possible to stay best friends forever with the people who are around you right here, right now, when you see the world through a child's eyes.

However, there are some people who God brings into your life who stay and do not go, regardless of the changes that life brings. There are some people who you can know that maybe you will not see them for months on end, but when you do see them, you will laugh and cry together. You will reminisce on the days gone by and rejoice together in the joys in each others lives, shared only through talking because you are too far away to live through these times together anymore. And every now and then you will stand back and be amazed that it really is possible to stay friends for that little bit more of forever that you imagined when you were young.

Katy is this person in my life. She is the girl who I have known for as far back as my memory is able to go. She is the one who was a permanent feature in our home during our teenage years; the one who I learnt to play the guitar with; the one who I have spent many times laying in grass taking photos of all the beautiful things we see; the one who I know shares the same passions as me, who finds delight in those little things the way that I do; the one who I felt truly honoured to stand with at the airport praying for her as she went to see the man who was to become her husband in Brasil, knowing what the future was going to hold for her, and delighting in sharing this moment with her. Yesterday I got to see this precious friend of mine.

We talked for hours, barely aware of the rain and lightening that came rolling in overhead to replace the glorious sunshine that had shone just a few hours before. We filled her kitchen with the aroma of chocolate cookies then went strolling in her fields where we talked with the sheep, gently convincing them that they really didn't need to chase us by drawing on our knowledge of sheep-talk from Babe: 'Bar-am-ewe, Baaaaar-am-ewe, sheep be true.' They responded well and graciously allowed us to continue on our walk at dusk through the mist-shrouded field, walking across precarious bridges clutching cameras tightly. Oh how I love times like these...