Tali

I’m a bit sad today. I talked to my friend, Tali, yesterday and it was great to visit with her…but it made me realize how much I truly miss her…

I met Tali in Sunday School at Broadmoor in September of 2001. I was newly married and lacking friends in the “young married” category - I needed the encouragement of someone in the same climate of life as I was. One Sunday Tali and her husband were sitting across from us in Sunday School. She shared a prayer request that turned into a giggle and then laughter erupted in the class…at that time I remember clearly thinking, “I want to be HER friend.” From that week on, Tali and I have been close…you ladies know what I mean – when you meet that kind of friend, you know in an instant that you’ll be close forever. I can now look back and see that we met at a time in our lives when we both needed a God-given girlfriend…

Tali moved from Shreveport to Charleston, SC in December. She was my closest friend in Shreveport for 4 years and it was VERY hard to say good-bye. I think I cried about 2 hours after I left her house that evening last month. She was one of those friends on whom I could always count to drop everything and run to my side when I needed her. When I had Stone, she brought me tons of boy stuff…when I was hurting from a broken friendship, she hugged me tight and told me that God was the only one I could truly count on…when I was frustrated, she reminded me of God’s perfect timing…and when I was careless with money, she brought me back to my senses.

Tali ALWAYS pointed me to the goodness of Christ because she frequently exclaimed (and still does), “God is SO good – look what He’s done for you & me today!”

Our friendship will always be strong, I am sure. It’s just harder when a phone call replaces the late night latte trips to Barnes and Noble where we would laugh AND cry at the hardships of this life. I miss her presence more than anything right now, but I know God will use this to teach me much…