BLESSED

These past two weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind for us. After the tornado hit, I sent e-mails and text messages to my friends asking for prayers for my family and my hometown/community. Not only did they send up the prayers, they sent the blessings, and a lot of them!

My school started a tornado relief drive and collected supplies, bottled water, and non-perishables last week. My brother was able to drive down and load up his truck and take them to Ider mid week.

the ministry center

My sweet, dear friend Haley sent out an e-mail asking for help, little did she know what she had just done! She and her husband, Lane, brought a 16ft truck load FULL of supplies for our hometown this past Saturday morning. She gathered things from her town of Marietta, GA all the way to her hometown of Auburn, AL. She and Lane spent the day in Ider with us working at our church's new ministry center and visiting with storm victims.

the truck full of supplies!

Haley and I have been friends since I was 16. She found her way to Ider one summer after a mission trip her home church (Auburn First Baptist) had been on. She actually dated my middle brother for awhile, but all good high-school relationships must come to an end at some point! ha! (We like to joke about how we became such good friends) She and Josh broke up, but Haley and I continued our faithful friendship! And I'm so thankful for that.

We remained friends all through college and she kept me sane though a lot of tough times in college. Her family became my "Auburn family" and it never failed I ended up eating dinner with the entire family on multiple occassions. I'll never forget the Easter that I wasn't able to drive to Ider for the weekend and Gran (Haley's grandmother) invited me to Easter dinner at their house. And if you know Gran, you don't tell her no!

I was able to stand by Haley on her wedding day and was honored to have her do the same for me. Her younger sister, Peyton, did my make-up for my bridal portraits and on my wedding day. I was able to hold her baby girl when she was just a few days old and help welcome her little boy into the world a few years later. I call her dad "Papa" just like the rest of the kids... it's scary how much we are alike!

Haley is one of the most kind, giving, selfless people that I know. She is an amazing friend and a fabulous mother. She truly is a servant of God and I see that every day, I especially saw it this past weekend as she and her husband loaded up their church's big 'ol truck and left their kiddos with grandparents to travel to Ider to help out. She always makes me laugh, challenges my daily walk with Christ, and reminds me why we are here--- and that is to serve others with an unconditional love, just as Christ loves us!

Lane & Haley, thank-you so much for all you did for Ider! Your love and hard work are greatly appreciated. You will never know what your family means to me! We love you!