Meet Katie.
She is my GREAT friend.
In his book, Love Does, Bob Goff says,
"Being engaged is a way of doing life, a way of living and loving. It's about going to extremes and expressing the bright hope that life offers us, a hope that makes us brave and expels darkness with light. That's what I want my life to be all about - full of abandon, whimsy, and in love.”
He must have met Katie.
Look at that face! That smile alone expresses the bright hope that life offers.
Want to know what's so beautiful about Katie?
That bright hope radiates off Katie at every moment of every day.
Even the not so happy days.
I've been with her through some of those but even through tears her soul cries Jesus.
Katie helps me be brave.
Whether it's hiking to the tops of waterfalls or facing my scarier soul fears, Katie is there to say "You're doing great Ann."
Oh yeh, Katie calls me Ann. It's my real name, yes, but I don't let just anyone use it.
I've always thought it was plain and dull, but it's a term of endearment coming from her.
She calls me Ann and I hear "I know you. And I love you. Just as you are".
Which is what Jesus whispers to us when we are still enough to actually listen.
Katie spends every day expelling darkness in the world.
Not just in my life or our friends lives, but in the lives of high school kids in Loudon Co.
She's on YL staff and she's kicking ass.
Katie's spirit is magnetic.
Anyone who is that brave, that joyful, that confident in herself and Jesus, can't help it!
People just want to be around her.
I sure do.
She doesn't even have to try.
She just wakes up and loves Jesus.
And he has made her who she is.
Katie and I want to be like 3 people: Jesus, Brooke McMinn, and Tammy Taylor (from FNL).
We figure that if we can be like those 3 people, we can conquer anything (while having fabulous hair).
But the other day, I was having coffee with a friend and while we talked about life and what she maybe should do with hers I said "I think you should be like Katie Clift. I think you should be bold and brave and bright, like Katie."
I spent the weekend having an adventure with Katie and knew that I wanted to write about her here.
At first, I just wanted to write about our hike this weekend and how bad ass we felt when we climbed to the top of the waterfall and had the world to ourselves for a few glorious moments.
But then, as I browsed Facebook for the perfect waterfall photo, I kept noticing how many of life's BIG moments I had shared with Katie.
SO MANY ADVENTURES.
And y'all, there aren't pictures of the spirit adventures we've held each other's hand through.
There aren't pictures of the tears or broken hearts or the late night phone calls.
Katie has LIVED with me and she has helped me to truly live.
I am so lucky.
I don't have to prove any of this to you, but here are some pictures of our adventures, friendship, and love.
And from our hike this weekend:
PS: Katie is currently single (a quite mysterious phenomenon), so boys...think long and hard about if you've got what it takes to do life with this girl. You are probably not as awesome as she is.
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