30 - Abby Kirkland

Happy Birthday Whitney! In honor of your 31st birthday, here are 31 things I LOVE about YOU!

1. Your laugh is so happy and contagious.
2. Your walk with the Lord is so deep and real. You can tell that you love the Lord. It shows in all you do.
3. You are such an awesome wife. You love Derek like crazy, and it shows. You keep your marriage above everything, second only to your relationship with Christ, which is exactly how it is supposed to be. I love watching y’all together.
4. You are such an awesome mom. You love your kiddos so well and teach them about the Lord. I love watching the way you talk to them and parent them. I have learned a lot from watching you with Ella and Marcus.
5. You are an encourager. You “pour courage” into others all the time (yes I learned that from you :)).
6. Your love for big drinks. I can always picture you with a styrofoam cup in your hand (usually full of Diet Coke except it doesn’t agree with baby #3 ;)).
7. You have the best sense of humor and are able to laugh at yourself and find the funny side of situations.
8. You are so good at celebrating with others (and that is not something that very many people are good at). When there is happy news, you are all about celebrating that with the person. It is so fun telling you things because I know you will be excited with me.
9. On the flip side, you are also good at walking through hard things with people. You have been there for me through so many hard times and walked with me and given me words of wisdom and encouragement.
10. You are a great story teller. You get into it with your hand motions and expressions.
11. You are so fun and easy to talk to. I love when I see your name pop up on caller ID.
12. You are thoughtful. You are always thinking of ways that you can make people feel special.
13. You are a great teacher. I love being apart of your Bible studies and hearing you teach the Word.
14. You are so real. You are open and honest and not afraid to be you.
15. You have such a servant’s heart. You are always the first one to jump up and help when someone needs it. You don’t have to be the center of attention for your service but are happy to humbly serve in the background.
16. You are a prayer warrior. I always know that if you say you are praying for me, you really are. I love hearing how you pray and talk to the Lord.
17. You love grocery shopping, which I don’t understand at all haha, but it’s one of those quirky things that makes you, you. :)
18. You drove all the way to Cincy to see us in the hospital after we had Brooks! I still can’t believe y’all did that. It meant so much to us.
19. You love to play games. I love me a Hopperland game night.
20. You have such compassion for others. The way you love people is precious.
21. You are bold in sharing your faith with others. Jesus shines in everything you do, and people see it.
22. You aren’t afraid to have hard conversations, but you do it in love.
23. You have the craziest adoption story ever, but you handled it with such grace and trust in the Lord. I know it was looong and hard. I know you had days and even weeks at a time that were rough and discouraging, but you always came back to trusting the Lord and knowing His timing for all of it would be perfect.
24. You love all of your extended family, even though some of them are difficult. You pray for them and find ways to love on them.
25. You are such a natural leader. People get on board with you and follow you so quickly. You are an imitator of Christ, so others want to imitate you.
26. You are organized and a go getter. A real-life Leslie Knope. :)
27. You can see the Lord in everything. You are always looking for how a situation or something that happens can point you to Him.
28. You enjoy the simple things in life- big drinks, hanging out, time with your family, going to get ice cream, letters from friends ;), grocery shopping, being with people you love.
29. You strive to be a peacemaker. You work hard for unity- in the church, in community group, in friendships, in family.
30. You are so fun to spend time with. Our time together always goes by way too fast.
31. You are such a good friend! Not just to me but to all of your friends. Everyone who knows you, loves you and is blessed to have you in their lives.

You are such a blessing to me Whitney Hopperton! I am so thankful for your 31 years of life! I am proud to call you one of my best friends! You will never know how precious you are to me, how much you mean to me, or how much I look up to you!  I wish I could be there with you today to celebrate you! You deserve a huge celebration! I hope you know how special and loved you are! Love you lots!!!

-Abby Kirkland