10 on the 11th

It's time for my annual Christmas ornament post! This year, here are 10 friends I think about when I look at my Christmas tree:
1. Mendy

When I was little, we lived in Dale City, Virginia, for 5 years. There were a few families at our church who truly became family. Most were military families, but not all. The Barretts lived up the street and around the corner, and to this day I know if I needed anything, they'd be there for me. Mrs. Barrett made ceramics, and made me this kitty when I was 5.
2. Alyssa

We moved from Dale City to San Diego when I was 10. I didn't meet Alyssa until I started going to Spring Valley Jr. High in the 7th grade, but we had most of our classes together and the same hair (except hers was blond). We had some really deep conversations...and some really silly moments! She gave me a surprise going-away party when we moved to Arkansas, and the next summer flew to Arkansas to visit! It was her first time to see lightning bugs and to hear cicadas. And it was also her first time to meet Jesus! She was blessed with lots of artistic talent, which she uses today to teach art to children. She painted this sled for me.
3. Amanda

After my family visited First Baptist Church of Conway for the first time, Amanda and her mom visited us in the duplex we were living in while our house was being built. We sat on the cot I slept on (our furniture was in storage) and got to know each other, and we were practically inseparable from that day on. What fun it was, after living away from Conway for 21 years, to move back for a year and go to Sunday School together again and realize that some friendships never change.
4. Angie

Angie and I lived next door to each other on Flippen First Floor our freshman year in college, and were part of a group of 12 girls who knew how to laugh and cry together. After a campus revival of sorts broke out during Global Focus Week that spring, we bonded together as sisters. The next three years we were roommates, even though she was an RA and could have had a room to herself. Then after she married Charlie and I moved to Fort Worth to teach...she and Charlie moved to Fort Worth for seminary, and ended up joining the church I went to. And a certain Mike Sandusky joined it the year after that. :) It's been fun watching our families grow from opposite sides of the world, but it's even more fun now living an hour away from each other so her family can come have supper and a White Elephant Christmas gift exchange with us. In which I get a yam.
5. Mandy

Another of my Flippen First friends was a frail, small girl with a heart defect. I was always afraid I would break her if I hugged her too hard. She and Sandra became my rides to church every week, and somehow we ended up with this thing of quoting "Have Faith in God" to each other. She had more patience than I did--enough to cross-stitch lots of beautiful things like this. She went to heaven about 15 years ago.
6. Sandra

One more Flippen First friend! We shared a lot of hoped and dreams together. When I lived in Fort Worth and she lived in Little Rock, we took a vacation together to see Laura Ingalls Wilder's home in Missouri, something we'd always wanted to do. I bought this ornament at Silver Dollar City and gave it to Mike, who I had just started dating...secretly hoping I'd get it back someday.
7. Karrry

Karry and I became friends on a mission trip with our Fort Worth church when we discovered (along with another friend, Amy) how this one guy was stringing all of us along with the same lines. Haha--funny thing is, we all stayed friends with him, too! Karry and I ended up rooming together for a couple of years before I married Mike...and I was in her wedding 6 weeks after I had Jessica!
8. Denise

After Mike and I had been married for a year and he graduated from seminary, we moved to Lewiston, Idaho. One of the first things we did was go eat with Tim and Denise, and I hopped up on her kitchen counter and we talked and talked and talked! The 4 of us were instant friends. We always had a Christmas get-together, and were there for the births of all our children, and the deaths of some of our parents. We even sang in church together once, something my husband has never done since! We went on vacation together in San Antonio, and my family stayed with her family when we went back to the Northwest for a wedding/vacation...but I really miss her. I wish she could come see me.
9. Matt and Jackie

Matt was one of our first college students when we moved to Moscow, Idaho, and became a part of our family--especially around our Easter table. He and Mike have a lot in common. We were so happy when he and Jackie started dating...and then got married...and then had little Owen! I can't believe he's over a year old now and I haven't even been able to hold him yet. But I'm SURE his parents tell him we love him...right, Jackie?
10. Kim

Our next-door-neighbors in Moscow became like adopted grandparents to our girls. When we trick-or-treated their house, they had special treat bags for my girls. :) 'Cause they were special. At Easter we would show them the girls in their dresses, and at Christmas, when we took them baked goodies, she gave us stained glass! They were really good neighbors.

When I look at my tree, I see so many ways I am blessed beyond measure.