23 years of memories

Holly and Kelly: We turned 23 today! :)

Hi! :)

For Kelly, just another day of classes and stuff...it's funny how birthdays become a lot less exciting when you get older.  We started off the day with the newly inaugurated president of Berea College, his lovely wife, and a few students at the walk/run club that's been going on all year.  Figured we'd start off our new year of life on the right foot.  Holly was inspired by a conversation with Ms. Laurie (the First Lady) about giving back to your alma mater, and in a very hobbit-like spirit of giving to others, made her very first...and not last...23rd birthday donation to Berea College.  Not a large one, mind you, but sincere.

We met up with a very dear friend for lunch.  This dear friend has become like a little sister to us; she will be graduating with Kelly and will be on to bigger and better things in her life.  :)

The spirit of the day, however, was the receipt of news that we've been expecting for a few days now: our 91 year old Grandpa went to be with Jesus early this morning.  We are all at peace with the situation, and although we are sad of his passing, we rejoice that he is now free of suffering,  with the Lord, and reunited with our grandmother (she passed when we were five years old) and his siblings and parents.  We remember him teaching us how to ride bikes...with much protesting on our part.  He was probably one of the first people to tell us about Jesus and how much He loved us.  He was the epitome of a servant leader: worked hard for what he had, loved his family, loved the Lord.  There will come a day when we will see him again and we long for it.  The outpouring of love, prayers, and support has been absolutely overwhelming and awesome, and we thank you all for it, from the bottom of our hearts.  It's people like you and the good times we do remember that will make this loss easier to deal with.

We turned 23 today.  23 is just a number.  God is good and He is faithful.  He has a plan for us and our lives are changing.  Of course we couldn't do it without Him, but as we said earlier, it's the support of our Berea family and friends that keep us strong.  We are blessed to be a part of your lives and hope for 23 more years of friendships, love, and growing ever stronger in Christ.

Thanks for putting up with us!