Happy Friday!!!!

I am thrilled beyond words that it's the weekend! I had an amazing time with an awesome friend last night~Todd worked late, so she came over to keep me company. We do this periodically. It started as a cheap way to have a girls' night out, but has become sort of tradition. We had such a great time. We had comfort food, we prayed, we talked, and we laughed until we cried! There is nothing better than that!

So this morning, I'm finding myself thankful for my friends. I was telling Christa last night that I feel like God brings us different friends to fill different needs. I am blessed with the girls that are in my life, and they each bring something truly unique to our friendship. With Christa, for instance, I know I can tell her a need and she'll drop whatever she's doing and start pounding down the gates of heaven. Have you ever heard that quote that says, "Live the kind of life that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, Satan shudders and says, "OH NO. SHE'S AWAKE." I feel like we have that kind of thing going on...we've prayed some very effective prayers together, and I always come away from my time with her feeling refreshed.

I have other friends that bring me other things~Rene is a lifetimer for me. Meaning that no matter how long it's been since we talked or hung out, we can always pick right back up to where we left off. She was the one who organized people bringing me food after I had the babies. She also just about singlehandedly put together a baby shower for me at church~even though they were numbers 3 and 4. She was the first (and only, I think) friend to come see me in the hospital, and made me laugh so hard that I almost had to kick her out. It was very painful on the c~section incision. But she's just that kind of girl. Oh, and a year ago when I fell and thought my ankle was broken, she came and picked me up at almost midnight, took me to her office and x~rayed my foot. Did I mention her and her hubby were in the middle of cooking their Thanksgiving meal? Well, they were, and she did this anyway.

I have Sunny who, like her name, just brings sunshine into my life. God brought us toghether two years ago, and we'd been praying for each other and didn't even know it. We were both praying that God would bring us a special "girlfriend" whom we could hang out with seperately without family AND with family. Our husbands became almost instantaneous amazing friends, and our kids all love each other. She's a great one to do running around with...and we did when the little kids weren't in school yet.

Not to mention the incredible family that I have. My mom and mom~in~love are two of my closest friends. I feel very blessed to have that bond with both of them. My sisters are incredible, and we're all very close. I feel such a strong bond with them when we're all together, although even when we're not, we are still very much a part of each other's lives.

I am truly blessed. I just wanted to write about that this morning...I had to take Graham and Drew to school for their before school clubs, and on my way home, I just started thanking God for the blessings He has given me. I am a rich person. Maybe not monetarily, but I am rich in the things that matter. I have an amazing, healthy family, extended family aplenty, and a treasure of close friends. I'm not saying I've lived this great, perfect life to deserve all this~I haven't at all, and for many years I felt like I had no friends at all. Especially in the years I had my back turned to the Lord. But in these past 4 years, God has changed me, my heart, and has poured down His blessings on me. Life has not been perfect, we've been through trials, but I feel like God has been faithful to us, because we have been faithful to Him.

In the trials we experienced health scares, family scares, personal issues galore, financial hardships, discouragement, and many more. But I love that in His Word He reassures us that He is the Light of the world, and that we can come to Him when we are weak and heavy burdened. He will be there~in the bad and in the good.

I came across a jewel of a Bible verse this morning and wanted to share it. It's from an online devotion I get entitled The Vine, and this week's devos have been on Ruth. She had everything going for her~she was married to a wonderful man, and she lived a happy life. But her husband died, and she felt like everything had been taken from her. Her sister~in~law Orpah experienced the same thing in her life, and their mother~in~law, Naomi encouraged them to move back to their families. Orpah did go back to her home land, but Ruth stayed with Naomi. Maybe she looked at it as faithfulness to her husband, but for whatever reason, she stayed with Naomi, and they moved to Judah. You probably know the story~she found love again in a wonderful man named Boaz. And he cared for her the rest of his days.

The Bible verse I came across went along with this story. In a time where she probably doubted her faith, and her relationship with the Lord, and felt confused and didn't know where to turn. This is where the verse comes in~it's found in Psalm 37:23 and says this: "The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives."

The God of the universe does that~He delights in EVERY detail of our lives. He is smiling this morning because I am so thankful for what He has given me, and it just hit me as I was driving. I had to just stop and praise Him. I challenge you to think about this today: no matter where you are in life right now, stop and think about why you're there. Is there a purpose? Is God going to grow you through your experience? Is life seemingly alright with you right now, and you've maybe slacked off in your prayer life? In the bad, but also in the good times, we should all give thanks. Look around you at what He has done in your life~and take some time today to just stop and thank Him.

Psalm 37:24 Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the LORD holds them by the hand.