Blessed

Back in 2005, my world fell apart.

My mother passed away, rather unexpectedly and quickly from melanoma. That was in April. ...One month and three days after my birthday. For my entire life, she had been my touchstone.

A few months later, my grandmother joined her in Heaven. It was early November. For my entire life, she had been my best friend.

Somewhere along the way, due to his sadness, my father started to drift away and shut me out. He was still physically alive, but was nothing but a ghost. For my entire life, he had been my hero.

Up until then, my family had been everything to me. In three instants, the things that I valued most in this world were all gone.

As singular events, those are the kinds of things that rock you to your core. Combined, they rip apart everything that you know and leave you absolutely gutted. But God had a plan for me, and this was all a part of it.

The most readily apparent of God's blessings at that time were my friends. A few years prior to 2005, I realized that I wasn't being the person God had called me to be, and I made the decision to change that. I met a group of people who came to be some of the most amazing friends anyone could ask for. Spiritually, they were exactly what I needed at the time. As the events of 2005 came to pass, I saw just how God had placed them into my life those years earlier. When all I wanted to do was run away from everything, they caught me and held me up until I was strong enough to stand on my own. And during the times when I felt like falling back down, they continued to hold me up.

**Thank You, Lord, for the people who you have used as a support in my life. Thank You for those relationships and for the things that we have brought into each other's lives. Sometimes, though, when I'm feeling low, it's easy for me to overlook You and instead turn to those who have a physical presence in my life. I struggle with valuing my human relationships above all else. I ask that You continue to bless me with those relationships, but that You continually teach me to rely on You first.**

Sometimes I need to remind myself just how blessed I am. Today was a good day, and a lot of blessings were readily apparent. So each Tuesday (at least for the time-being), I'm going to try to remember to write about a blessing that I've had in my life. ...Just for me, as a reminder of how God is always at work.