celebrating julie!

before i moved to this mountain community i was involved in Campus Life. i loved this ministry where individuals reached out to me, formed relationships with me, saw something in me that i did not see in myself, and drew me into Christ.
after such an investment was made in me, it was only natural that i would want to be part of such a ministry. when i moved here, and discovered that this mountain community had a program that was very similar, i jumped in to YOUNG LIFE!

michael and i both served a very fun 5 years as volunteer leaders with Young Life.
to this day, many of the lasting relationships i have formed in this mountain community are a result of those years in Y.L.

One of those relationships is with julie hilliard
(a.k.a. family jules). l-r shirin, julie, and me!
it is beautiful to look back over my 15 years here, and to see how God has shaped our friendship. julie has listened, hoped, spoken wisdom, corrected, fought for, taught, and delighted in me... she has LOVED me. over the years she has become not only friend, but part of my tribe.

last night we got to celebrate julie and her birthday!

we took a little walk down memory lane, and sheffie (julie's husband, and the Y.L. leader from back in the day) lead us in some ol' Y.L. songs. here is a snippet from two of our favorites!

"sha la la la la la la la la la la ti da....la ti da"