My friend Kim

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Friends are precious gifts from the Lord. And for me Kim was that special gift. She was a kindred spirit. After we became friends, you rarely saw one without the other. So much so that in seminary a few people would say “where’s your twin?” One would say “where’s your evil twin?” I’ll let you decide which one was the evil twin! And we knew each other so well that I even knew her SS#. Every month I had to pay put my share of the rent into her account so she could pay the rent. I had to tell it to the clerk every month and one day she said “I can’t believe you have her SS# memorized, it’s like you all are married!”And on the phone we even sounded a like, some of our friends couldn’t tell us apart, like Eddie. One of us would call him and he’d say “Kim, Elizabeth” and we’d keep talking until he finally figured out which one he was talking to!

With Kim there was always something to laugh about. And cooking was one of those things. Kim loved to cook. It didn’t always turn out just right but she liked to cook. One night in seminary she had cooked dinner for me because I worked late. She had fixed potato soup and a baked potato. I mean if you are going to have a soup with your baked potato then you don’t fix potato soup! She didn’t realize what she had done til I got home and said you fixed what?! Or she loved to fix some concoction. We didn’t always have a lot of food in the cupboards and so she would take what we had and mix it all together. I have to say most of the time it was pretty tasty but it always made me laugh because I would get home and she would say “I fixed a new concoction!” Oh brother here we go again!

Another thing that use to make us laugh was going to Macy’s and trying on their sunglasses. We would find the biggest ugliest pair put them on and then just laugh and laugh. We even took people with us that were a little skeptical at how much fun this would be and every time we would prove them wrong! Or some of you know Kim would love to bug you to death. She loved to do this to me in the mornings when she woke up and I would still be asleep. She would get tired of me sleeping so she would say, “Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Elizabeth” like a thousand times! Until I got up! And she loved to do it to Billy! “Billy, Billy, Billy! That was one of her favorite things to do to bug you. And she was good at it!

Kim was a special friend. She was always willing to listen to me, pray with me, sing with me, laugh with me, whatever she was always there. But the thing that made her most a kindred spirit was her love for the Lord. Kim’s faith in Him was strong. Kim believed that she could do all things through Christ who gives her strength in Phil. 4:13. This was one of her favorite verses. When she decided to go back to college she knew she could do it through Christ’s strength. When she decided to go to seminary she knew she could do it because of Christ’s strength. When He called her to serve Him overseas and tell the people of Indonesia and Singapore about the Love of Christ she knew she could do it with Christ’s strength. And when she was diagnosed with breast cancer she knew she could only get through it with the power and strength of Jesus Christ. And she made it through with His strength all the way. “I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength.” She never tried to do any this on her own. She was always quick to give God the glory for everything He had done in her life. I thank God for giving me Kim and I thank Him even in her death that she is now with Him praising Him all day long! One day we will be praising Him together!