My best friend Katlyn and I have known each other since we were little children. We grew up in the same church area and have always shared a special sisterly bond with each other.

About two years ago, we were separated as I moved to Michigan and then we both moved even further apart to advance our education. The distance has faced our friendship with challenges as life’s dramatic changes, new responsibilities, and areas of growth have been happening to each of us from afar off.

Thanks to technology, we have been blessed to stay in contact with one another—but the quality time to spend with each other in person is something I have truly missed.

But before I go on, I’d like to tell you a little bit about Katlyn and myself.

We both grew up in broken homes with our individual parents of the same faith. I lived with my mother and had three brothers. She lived with her dad and had two sisters. She is younger but taller. I am older but the shorter one. I express best how I think and feel by my actions and she expresses best how she thinks and feels by her words.

Together, we balance each other out and learn from one another how to better develop our individual strengths and weaknesses. In Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, 12 the Bible says, “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in trouble. A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer” (NLT). This has been proven true to us, even from a young age, as we have always believed that it is by God’s divine direction that we met and became best friends.

Living apart from one another has been difficult. But this past weekend was one of the highlights of our lifelong friendship because God blessed us with an opportunity to be reunited again at the uplifting United Church of God “Winter Family Weekend” in Cincinnati, Ohio. There was much edification in the weekend’s theme of “Family, Friends, Fellowship and Fun” focused throughout all of the activities and seminars. But I left the weekend feeling especially thankful for something special God has given me, and that's my best friend, Katlyn.