One of my dear friends turned 30 yesterday. This weekend, we celebrated with a huge party in her honor. And today, my gift to her is in the form of a list:
30 Things I Love About Hilary
(1) She is brave
(2) She inspires me – to think deeper, to write more, to pray more
(3) Her energetic personality
(4) Her passion for the Lord
(5) She can dance to Billie Jean like no one else I know!
(6) Her beautiful smile
(7) She is introspective and self-aware
(8) Her love for her husband
(9) Her cooking skills; she invites me over on a whim and throws something (amazing) together
(10) Her passion for the cause of homelessness; she doesn’t just talk about it—she interacts with people on a daily basis who have no home
(11) Her adorable dog, Newman!
(12) Her blog
(13) She is spontaneous—she and her husband took a road trip across the entire country, camping along the way
(14) Her love for people, whether she knows them or not
(15) Her honesty
(16) She is transparent, even in the midst of really tough circumstances
(17) Her intelligence
(18) Her love for her parents
(19) She makes me laugh, a lot
(20) She challenges the status quo, especially in the area of “religion”
(21) The fact that she mourned the death of Michael Jackson for weeks (months?) and even wrote a blog post about him
(22) She doesn’t allow people to make her feel small; she stands up for herself
(23) She can be loud and crazy at times, and she can hold your hand and quietly pray for you in a public place with no hesitation
(24) Her dependence on God for guidance
(25) Her beautiful singing voice
(26) She encourages me to be the best version of myself
(27) She has big hopes and dreams
(28) Her loyalty to her friends
(29) She is beautiful—inside and out
(30) She is my friend!
Hilary, I am so glad that God made our paths cross (in a unique way)! I truly believe that he put us together at the exact right time to inspire and encourage each other. Happy Birthday! I love you and can’t wait to see what God has in store for your thirties.
Allison K. Flexer, Author 
What a lovely gift!
What a sweet idea, A2. I know that meant a lot to her.
Allison, WOW! Tthank you so much, this is such a beautiul gift! I am so honored and to humbled to have you in my life. You are such an inspiration to me. I can’t wait to catch up tomorrow!
Love you, Hilary! I am so glad that God brought us together. I can’t wait to see what God does through you during your thirties 🙂
Hilary, I was WOWED by this post. I googled my name justfor theheck of it, amd saw this. i was shocked when i read on because even though i knew this couldnt have been about me, i thought Allison was talking to me personally. which made me tremble inside. i feel such love. we have some differences but as ihave seen, we have manyof thesame qualities and experiences. i would liketo get to know you, if that is possible. i too have camped across America (for three months before making Aliyah to Israel), I also have a passion for helping the homeless, my closest friend is my husband, i have two dogs but they arent named Newman, though my dear friend’s last name is Newman. We are even the same age! this blog post was written while i was in a wheel chair suffering through one of the hardest most oainful times of my whole life. but igot through it. My lovefor the Creator is what got methrough it all. i feel soblessed to havefound this, and you! :0)