Spotlight

I have this friend.

Yes, Julia, the spotlight's on you.

So, anyway, I have this friend...Julia.

Why am I writing a blog post about Julia? No clue. Except that she inspires me. So I thought I'd devote a whole flippin' post to her.

Many people inspire me, so maybe one day, I will spotlight all of them. And many people have been spotlighted in the past. Please refer here, here, here, here, here, here, here and let's not forget here for past spotlights.But anyway, back to this spotlight.

Julia Lewis. Now words can describe this girl. She's real. She's cool. She's real cool. :) She's chill. She's so down to earth. She's genuine. She's without guile. She's herself.

Now sure. Everyone has imperfections. So I'll go ahead and name a few of Julia's.......... Just kidding! :) I wouldn't know what to name, but I'm sure she has them. :)

But really, while she has had struggles, and no one is perfect, this is a girl I want to be like. Mainly because, she knows who she is. The light of Christ shines all over her face. She chooses her time wisely, but can still let loose and relax and have fun.

We have our "things"...just as I do with most of my friends. She taught me the yumminess of scookies (a huge cookie taken right out of the oven, with ice cream put immediately on top so it kind of starts to melt...RIGHT ON THE COOKIE SHEET. No need for bowls or plates.) And watching one of the greatest chick flicks ever, The Lake House. And eating at Craigo's Pizza.

She reads and ponders her scriptures nearly every day. (Or...she did when I was her roommate.) She volunteered as a grandparent person...(sorry, Julia, I don't know the technical name for it.) But it's where she'd go visit older people and hang out with them...every week. In fact, I think she's in charge of that organization now. Or, I could be making that up. But whatever.

She just wrote a blog post about the fun she had helping underprivileged girls in Chicago for the summer.

She's just good, through and through. I never feel judged by her. Never. I'm 5 years older than Julia, and I probably should have set a better example for her while living with her, but she set the example for me. Oh yeah, and she never seems to talk negatively about people.

One of my favorite memories with Julia is of us driving home one snowy winter day...actually, two days. We're both from Oregon, so I was giving her a ride home from Rexburg for Christmas vacation. And, let's face it...Julia is probably a bit more spiritually refined than I am. It was snowing hard. And Chuck and my mom were in the van in front of us. And it was getting dark. And I couldn't see anything. Literally...could not see a thing. I had told Chuck to drive slowly so I could see his tail lights, but he kept speeding up ahead of us. And my windshield wipers would stop every once in a while...and my tires felt like they were going to fall off, and the fluid in my car wouldn't squirt out to wipe off all the slushy mud that was hitting my windshield...and, well, I was SCARED and thought we were going to die. Julia was beside me, and my solution, instead of praying...was swearing. Yeah. I was swearing up a freakin' storm. Did Julia judge me? No. Or, maybe she did...and I just didn't know. She just tried to remain calm...and I think she laughed a couple of times. And then, all of the sudden I was like, "Dang, we're gonna die...I really need to read The Book of Mormon more." And Julia busted up laughing. Her laughing eased my tension. And then, I think I started praying instead of swearing.

But seriously...I never felt judged by her. She's good. Good to the core.

This good girl just got engaged to a man I can only hope is good like her. But, I think good attracts good. I'm so excited for her.

So, Julia, thanks for being you...and the quiet example of the Savior that you are. I've needed you in my life.

And....spotlight over. I've gotta go to the bathroom.