Thankful.

Back again!

Whew. Took a long pause this November… and much of December.

I’ll give you the low-down of life since then:

Finished my last class needed for applying to the dental hygiene program.
Applied to the program (and felt darn good about it).
Got my job back at Joann’s (awesome because I never realized how much I love it there most of the time).

 …and that’s about it. I have no further excuses other than that I started watching The Vampire Diaries and got totally addicted. Team Damon. That’s all I have to say about that.

 I skipped Thanksgiving and the whole “I’m thankful for this and that” trend. Gosh, reading that back, I sound horrible. And it’s true- that’s a low thing to say. I felt like in everyone did it because that’s just what you do around that holiday, so it’s not really genuine.

But that’s just a load of crap-o-la. It’s an excuse for me to not think on all the great things God has given me. See, that’s kind of a huge flaw of mine.

 I’m not a very thankful person.

I take things for granted big time.

I don’t cherish what I have.

I don’t go to God and say thanks for the amazing comfy house I live in and the huge bed I sleep in every night. Or the fact that I have a desk in my room filled with tons of beading supplies, fun paper, cool stamps, and every ink color imaginable to keep me happily busy with my crafting hobby. Or that I have lovely friends. An amazing, supportive, encouraging family. A handsome, super nice fiancé.

 I’ve got a King of Kings blessing me over and over again, and I often forget to turn around and say, “Hey man. Thanks for that one. You really got me covered.”

 See, what I really say to Him is, “I really need this.”

“I need help with that.”
“Seriously? Why did you just do that to me?”
“Can you be a little nicer to me?”
“Will you answer a prayer once an a while?? K thanks.”

 He needs to smack me in the face.

And He did.

But not in the “Get it together!” movie scene slap. It was a “check out how good you’ve got it. Watch this,” kind of slap.

I was sitting in a lovely Christmas service at Rochester Church of Christ just yesterday and I was squished in between my sister and Davy. If you are ever around them, you’ll see them poking, pushing, punching, pinching, etc., each other. They have such a brother-sister bond it’s not even funny. It’s scary. It’s too good to be true.

We sat there, singing wonderful praises in Christmas songs to Jesus (they were actually behaving at this time), when all of a sudden I feel my sister loop her arm around mine while Davy put his arm around me on the other side. Both gestures at the same time.

Oh, Lord Jesus.

So good to me.

In that moment, I felt so blessed I wanted to cry. I wanted to burst into tears and tell Him how thankful I am for EVERYTHING. And how sorry I was at my bitter attitude during Thanksgiving.

 I felt so much love in that moment between my sister and my fiancé. I can only imagine how good it will feel when God puts His arms around me.

 You guys. He’s so good. He’s not going to hunt you down and haunt you if you lose sight of Him. He’s in love with you. He’s going to keep loving you and there’s nothing you can do about it.

 Accept it. Embrace it. Let yourself feel the joy.

You need it.

I'm going to leave you with some pictures of me and my friends having an awesome time over the summer. I'm going to thank God for these happy moments today.

So thankful for friends that will act totally rediculous with me.

I don't care about my face in this. Randy is on the ground like a rollie pollie. I must share it.

Blurry yet lovely. My sister. I love her.

And then Randy photobombs.

And then Jenna joins :)



Weirdos at the cider mill.

Randy contemplates life. I talk him out of it. We travel into the woods. I do parkour over a log. He photobombs again:

Hey there Davy ;)

Love that man of mine.

Chelsea and my dad. Two fantastic people.

 I think this is a very good picture of her. She's beautiful.

He opened my eyes and I’ll be thanking Him from now on.

Have a happy Christmas, beautiful friends.