Day 8 | Liz!

Me as Sally Ride, Liz as Lady Liberty!

Today I am thankful for Elizabeth Fryman! She is my best friend and February 1st is her birthday. Her 30th birthday, to be exact. Very exciting stuff!

We celebrated tonight with an American-themed party because Liz loves red, white and blue and also America. Her favorite holiday is the 4th of July and she loves to read biographies of different historical figures (like the founding fathers).

Basically Liz is awesome, and more than her love of temporary things, Liz loves the Lord in a way that has changed my life. My friendship with Liz happened in a way that can only be attributed to the Lord perfectly working things together. We were only acquaintances, but somehow at the beginning of my first summer in Savannah (between my sophomore and junior year of college), I ended up over at Liz's house and we got to talking for a very long time.  At some point, and for reasons I only vaguely remember, Liz cried (that happens only on rare occasion) and basically that was it. We have been best friends since that point. The Lord used some temporary frustrating situation to create our friendship. He has since used us to support and encourage each other through many difficult things.

Liz and I understand each other in ways that it would be impossible to communicate to others. We have a deep admiration and ability to assume the best of each other. This is a special gift from God and one of the greatest ways that the Lord has grown me. Liz often assumes the best of me and my intentions and so I rise to meet her expectation of me. In this way, I have grown to become more like Christ, to make wiser decisions and to feel more comfortable being myself. What a sweet friendship!

Liz has been there through lots of tears and frustrations. She has sacrificed to care for me, and to celebrate with me! She challenges me and calls me out in my sin. She is such a wonderful sister in Christ.

Liz is a godly woman who loves the Lord and His Gospel more than she loves anyone or anything. She seeks to be obedient to Him, to live a life worthy of His Gospel. She loves others selflessly and rejoices with those who are rejoicing and weeps with those who are weeping. She is a dear friend and there is no one who understands me quite like she does.

So, I am thankful to God for this amazing woman. There is so much more I could say, so many examples I could give you about this sweet friendship and how God has used it to point us both to Him, but I'll simply leave it with that. God is good. Liz's friendship is a gift.