Thankfulness :)

I just want to take a moment and name some things alot of things that I am thankful for!


First off I am so thankful that the Lord chose me to be His child! What a wonderful gift. I know sometimes I don't live like I am thankful, but I truly am. Can you imagine a child, waiting in an orphanage, and this same feeling they must have when their families come rescue them! I am thankful for His deliverance! His deliverance from poor relationships that I have put myself in on this earth. From bad situations we were in as children. I am thankful for His grace! His grace that covers ALL my sins. Wow. And His mercy. The mercy that keeps me from going to Hell, where I belong. I am thankful for His wonderful plan. The plan for my life. The differences I can make in the kids at school, at camp, in Nicaragua, and hopefully the orphans around the world who are waiting on their families to come rescue them. Just as He rescued us! 


 I am thankful for my awesome mom. She did not do everything right while we were growing up... But who does? She did her best. She instilled in me (and my sisters) a love for the elderly! She indirectly made me good at loving them. She didn't really give us a choice, actually! :) I am thankful that she loved us and cared for us. Even if it was through someone else taking us to practice, feeding us lunch, watching us while we were home sick, or checking to make sure we got off of the bus! :)


 I am thankful for my big sis, Callye. She was our rock! She took care of us, bathed us, fed us, dressed us, made us do our chores (which took pulling a knife at times!) HA! She was ALWAYS there for us... I will never forget the time in 2nd grade that I was "scared" at school and Callye told me to come find her if it got worse. I went to her and she gave me her cross necklace to wear and told me if I was wearing that, I would NOT be scared. :) I will never forget that, Cal. I love you.


I am thankful for my big sis, Hil. Hilary is my best friend. We fight some A LOT, but that is us! People just need to understand that. We like to say as a whole we are bipolar! :) Hil has always been there for me. She loves me unconditionally. She makes me so mad sometimes, but I love her through it. She is open and honest with me. She trusts me. She protects me from things that will hurt me. I am thankful that Hilary and I can sit for long periods of time and do nothing but quote movie lines! It is one of my favorite things to do with her. And for that, I am thankful. I love you, big sis! :)


I am thankful for my daddy. He has not always been around, but he loves me. I know this. He may act like Hilary is his favorite, but who cares!? Ha! I keep telling myself that. :) But my daddy has shown me, without even knowing, what a daddy should be. What a husband should be. Although he has not been those things in my life, he has shown me what I want in a husband and daddy for my children. I know that sounds kinda harsh but it is the truth. I am thankful for him. I will love him forever because I am half him. I may look just like my mama, but I'm half my dad!


I am thankful for my friends. I love my friends. Malarie is one that is an awesome friend. Sometimes we drift away but I know she loves me and I hope she knows I love her. I want the best for her. Always. She makes me laugh. We share our love for Nicaragua. We've done so much together in the 2 short years we've been friends. Who else have I traveled to a foreign country with by myself?? :) Kristin is another. Kristin and I have been friends for a while! I love her. She is so strong in her faith. She has always been an inspiration to me. We can laugh, cry, complain, or just sit together and be completely fine with it. We can sing off key to love songs, eat ice cream when we are uspet, or walk creepy bridges in the middle of the night. :) Hannah, oh Hannah. :) This girl is amazing. I've never had  a friend who is so encouraging. Hannah makes me a better person just being my friend. Who knew, when she got in my car to ride 8 hours as a complete stranger, that we would leave the trip best friends?! I sure didn't. I was worried about it, actually. But my worries disappeared really fast. She's so real and open to me. She sends letters randomly just to make my day. I love some Hannah. Chelsea, :) Chels kinda goes along with Hannah. We are like 3 peas in a pod. We can have SO much fun together. I mean just look at our pictures from this summer! You'd never guess how much fun we had. :) After the fun fades and life begins again and sends it's negative ugly vibes at us, we are there for one another. If it is only a text that says "PRAY" and we stop what we are doing and we do just that. We send song lyrics to one another and get the next line back as a reply. I love me some Chelsea! As a whole, I am SO SO SO SO thankful for my Souled Out friends... Brian and Goodie, who I love to death. We can laugh, joke, be honest, and spill our guts with one another. Blake, Bekah, Adam, Trammell, Jackie, and all the others. They are the most amazing friends ever. There are no other people on this Earth that I can laugh with at ANYTHING and then turn around and praise our God with. :) I absolutely LOVE that about my Souled Out friends!!!  I am thankful for all my other friends. I have too many to name but those are just a few that I love dearly. They are in no order or more important than others.


I am thankful for my church. I love 2nd Baptist church. I love Bro. Eddie, Bro. Barry, Bro. RIck, Bro. Micah, Bro. Jerry. I love Donna Middlebrook.I love my sunday school class. :)


Ok, so maybe this is a blog about the things I love! But aren't they the same. haha.


I am thankful for my job. I love my little C with all my heart. We fight, argue, cry, and fuss but we love each other. I am thankful that his parents are so super supportive. I am thankful for the love I get to give to these kids. Kids who don't get love at home. They drive me absolutely crazy but I love them!! I love seeing them at Wal Mart, or Los Portales, or anywhere in town and them smiling from ear to ear! :) And then telling me every day for 4 months that they saw me! Ha! :) I love that my job led me to Manny. I love that kid. He has my heart for sure. I am glad, that through Manny, I was led to Eric, Jaime, and Jessie. :) I love those kids. I am thankful for the people I work with. They all have a faith that is so real. I am the "baby" here so they take care of me. :) I am thankful that my job allows me to do the things I love the most. With it being a school, I am off in the summer. I do not have to worry about taking time off to work Souled Out, go to Nicaragua, travel to see friends, or do anything else I wanna do! :) Not to mention, Fall Break, Christmas Break, and Spring Break! :)


I am thankful for my step-dad, Jason and step-sister, Shelly. They are part of my family now. I love them. They make me crazy, but what family doesn't?! :) They make me a better person. In whatever way that is! :) They are awesome. i am thankful to Jason for making my mom happy. After many epic fails for her happiness, she finally got it. :)


I am thankful for my step family on my dad's side. I love that I can have such a large family. :) I love the memories that I have with Preston, Leigh Ann, Tessa. I love how we used to fight! Poor Pres... He didn't stand a chance with all of us girls! But he sure put up a good fight. I am thankful that Tessa and Leigh Ann took us to that little country church. That church holds a lot of memories for me. :) And now I am thankful that we can all get together, with all of their spouses and kids, and remember all of our memories!


I am thankful for the rest of my family, too. My Granny. My only ever living grand-parent. She may not have been the cookie baking, sit on her lap loving Grandma, but she was mine. She loved us. I am thankful for her. I am thankful for my sweet awesome brother in law. Brad, he is the only big brother I've ever had! And he is an awesome one. He loves me like he has always been my brother. And through Brad and Callye, I got the most adorable, mischevious, dramatic, high-maintenance neice, Gracie. Gracie brought a new love to our lives. She makes us do things we swore we would not do! I love that little girl


I am thankful for all of the families that trusted me with their kids! I kept so many kids while in high school! I was "THE" babysitter in Obion. Some of those kids and their families became my family. Tammy and James Albright. I am so thankful for them. Their kids mean the world to me. I practically lived with them for a while. I love the fact that I am trusted with their children. Their most precious things. I am thankful for Lauree and her boys. :) Those boys were awesome. We may have bumped heads a few ALOT of times but I know Chase and Boo love me. I know when I see these kids, all grown up, that I had a part of their raising. :) There are many more kids that I kept but I cannot name them all! :) Those summers are some of my favorite memories!


I feel like I am leaving some things out but I will give my fingers, and your eyes, a break! Thanks for reading. Sorry that I write books instead of posts. :)