SISTERCHICKS SAY OOH-LA-LA
Lisa Mona Kroeker grew up with brothers, a dad who loves pun, and a mother who promotes healthy snacks but not barbies (due to the unrealistic beauty standards that they depict).
Amelie Jeanette DuPree comes from a French family who spoils her with barbies and sugary snacks. They also planted in her the dream of visiting Paris one day.
In third grade, Lisa and Amelie became best friends. They pinky-promised to stay friends forever, travel to Paris together, be bridesmaids in each other’s weddings, and be present at the births of each other’s kids. However, after high school, they lost touch. (Amy wasn’t ready to fully convert to Lisa’s church, which Lisa’s mom was trying to push her to join, and Amy assumed that she wouldn’t be allowed to be friends with Lisa after that, so she tried to distance herself.)
Years later, they cross paths again from a chance encounter. They clear up the record and pick up where they left off. Although they are already both married (and therefore missed out on each other’s weddings), they stick to their promise of traveling to France together.
Lisa had already traveled to France twenty years ago with a couple ladies from work. During that trip, she fell in love with their tour guide (Gerard). Gerard tried to push Lisa to sleep with him, which she refused to due to her Christian morals. Gerard then cowardly broke off their relationship. Due to this heartbreak, Lisa had a bad taste of Paris. But when the opportunity to travel to Paris with her best friend arises, she couldn’t turn down the opportunity.
Adventures can come with obstacles (from stolen luggage, to mistaking bakery leftovers as free samples due to a language barrier), but making memories with a bestie is everything.
One of the sights that they visit is the Notre Dame cathedral, which features “flying buttresses” (architectural supports that keep the walls from collapsing under the weight of the roof). Similarly, friends are necessary for supporting us through life’s challenges.
“I look back now and realize that the gift of a true friend is that she sees you not the way you see yourself or the way others see you. A true friend sees who you are inside and who you can become” (21).
“In many ways we both needed each other. While my life provided Amy with roots in the richness of this good earth, she was offering me butterfly wings to soar above it all” (23).
“Lisa, don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re my flying buttress. // …You support me” (259).
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Through it all, remember to keep faith first.
“The irony was that even though I was the one who gave Amy her first Bible, she was the one who continually gave me the Bible back to me every time the truths of God’s Word came springing out in her life like a fountain of fresh water. Whenever they did, I drank deeply, unaware until that moment how desperately thirsty I was” (96).
“‘Lisa, listen to me. Everything you hoped for in lasting love is possible. It just wasn’t possible with Gerard. Everything you felt was true. Don’t disregard the depth of your emotions. You placed your hope on the wrong person, that’s all.’ // ‘I know. I should have saved my emotions for Joel. Then I could have given him my whole heart without all the scars.’ // ‘No.’ Amy’s eyes widened. ‘That’s not what I meant. I was trying to say that the only One who will never leave you and never disappoint you is the One who made you. God. He’s the only One who can fill the depths of our hearts. When I realized that my sophomore year of college, it…well, I’ve told you before. It changed everything. Lisa, there’s a big difference between knowing about God and opening yourself up to Him so you can really know Him’” (226).