On Sisters and Soulmates

          Eleven years ago this Thanksgiving, I brought a girl that barely knew me home for the holidays. We were in the Air Force together, and we had just found out that we would both be stationed in Georgia for our first duty assignment. Her friends were all going to Oklahoma, so she wasn't feeling super positive about the move, but I remember telling her in my (then) very deep southern accent that God had a plan, and that this would be a good thing. She didn't quite know what to think of me and my optimism at the time, and as we traveled deep into the Alabama wilderness on our first adventure of many to come, she experienced a dead raccoon that my PawPaw had killed just before we arrived, cotton all over the side of the roads, and the unique and pungent smell of a paper mill close by. She became a part of my family that day, eleven years ago, and we have been inseparable ever since. 

          We moved into an apartment together when both of our engagements fell through. We helped each other through the heartache of broken relationships with wine, girl talk, lots of chocolate, and most importantly with Jesus. When one of us was down, the other was there to do the heavy lifting for us both. And that's the way it's been ever since. At first I acted as her big sister. I was her protector in a way (which she totally hated, by the way), and as the years passed by, our roles evened out, and we became one another's protectors. We got to know one another's families, and we truly became sisters at heart. The friendship we forged goes beyond just that...she is my family; someone God brought into my life to walk with me through it all, and I am beyond blessed to know her and call her my sister. 

          She stood beside me when I married my sweet husband, and I was blessed to stand beside her at her wedding. We even shared the dress. :) When her precious son was born, I was there to watch him come into this world. When mine was born, she returned the favor by stroking my hair, bringing me ice chips, and encouraging me through 23 hours of labor. She went with me to meet my dad for the first time ever, and traveled with me to meet the rest of my entire family later on. We have traveled to Africa and loved on orphans together, we have struggled together through earning degrees in psychology and religion, child-rearing challenges, being godly wives when being godly is difficult, and and I know He hasn't finished with His plan for us yet. 

          This woman gets me on a level that no one but Jesus does. I can look at her and without saying a word she knows what I'm thinking. Our friendship is rare and is often hard to grasp, and we both know how very lucky we are to have found one another in this life. I know in the end we will be blue haired old ladies side by side on a porch or snuggled on a couch while our husbands do whatever husbands do. And yes, I know that probably sounds weird, but that's because there are so few things in this world that are constant and true, especially when it comes to friendship. It's okay that people don't get us. We're okay with that, because at the end of the day we get each other; we know He brought us together, and we will always have that. 

          When we think of soulmates we often think of significant others, but I think that soulmates can come in all kinds of forms. The term is defined by Merriam-Webster as "a close friend who completely understands you" and " a person who strongly resembles another in attitudes or beliefs." I'm so incredibly blessed to have found a soulmate in my sister. She is a joy to love, and as we celebrate 11 years of friendship, I celebrate her sweet heart; that she found room in it for me, and that we will be family forever, come what may.