Introducing...

Yesterday I blogged about my love for photography and how badly I really want to snap lots of photos lately.  Someone who shares my same sentiment is my dearest dear friend, Kari.  She is actually pursuing photography as a career and I think she's quite excellent at it.  Here's a link to her site: [Kari Renee Photography].  I wanted to steal another photo to put here (a fabulous one from her journey to Thailand), but turns out she's wise and I couldn't get it from her site.  You should check out her skills and consider adding one of these jeweled numbers to bare walls in your house.  I am narrowing down my selections in the next week.   Instead, here's a shot of sweet Purdy and I that Kari nabbed when we weren't looking.

(Hubers Orchard, October 2008)

Kari and I met while working on Summer Staff at Rockbridge (a Young Life camp) back in July of 2003.  (2003 never really seems like that long ago, I think I'm perpetually stuck in 2005, but I can't believe it was 7 years ago!)  The best part is that we really weren't that good of friends on Summer Staff and didn't start hanging out until that next year.  Since then our friendship has really spiked and grown into something so amazing.  I love that the thing that connects Kar and I is Christ.  I think that's something I like about all of my YL/Summer Staff friends.  We may not all have tons of likes/dislikes in common, but I know that we are joined by Christ.  Whether near or far, Christ is the central theme in our lives and no matter what we've got going on we can always connect about what we're learning, how we're challenged, and how we're growing in the Lord.

I love how the Apostle Paul starts off many of his letters to churches around the world.  It's my favorite when he says things like, "I long to see you so that...you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith."  [Romans 1:11-12].  Could you imagine the world he lived in?  I bet Paul would have never fathomed of the internet and email and how connect we can be even when we live more than 10 miles away from each other.

So...

Thank you, internet, for giving me the ability to connect with my best friends when I live hundreds of miles away and need spiritual, emotional, and mental encouragement.  And, thank you, friends, for fulfilling the preceding statement with all your blog posts, comments, emails, and photos.  Love you all!