Day 316-Emily Squared

Tuesday, April 7th

Hey guys,

    I think it's interesting how quickly I form a connection with people. For these two girls, I have only known them for about 2 years, but at the same time, I can't imagine NOT having them in my life. In two years, I have grown so close to both of these girls, but in two completely different situations. 

   I'll start with Emily Lengal first, mainly because I met her first. Emily and my friendship blossomed out of tragedy and great loss for both of us, while I was grieving the loss of my brother, she was grieving the loss of her boyfriend of two days. Read that sentence again, TWO. DAYS. 48 HOURS! Literally the first time they held hands was in the hospital. From the get go, we were sort of drawn to each other, at the hospital we would do whatever we could to go in together to see him. At the funeral, she sat next to me, as a member of our "extended family" and was my rock for that day, and for the days to come. As time went on, our friendship blossomed, she became my life line of sorts, I knew that whatever I was dealing with in my life, I could come and talk to her about it, and she would do her best to help. The first summer she went home, it was very hard for both of us to say goodbye, but throughout the summer, we kept each other informed on what was going on in our lives, and supported each other in prayer. I remember one particular instance that REALLY opened my eyes to just how much Emily cares about me, as I was off at the Life Student Conference, a week that I KNEW going in would NOT be an easy week for me, she was in Pennsylvania, her home, supporting me in prayer. As she was counseling at summer camp, she could not shake the worry and heartbreak she had for me that week, so when her best friend asked her what was bothering her, she just broke down. She told her all about me, and where I was that week, and how hard it was going to be for me, and together, they sat there and prayed for me. How cool is THAT?! Anyways, that is only the beginning of our wonderful friendship, and I am so excited to see where the Lord decides to take this friendship.

     Then, there is Emily Trowbridge. She and I met in the fall of my Senior year, she was a freshman at Wheaton, interested in helping with the high school ministry at our church. In that time in my life, I was really struggling, I was in a pretty severe depression, my friends did all that they could to try and help me, but they just couldn't understand what I was feeling and going through. I had basically dug myself a trench, protecting myself from the chaos and hurt and fear of life, while also dwelling on the sadness that consumed me. Emily did more than just try to help, Emily climbed into that trench with me, and fought the battles of life alongside me that year. When we met, we instantly realized that we have a LOT in common, we are very similar personality wise, we both love to laugh and have fun, we both love music, we even grew up in the same neighborhood and didn't even know it! Despite these many similarities that certainly HELPED to build our relationship, I think was really brought us together was that she, too had lost someone, she KNEW what I was going through. As Emily and I grew closer throughout the year, I began to consider baptism more seriously, knowing that not only was it my last year here, but also, there had been tremendous growth in me. When my youth leader told me that I needed to find a baptism mentor, who would walk through the baptism study with me, pray for me, support me, and lead the congregation in prayer for me on that night, my mind instantly went to Emily. That's not to say anything bad about any of the other leaders, but something inside me KNEW that Emily was the right person to do this with. As we ventured into the baptism study, shared our stories, and just continued to get to know each other over the next few months, we formed a special connection, one that no one else will ever have in my life. Emily is, was, and always will be my encouragement to get baptized, and my mentor. Emily is the sort of person that you can go days, weeks, maybe even months without seeing, yet in the back of your mind, you know she hasn't changed. When I see her, even if it HAS been months without talking, we pick up right where we left off, and I think that's awesome.

      Being able to see either of these wonderful girls is a real treat for me, but today, I got to see them BOTH ON THE SAME DAY!!!!!! I spent all day yesterday finalizing plans, and just generally freaking out that I would get to see BOTH of my Emily's in one day! I am so blessed to have these two amazing women in my life, I love the unique connection I have with both of these girls, even though their names may be the same, our friendships are very different, but equally wonderful in their own way. I sincerely hope each of you reading this either have an Emily in your life(not literally...), or that one day you will FIND your Emily.

<3 Always,
Rose