I am blessed in so many ways. I am blessed in my health, my job, having an education, warm food every meal, a nice place to live, etc …but above all else, I am blessed with amazing family and friends. I wonder if I had all the blessings in the world but no one to share them with, would I even be able to enjoy them? I don’t know what I would do without these people in my life. I admit I often take my family for granted. I know that they have always been there for me and will always be there for me. I know that my mom and dad would do anything, and I mean
anything to make me happy and to show their love for me. That makes me blessed. It’s a rare thing in today’s world to have parents who care so much and are there for their children. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had our fair share of problems as a family, but God has taught us all so much and we have grown as a result of these problems. My mom has always been there for us. My dad worked hard so that my mom could stay at home while we were growing up. Her passion in life is being a mom… and she’s done a dang fine job at it! She is a wonderful mother, and I am blessed to have her as mine! My dad has always been a hard worker, making sure to always provide for his family. He has always supplied for our needs. He cares so much about his family and he has grown so much in patience and flexibility in the last few years. My short-term mission trips were a stretching and learning experience for both of them and I know that this is going to be very hard for them to have me gone for a year, however, I know that God will teach them a lot during this time and I know that they will be there with me in prayer and in love. Thank you for supporting me in this endeavor. It means more than you could ever know! I thank God so much for my family; a family who loves me unconditionally and supports me in all that I do, trusting in God to take care of me and trusting in His will for my life. I love you guys!!!
I have the most amazing, wonderful, beautiful, caring, thoughtful, crazy, funny, smart, brave, admirable, lovely, unique, phenomenal–and every other positive adjective there is–friends in the entire world! This is my family at school. These are my girls, my best friends, my prayer partners, my confidants, my water balloon fight teammates, my roommates, and my pals. These girls are an answer to prayer and a blessing from God! From left to right: Jenni, Alana, Sarah, (me), Ruth, Sarai, and Robin. You guys are awesome! You guys will never fully know how much you mean to me. College wouldn’t have been one tenth as fun and enjoyable if it wasn’t for all of you. You each mean so much to me in different ways and have challenged me to be a better person and a closer follower of God. I learn so much from you on a daily basis and I thank God for putting you all in my life. I never knew what I was getting into when I transferred to CBU. I didn’t realize that I would meet lifelong friends (family) that would change my life. I wish I could thank each of you individually on here for all that you are and all that you have done, but that would just take up a lot of space 🙂 Thank you! I feel like those words aren’t adequate, but it’s all I can come up with. As I leave for the race in September I am excited to know that I will still keep in communication with all of you and I am confident that you will be with me in prayer and love as well. I can’t even put into words how much I will miss each of you. I’m sure things will remind me of you guys on a daily basis and it will be hard for me to be away from you all for so long, but I know that God will teach me so much through it. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! There is one very important person missing from that photograph of my friends, however (stupid choir tour!) so I must include one here of my good friend Ashley. I’ve known Ash for a good 9 years now and I owe
a lot of the person I am to her. She is an amazing friend and woman of God. She has grown so much in these past 4 years at Cal Bap and has brought me along for the ride. We have had our fair share of disagreements, debates, and screaming arguments haha, but she’s also the first person I go to when I need advice. I know I can always trust her and I value her opinion greatly. I feel extremely blessed to call her my friend and to have her in my life. I consider her as my sister. I also owe many of our most hilarious and wacky nights to this girl. She is one unique kid, that’s for sure! Thanks Ash. Thanks for never giving up on me and for putting up with me all these years. I love you!
So why the post about these people? I’m going to call it a tribute. A tribute to the people that I owe it to. Without these people’s influence on my life I would not be the person I am today and I wouldn’t be about to embark on this amazing journey in September. Thank you to these people who support me in all that I do, especially the world race. Thank you for praying for me, for caring for me, and for loving me. You are all amazing and I thank God for each of you. I pray that God will bless you all in all that you do in the year to come!
