I started off this morning with the Farnworths! That's my sister Ashley, her husband Caleb, and my newest niece, Emery Grace! (I'm using exclamation points because I'm talking in my excited Aunt voice in my head as I type).
I am so very thankful for Ashley. She was my very best friend growing up and has been with me through all of life's adventures. In an instant I think of a million little moments of being little girls together and life being more sweet by having the other.**
When I was about 7, I didn't like my bed at Mom and Al's and so some nights I would sleep on the couch, but most nights I would sleep in Ashley's room. We would fall asleep talking and taking turns scratching each others' backs. In the summers, we would stay up late watching movies on her TV set with a built-in VCR.
Throughout high school, Ash and I would talk through her problems, drama, etc. I would offer all the wisdom a nerdy 13-year-old could. We never really had an older/younger sister complex. We were more just friends and equals, despite the 3-year age gap. I would often act as her lawyer in parent court. My parents liked to execute justice from the comfort of their bed, and I have given some spirited arguments from the foot of the bed, often pacing for dramatic effect, sitting at the right moment in a plea for mercy.
Fast forward a decade and some change. A lot has changed (big duh--we're old now). Ashley went away to California for school. Graduated from Loma Linda with a degree in dental hygiene. She got married and moved to Seattle, where she's a kick butt hygienist. She and Caleb just had their first baby, Emery Grace!
It's hard for me to deeply communicate the profound proudness and love I have for Ashley. She is an amazing woman who has overcome so much to be where she is. The Lord has blessed her, carried her and shaped her. She is one of the kindest, most sensitive and joyously infectious people you'll meet. I've watched her grow, adapt and change through all these different seasons by God's grace. She's a different person! She's a wife and a mom now.
A mom! How crazy is that? Oh, friends. She is such a good mom. She loves her sweet daughter fiercely and is caring for her so well. I'm so proud to watch her grow and trust the Lord in this new season and role.
So, today I am thankful for Ashley. I am thankful for Caleb and how through their marriage, I have seen an Ashley I didn't know before. I've watched the Lord use Caleb to grow Ashley and to help her look more like Christ. Now I'm seeing my sweet sister get to love her daughter and oh! what a joy!
And I'm so thankful for Emery Grace. I cannot wait to see who God has made her to be. I pray that she will know Christ, love Him, and walk with Him all her days.
* If you know me and my family, you might chuckle to see this post called "Flesh and Blood" family because today I'm writing about my step-sister Ashley. But step-sister doesn't seem right, and while she's not biologically my sister, Ashley is as much my sister as any of the others.
**Please don't read this as viewing the world from rose-tinted glasses, we have our share of horror stories too, but the sweet moments outweigh the rotten by far.
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