Starbucks, Jellybeans, Police and a Friend

This blog post is in honor of you, Betsy Brooks, just like I said it would be :)

After you called this afternoon, I found myself reminiscing. And I decided that if I was going to dedicate a post to you, that I wanted to try to do you proper justice.

So...I read back over all of our wall conversations, messages, and went back into my journal to figure out when we first became friends! (Yes, I keep up with things like that!) By the way, it was Feb. 25, 2008 when we went to the Starbucks. I can't believe it's barely been over 2 years, it feels like 5!

Regardless, as I told you earlier, in looking back I realized how much you encouraged me...how little has changed ;) And I was reminded what a Peter Pan fanatic you were! *Smiles broadly*

"All this has happened before, and it will all happen again. But this time it happened in London. It happened on a quiet street in Bloomsbury. That corner house over there is the home of the Darling family. And Peter Pan chose this particular house because there were people here who believed in him."

It sounds like there's hope for you too, if you keep believing...

Speaking of believing, I found a quote that you sent me quite awhile back:

"Faith is the ability to let your light shine even after your fuse is blown. Faith is seeing light with the eyes of your heart when the eyes of your body see only darkness ahead."


I don't think it's a stretch to say that you've shined God's light ever since you chose to follow Him (I'm just going to backtrack based on the "you" that I know), even when you didn't realize it. You've had my back, even when I didn't deserve it. You taught me how to talk to police officers and enjoy grocery stores :D You manage to be independent and dependent at the same time, a talent that few people have. You are determined, focused, and headstrong (In a good way). Yet at the same time you are thoughtful, spontaneous, and considerate. And something even more personal to me...you chose to always see the good in other people, even when it's hard to do so.

I figured that if I was going to challenge you in the blog sharing competition, that I'll do the same...

Confession time:

I realized after we talked that you are the first friend that I can remember that was willing to trust me with personal things, BEFORE we were really close or even really friends for that matter. Which then caused me to realize that since I started confiding in you as well, that I've taken the same approach with people in general. I've gone from being the guy that didn't share my heart with even my closest friends, to be willing to risk trusting people in general...in the hopes that every once-in-awhile someone will live up to that trust, just like you. Believing that even if it's 1 in a 100...I might gain a life-time friend in the process. I bet you never saw that coming ;) I've never regretted trusting you with my secrets or thoughts, instead I've learned to take risks.

That is just one example of how you can influence others without knowing it :)

You aren't just a "family friend", you're also my friend.

You aren't just a teacher, you're also a listening ear.

You aren't just a talker, you're also a doer.

You aren't just a realist, you're also an optimist.

You aren't just a cynic, you're also a romantic.

You aren't just a grown-up, you're also a kid.

You aren't just a smiler, you're also a laugher.

You aren't just a daughter, you're God's daughter.


Thanks for the calls, texts, quotes, advice, friendship...basically...this post is to thank you for being you! Now smile :) Jesus loves you!

Dios te bendiga senorita!

En Christo,

me