I dedicate this to my bestie!

I do not normally write birthday posts. However, today is the birthday of my closest and dearest friend Kirsten Richards, and since I cannot be with her to celebrate today, I felt she deserved a special birthday post!

Kirsten and I have been friends for a looooonnnnnnnnngggggggggg time. As in, forever. She is exactly one week older than I am, and I cannot remember a time in my existence when she was not a part of my life. I do not remember the act of becoming friends with her. I just remember always having my best friend. Most people when they say they've been friends with someone for twenty years have a friend that they met in high school of college that they're still close with years later. They usually aren't about to turn twenty. But that's how our friendship is! As we've always said, "Ours is a friendship of fairy-tales!"

This is Kirsten and I on our very first soccer team. Aren't we stinking cute?! We were CLEARLY dedicated soccer players. There are several things I would like to point out about this picture. 1) I do not know if this was a game or not. But the fact that we are wearing uniforms would lead me to believe we are in fact playing a game. Like I said, clearly dedicated to the beautiful game. ;) 2) Kirsten is wearing tennis shoes. Another sign that we were for sure there to play soccer, and not just enjoy each other's company. 3) Growing up, Kirsten's hair was always perfect. I never quite knew how Kim did it, but she always had all five of her girls dressed with beautiful hair. And when I would stay the night, I got the same deal! Six girls, hair all done, I'm still impressed. 4) I think this says a lot about our friendship- skipping around without a care in the world, oblivious to the things around us. :) It was always Kirsten and I, and we never had any worries of anything else!

Those of you who have known us for a long time will remember the matching days. Yes, we could go for days on end wearing the exact same clothes. And yes, we frequently did just that. And yes, as seen above, we had matching pjs. And yes, we really did think we were the coolest people ever. It was fun while it lasted, but thankfully those days are gone. And in case you're wondering, we didn't normally wear our hair this way. I think it was stunt night at camp...

Kirsten and I first went to South Africa together as wide-eyed sixteen year olds. Those two weeks were some of the most incredible, and life-changing two weeks of my life, and I'm so glad we had the chance to make that trip together. Things that stick out in my mind from that trip: 1) trying to synchronize our in-flight TVs to watch a movie at the same time. 2) First day of ministry, dancing with the girls in Wedela (pictured above). 3) Washing our hair in the sink and finding out our brain stems are VERY ticklish! 4) Cutting up hundreds and hundreds of oranges to distribute to the kids that came to the VBS. 5) Cleaning out the shed with the Pinelands team. 5) Getting a chance to serve the amaZioni people, and work alongside our wonderful missions partners. 6) Seeing real giraffes!
Kirsten is now on her third trip to South Africa, this time for a six month stay. I'm so proud of her and the heart she has for helping and working with the people of South Africa. I can't wait to hear stories of how God has used her during her stay there! Maybe someday we can go back again together. :)

I could go on for pages and pages about the 20 years we've spent together. But instead, I'll put up some of my favorite pictures of the two of us and let you see for yourself the memories we've made! I've been richly blessed by this beautiful girl's friendship. I can't wait to see where the next twenty years (and beyond!) will take us.

Kirsten, thanks for sticking with me for this long. Happy Birthday, love!