Day Four: A friend I adore.

Is it obnoxious that I blog everyday? Maybe. I promise to stop linking every post on Facebook. Only the good ones. And this my friend, is a good one.

When I saw "A friend I adore" I thought: Duh. Carrie. But then I thought....didn't I already write a sappy blog about my almost unnatural love for this women? Maybe I should pick someone else...

I could write about my husband. How he hasn't left me even though almost everyday when he gets home, I've failed to shower or clean the house in any way. But it said "Friend" not "Husband" and blah blah my husband is my friend, but my friends are not my husband. Get it? No? To bad.

Then I considered writing about my friend Joe. I "adore" him. I think he's an amazingly talented musician, and film maker, (and stop motion animator, and music video maker...) and even a phenomenal writer. He's an interesting fellow who plays every instrument you can think of, including the accordion, who blogs about his crazy dreams, works for a internet radio station, and is trying to teach me to run. We've worked together at Prairie Camp for 1,000 years, and I've got some pretty good stories about the guy. But then, I pictured the look on his face when he found out I wrote a blog post about how much I adore him, and changed my mind.

I do have more than one friend, I promise. I could have written about Amy, who's husband is a Marine and a cop. She's about to have her first kid and she's hilarious and tough as nails. Or I could have talked about Janey, who I worked goofed off with so many years ago at school. She's an awesome lady who's been through a lot and has ended up smarter, funnier and skinner than ever before.

But alas, at the end of the day it's Carrie I meet for late night movies in my sweatpants, it's Carrie's house I go to when I need to sit and eat a tray full of cookies and laugh til I pee my pants. So let me briefly tell you why I so adore Carrie Badertscher.

This post is already getting obnoxiously long, so I really will try and be brief. There are 3 things I adore about my friend Carrie. Motherhood, Ministry, and Misery. (I really wanted 3 M's...so the last's ones a stretch...)

Motherhood.

I have a great Mom, that I've learned so much from, but there is something about walking through motherhood with someone, that you teaches you so much. I not only learned the basics of caring for an infant but I think I learned something far greater from watching Carrie's journey into motherhood. It's a bit controversial, and will probably offend some people, but I believe it to the core of my being: Pregnancy is not motherhood.

Your ability to physically give birth to a child, does not make you a mother. What's amazing about Carrie, is that adoption for her was not a "last resort", it was her first intention on growing a family. And for those who say "Adoption is the easy way" are retarded. I would rather push out 100 12 pound babies with no drugs, than have to worry for one minute that someone could take my child away. I learned so much about true motherhood from my dear friend that I cannot even begin to describe it, or this post will get long, and rambling, and super sappy.

Ministry

First off, it's hard to find women in ministry. So the fact that the women has been in positions of leadership in the church, is already super cool. What is cooler, is that this women is recklessly following the calling of the Lord. When I first started becoming friends with her, she was transiting from a youth pastor, to a full time camp director. That in itself was risky, and crazy and new. But lets just say, she nailed it. Her family was made for that ministry. Her husband is super handy and easy going, she is a creative and dedicated leader, and even little Stella loves playing with big kids. They fit so well.

Now she and her family are inner city missionaries. And guess what? They are perfect for that. Carrie has hip hop in her blood, David is again, handy and easy going, and the kids love him (and his xbox) and Stella...she loves playing with big kids. I think the reason they are perfect at everything, is not because they are perfect, it because they have been specifically created for the ministries God has put them in. And they are willing to go. Which is huge.

Misery

I'm seriously stretching on this one, but I lost my pocket thesaurus so I couldn't think of a better word.

The third thing I adore about Carrie, is that she FEELS for people. In any situation she's been in she not only "SEE's the need" but she "FEEL's the need" (Prairie Camp 2011 anyone?!) Her heart is broken for the people around her in need. It's one of the things I worry most about her at Keller Park. People there are hurting so much, and so deep. I know that Carrie desperately wants to fix everything, but can only do so much. Everyday I pray that God will give her an abundance of strength and resources to be his hands in the area. I pray He'll give her glimpses of his glory and victories, and times of rest. I also pray that people will shower her will blessings, because they are missionaries, living on support, and I cannot even imagine how hard that is.

So if you think about it today, pray for my dear friend Carrie and her family. And maybe think about supporting their ministry. Because I really adore her.