Counting my blessings

Tonight I am counting my blessings. With each hour that passes, my dog continues to get better and I am so grateful for more time with her. Today after church I came home to another wet spot on my niece's bed and a wet spot on the blanket we had laid out on the living room floor next to our patio door because she has been making it to the door but not outside. When I let her out, she ran straight for the yard and sat there and went to the bathroom for about three straight minutes.

I had noticed when I came in that her food dish that had once been against the wall was now out in the middle of the kitchen floor and the dog biscuit I had placed in there two days ago was gone. Since she had gone to the bathroom so well for me, I asked her if she wanted a treat and she took it and ate it! I was so ecstatic I cried. This was the first time since Wednesday night she had eaten so we knew she was finally getting better. When my mom got home, she looked at the blanket and found the stone the doctor had said she would pass. I have never been so relieved in my life. With each passing hour tonight, she has continued to improve. I was able to head out for youth group tonight able to relax and focus on my kids.

We had an event called UNight tonight that brought our youth group and about six or seven other youth groups together to worship and pray for their high schools. We had a great turnout and it was so incredible to see so many students gathered together to pray for their districts and their teachers and their own youth groups. I love being so involved with our youth group and being able to pour into them the way the adults poured into me when I was a youth.

After UNight was over, I started talking to Patty, the mom of one of my youth. She's been praying for my heart all summer, knowing what my struggles are, and has been listening to me as I try to figure out what's going on in this particular area of my life. We ended up talking for over an hour tonight and it was a much needed conversation. She is such a blessing to me and I feel like I walk away from our conversations with so much to think about. She pushes me to think and grow closer to the Lord and I love that.

As I was driving home, I was thinking about how vastly different my friendships have become in the couple of years since I graduated from college. I've gone from being friends with just people in my own age bracket to having these amazing friendships with women who are older than me, who challenge me, and encourage me to continue seeking out the Lord in everything that I do. I no longer see them as parents of my youth or people my parent's age. I now see them as friends, people I can call when I'm struggling who will pray with me and listen to me, people who I genuinely enjoy spending time with. Each woman is different from the other, but each one brings a quality to our friendship that is molding me into the woman I hope to one day become.

It amazes me to think where my life is right now. I don't think I would have ever expected this to be where God would have me but I wouldn't change any of it. I don't know what the next couple of years hold or where life will take me once I'm done with my degree, but I do know that the lessons I'm learning now will mold me into the person I'm meant to be, the person that God has created me to be and I wouldn't have it any other way.