Today’s our last day. We’re packing up in a bit, and starting our trek back to DFW. I know I wrote about friends at the beginning of this trip, but it’s always at the end of a trip that I have fresh appreciation for my traveling companions, and this time is no exception.

Lynne is one of the happiest people I know. Even when I know there to be a dark cloud or two looming over her world, she lives her life like every day is clear, bright and a perfect 72 degrees. It’s not that she is unrealistic, but she chooses to remember that the sun is always shining above every cloud, and, hey, why not live remembering that?

She’s an extraordinary gift-giver, with other people at the forefront of her mind at all times, and if she sees something that she knows a person would love, she gets it. She doesn’t wait for an occasion, but gives it quickly, with her words, in her own beautiful hand, affirming that person, and building them up.

She’s a born nurturer. Seeing a need – any need – she fills it to the best of her ability. She loves hard and deep, and if you are blessed to be counted among her friends, you’ll quickly discover she’s there for the long haul, for the good and the not so good. This week in her company finds me thankful, all over again, for her friendship.

It’s been a beautifully bright week here in the Hill Country of Texas, with the Son breaking through any looming clouds, smiling down brilliantly on the one who remembers His constant presence and her very blessed friend.

“A friend loves at all times…” Proverbs 17:17 ESV