letters, opus 1, no. 2.

to sexy beast amani,

you have always been a source of joy in my life. whenever you come around, you bring something new and exciting to the table and never fail to include me in that experience. you challenge me daily to step out of my comfort zone for the sake of discovering fun and discovering myself, and you hold me accountable for the things i have said, because you want me to be the best that i can be.

laughter has and always will be a pillar of our friendship. it surrounds the time we spend together. but even more so, our friendship is built on pillars of transparency and trust. i can always count on you to be real with me, to correct me when i say something uninformed and bring me to a place of knowledge, to be honest with me about your own shortcomings and points of growth, and to speak life to my own. through the test of time, i have come to trust that there's nothing i can do to undo the investment you've placed in me. you approach me with patience, with a heart to listen, and a capacity to love more and more with every text and phone call. i approach you knowing you will give me something new to meditate on, and i never leave disappointed. you are a wealth of Godly wisdom and understanding. you inspire me to love myself more than i already do and promote what i was made with at every moment.

i say this with confidence: i learn what it means to be ambitious from you. i take my goals and i crank them up more notches than i am comfortable with because you confront me with the truth that i am greater than i know, and compel me to act with excellence in everything i do. if it were not for you, i wouldn't have read "think like a man" or "get the guy" or listened to "the read," or had a modern and informed understanding of what relationships look like (or be confident in the idea of having one). you have encouraged (and occasionally demanded) my growth in so many arenas of my life, because you see my greatness not just as it is, but as it will be through the work of the Holy Spirit. i was always shook when you came to book club every week with verse upon verse and citation after citation to back up or dispute what we had read. you took 'taking it seriously' to another level, and challenged me to think deeper about the material we were consuming and relate it to what God says about us. you are the sister in Christ God knew i needed and graciously gave. you make me wanna level up and get it done. you know who you are and you don't stop until those around you treat you like that royalty. you are compassionate, you are loyal, you are driven. you radiate a desire to know the unknown, to conquer it, and to make it fun.

i love you. and you're doing great. to stand by your side is to stand at the top.

love,
ya best b