So Excited!

I got a text a few minutes ago from my dear friend, Chariti. It said, "Only 15 hours until we meet Krystina!" My friend and her husband and their boys are meeting the little girl that God has given their family to adopt tomorrow morning, and I get to be there to document it with my camera! I am just so excited that I can hardly think straight today.

... and I am humbled. I have had the honor of being in the background while families have given birth to babies, while families have said goodbye to babies that have not lived long beyond birth, and now this - as my friends meet their new daughter for the first time. I don't know why God would bless me with the opportunity to witness such events, but I am thankful. What a blessing to get to use my camera and my desire to document life to help families (and my family and friends) record such a meaningful events!

Chariti is a friend that I have known for the last 8+ years and through circumstances, our paths did not cross in a way that we got to spend a lot time together for much of that time... although most every time that we did get a chance to visit I walked away thinking how much I liked her, how much we had in common, and how I thought that we could really be friends. Last year, she moved out of state, and I never really thought about the fact that we could develop a friendship after that point, but God had different plans. Several months ago Chariti was back in town and was able to go to a mutual friends' birthday party. We got to talking, and because of that conversation (and a few conversations after it) we decided to do a Bible study together (long distance). We both wanted to do a study on contentment, and we decided to do it at the same time - me from my state and her from hers. It was not traditional, and it was exactly what I needed. I could be 100% real with her, and she could be same with me. Through blogging and emails and phone calls and meeting at Starbucks when she was back in town visiting her parents and Facebook and chatting online, we have formed a friendship that is deep. Maybe it is not traditional, but it is real! Our friendship - and the things that came of our Bible study together - came at a time that I needed it, and I am forever thankful to God for bringing her into my life... even though it is from a few states away. Thanks to technology, it doesn't feel so far.

Tomorrow is a huge day in my friend's life - probably one of the top 5 - and I am more than a little ecstatic that I get to hide in a corner with a camera up to my eye and get a glimpse of it. Chariti - I can't tell you how happy I am that you have a daughter, how amazed I am that I have literally gotten to witness God granting you the desire of your heart this week, or how much I appreciate the opportunity that you are giving me to be a part of your big day! I love you... and I can hardly wait until tomorrow!