It's Time to Get Sentimental

            Once upon a time when I was thirteen or something like that, a friend of mine wanted to hang out. Unfortunately, I had to deal with the nasty business of cleaning my room first. So, being the good friend that she was, she came over to help me, and brought one of her friends along to help as well. For some incredible reason, the friend of my friend didn’t run for cover when she saw my room, and instead invited me to her birthday party.

And that is how I met my best friend.

           

            I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason. I believe that God gives us trials, allows for “coincidences,” and causes us to meet people because He knows that something good will come of it. So I know that God looked down and said, “Alyssa needs a best friend. I’m going to inspire Brianna to bring her friend—a girl who seems to be completely different in every way from Alyssa—to help clean Alyssa’s room.” Ladies and gentlemen, God works in mysterious ways. And hallelujah for that.

           

            God knew that in years to come, I would want someone with me to do all the silly things that teenaged girls do. I would want a companion in my weirdness, and someone to do girly stuff with, like paint my nails, learn how dress nice, do my hair, and gossip with about boys. I would want a friend to laugh with (because we have the same brand of “Sparknotes” humor) about things that other people wouldn’t understand. We have had some truly fun and fantastic times over the years. We have more inside jokes and happy memories than we can keep track of.

However, even more importantly, God knew that as we grew up, I would desperately need more than just a “fun” friend—I needed someone that would talk and listen about deep subjects as well as relatively superficial ones. He knew that it was important that I would have someone truly amazing as my best friend. He knew that I needed someone who would be completely non-judgmental, who would always be there for me, who would have empathy for my struggles, who would sneak out and risk getting in trouble (she did and I still feel bad) to come see me when I needed a friend, who would listen to me talk for hours on end, who would let me listen for hours on end, who I could trust with my secrets, who could tell me her secrets, who would forgive me, who could always lift my spirits, and who I could talk to about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. God knew that as I discovered the harder things in life, I would need someone who could relate and who would always have my back.

            God is amazing. Somehow he created a chain of events that started way WAY back before either of us were born that would lead to a fantastic friendship. They say that a best friend is someone who knows everything about you and likes you anyway. That is exactly the way I would describe my best friend, Makayla Jensen.

           

Moral of the story: If a stranger sees your messy room and decides to invite you to her birthday party anyway, KEEP HER FOREVER.