30til30: Day 25

I have 30 days until I turn 30, so I thought I'd try to choose 30 moments that have helped shape who I am and want to be. Coming up with the list has been challenging...and enlightening. These final few  ARE in a particular order.

25: Molly Piper.

Molly and I have known each other since the first grade. We attended separate schools for 6-8th grade, but then came back together in 9th at McDowell. We became fast friends again, mainly through choir and drama club (nerd alert). However, Junior year, our friendship went to a whole new level. We both started doing youth group things at Grace and became Christians within a few months of each other. When that happened, our bond became stronger than anything we could have created by our own strength. 

I love Molly. She has and will always be my best friend.

This is why I love Molly:

• I can say "N*Sync" without her making a weird face at me.
• She loves New York City.
• She wasn't selfish when it came to her new faith, she brought me alongside her.
• She's a connector.
• Molly isn't afraid of silence. Sometimes, it's okay to sit in a room and just "be."
• We can always pick up where we left off...no matter what. We're both really bad about keeping in touch, so we have to give each other grace there.
• She is generous.
• I know that I can always go to her...about anything...and it's 100% secure: locked down.
• Molly loves my family. I'm pretty sure she's my dad's favorite out of all of his daughters' friends.
• She is the best person to cry with or to.
• We've never been in a "fight." Everything is dealt with immediately. I can honestly say I have nothing negative in my heart toward her.
• We just "get" each other.
• Before I got married, she made sure to make it abundantly clear that she loves my husband.
• Molly is...yeah...she's the coolest person I know. 
• She is the most faithful friend I've had, and I can't imagine anyone else ever comparing.
• The love Molly has for her three children is incredible. It's awe inspiring to watch her love them.
• She is a lover of Jesus.
• She is REAL and transparent. I don't ever have to guess with her. I know what's up with her, where she stands and where we stand.
• Molly has always believed in me.
• She loves me.

How she has shaped me:

• She introduced me to the idea that religion void of a relationship with Jesus is pointless.
• She taught me how to squeeze out what little extrovert I have when I need to.
• I am working at Grace because she took me there in high school.
• I have some pretty sweet parenting skills up my sleeve from watching her.
• Watching her wrestle through the pain of losing Felicity has definitely changed the way I view grief, motherhood and Christian community.
• There is a comfort to knowing that you have a friend for life. Having that comfort is huge.

Molly,

There was no way I could do you the justice you deserve by writing about our lives in one blog post. I could have made every day of this series about you and it still wouldn't be enough. You are an incredible, Godly woman. I can't believe God saw it fit that we should be friends. He has blessed me more than I deserve through knowing you. I would not trade our friendship for anything. Thank you for being a faithful friend and walking through life with someone like me. I don't deserve any of it. 

I love you,

Danielle