A Walk On Water: My Girl Kristie

What a joy it was to pick up one of my best friends Kristie Beavert from the airport in Managua on Tuesday evening! I am so excited to live life for three months with such a positive, adventurous and loving spirit. I feel very blessed to have this time to serve alongside one another, and to be challenged in the same way from a friend back home.

A little bit about Kristie…she works at Mt. Hood in Oregon as a ski patrol. When she is not working during the week saving lives (here is a news video report of her and her team doing just that: http://www.kgw.com/story/news/2015/01/31/three-climbers-fall-on-mount-hood/22653161/ ), she climbs to the top of mountains on her free time AS IN THE TOPS OF MOUNTAIN RIDGES! To name a few Mt. Hood (4 times), Adams, Glacier, Helens, Baker, Broken Top, South Sister, oh and she has attempted Jefferson twice! [These are all mountains back in our home of the Pacific Northwest]. She inspires me J I love that she brought a map of Mt. Hood, it really has brought a homie feeling into our room.

How we became friends? It all began in our home state, the green state of Oregon. We had mutual friends from high school and we met our first year at Chemeketa Community College. From then we really just meshed well and had very similar interests, a passion for the outdoors, and a desire to serve the Lord the best we could at our age. We clicked! Our first biggest adventure together was the summer I somehow convinced her to work on a berry farm with me. When meeting Barry she told him I convinced her to get rid of her “perfectly good job” at a skate shop to join me in the manual labor of working a night shift at a berry farm in Amity, Oregon. I told her that working on the farm from 8 AM to 8 PM, 6 days a week would definitely be the way to make a nice college student’s summer earning. It was the worst job and the best job all in one! And I wouldn’t have traded it for anything. That was a great bonding time for us. Since then we have enjoyed backpacking trips, motorcycle rides, and wake boarding adventures. I am excited for yet another to share with such a great friend.