It’s totally possible for this picture to be this entire post of getting to know my friend Candice. This picture embodies her personality completely. Giddy and bubbly and sweet to her very core.
One of my first memories of Candice is how well she can pinpoint someone’s personality. I remember sitting in the lobby at school one day and she gave me a personality test to take and nailed me before I even took it. She said I was outgoing and loved people and needed to be around them to be happy. (I didn’t even really know those qualities fully then.) She said she was introverted and quiet and observed the dynamic before coming forward to be noticed. She could not have been more right. Candice loves analyzing people and showing them who they are and encouraging them in that place. It’s one of the most unique and beautiful qualities about her.

When we sat down to dinner to do the official Getting To Know You and caught up for an hour while turning away our waiter a whopping five times (a new record) because we were talking too much to even glance at our menus, I asked her the same questions I asked Kait.
I love her answers.

 

If our names were a hashtag, what would it be?
#candimelody. Like a sweet melody!

What do you remember about when we first met?
(When I asked her this, we both sort of looked at each other confused. Neither of us remember meeting each other but just sort of falling into a friendship. But she remembered some details!) You were Kait’s friend, so that’s how I remembered you. My sister was friends with Lauren (another mutual friend of ours) so I hung out when them all summer. Then when we went to school in the fall I clung to Lauren because she’s outgoing. I am not. You and I didn’t really get to know each other until our second year of school together. The first time we really hung out was on our choir trip to Houston for the weekend. We roomed together! (Here’s a hilarious story about Candice from this trip. She took melatonin to sleep but beforehand our room had been designated as the hang out zone. So half the choir was hanging out in our room while Candice was in a melatonin daze in the floor coloring a picture of a shoe. She eventually got tired enough that she crawled into bed where four other people were sitting, but only after telling us, explaining how melatonin makes you feel, “it’ll knock you ouuuuuuuut!” Then, once everyone left, I turned out the lights and heard a quiet, “Melody?” “Yeah, Candice?” “Do you mind if I turn on the air?” “Sure, Candice. Good night.” I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard.)

When is your birthday?
December 28, 1989

How do you relax when you’re stressed?
I close the door and get by myself. I have a playlist called a soaking playlist. The first song is In Your Presence by Jason Upton. I get in His presence and just ask Him what’s going on. Sometimes I take a bath or lay in my bed or get on my keyboard and sing. But it always starts with that song.

What makes a place home for you?
Wherever I’m sleeping! But really wherever I have a sense of peace. Like that’s where I’m supposed to be.

What’s your biggest passion? Something that makes you feel like what you’re on this earth to do.
Being on a stage. Leading worship. I love being able to share that and help people figure their problems out. I love being able to be there for someone and be your battle buddy. I love the feeling of knowing I’m being used by God.

What’s your favorite time of day?
Depends on the day! But the afternoon after school’s out. When it’s still early enough you can sit outside in that peaceful bird chirping and sun shining and enjoy the day before homework or the night stuff comes.

Pet peeves?
Bad drivers and chewing ice.

Make a note, people. Don’t chew ice around Candice.
Candice grew up around Houston until her teenage years when her parents moved to Doha, Qatar. (I know, right.) Candice spent her last two years of high school there making friends and traveling the Middle East and Europe. But when she moved, technically she was going to be a senior. Nervous, Candice decided to retake her junior year and take two years of high school in Doha. She just wasn’t ready to graduate yet.
To her, Doha is home even though her early life was spent in Houston. Like she said, home is wherever she finds peace. Peace right now is in Tyler living with her brother and sister, but she’s getting restless. God is getting ready to pluck her up and move her for His purpose and I’m so excited to see where that takes her.

Remember that choir trip to Houston she was talking about? Well that trip was about a month before the final date of our divorce last year. No one knew then except my family and Kait, but I was tired of hiding and it was getting too hard to keep such a big part of my life a secret. So I promised myself I’d tell Candice that weekend. I didn’t know this until months later, but God had laid me on Candice’s heart that very same week to pray for me and talk to me about what was going on without knowing a single thing. And this. This. is who Candice is to me. She’s God’s sweet daughter. She’s humble and willing to serve at His feet. She will pray for you any second you ask her and she’s there when you need her. She is your battle buddy. She freely lets God use and speak through her and that’s why I’m always so encouraged every time I’m around her. We could only talk about the paint on the walls but because of her sweet spirit I’m encouraged. She lets her light shine bright and all that know her are blessed because of it.

 

Candice, I love you. Be encouraged that God knows where you are right now and is going to catch you in that free fall and before you know it His path will be laid out for you and you’ll walk on it freely. 🙂 Go for Tennessee, girl.

 

 

xx